By Larry Elder
When former long-time Los
Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, and his wife, were found guilty on voter
fraud and perjury charges, local publications, of course, were all over the story.
After all, the one-time assistant
to five-term Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Alarcon served for years in the California
State Senate, the State Assembly, and Los Angeles City Council. But the one-time
L.A. mayoral candidate was charged with voter fraud and perjury, accused of illegally
living outside of his district and lying about his true residence.
The Los Angeles Times, the
Daily News and the Los Angeles Business Journal all reported on his conviction.
But none -- not one -- of the three publications, at least in their online editions,
noted Alarcon's party affiliation: Democrat.
Look at the L.A. Times. Its headline
reads: "Former
councilman Richard Alarcon, wife guilty of voter fraud, perjury." In an article with 11 paragraphs, the paper could not
find the space to squeeze in even a tiny little reference to his party.
Now contrast this with an
L.A. Times article about the conviction of former House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican. The headline
and sub-headline refer to Delay's Republican affiliation -- twice. "Former House Majority
Leader Tom Delay convicted of money laundering: The Republican
was accused of conspiring to funnel $190,000 in donations to GOP candidates in Texas in 2002 elections. He faces five
to 99 years in prison, plus two to 20 years for a conspiracy count.”
The short, 12-paragraph body of the
article manages to mention Delay’s
“Republican” affiliation:
“Republican
U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay … was accused of conspiring to illegally
funnel $190,000 in corporate campaign donations to Republican
candidates. …
“In 1994, DeLay was part of the "Republican revolution" that won control of the House for the
first time in 40 years. He then got the job of House majority whip, making him
the chamber's third-ranking Republican. …
“DeLay resigned from
the House in 2006 after being linked to Jack Abramoff, a former Republican lobbyist snared in a federal investigation of
influence peddling on Capitol Hill. Two of DeLay's former aides pleaded guilty
to corruption. DeLay denied any wrongdoing. …
“During the 2006
congressional election, Democrats criticized DeLay's actions, saying that they
illustrated a pattern of corruption in the Republican-led
Congress. Democrats won the 2006 election and took back control of Congress.”
Count them.
In addition to the two headline
references to the Republican Party, the article cites DeLay's party or his
interaction with another "Republican" six additional times.
The most charitable Alarcon
explanation is this. California has so few Republicans, none elected statewide,
that Democrats are the only ones left around here to corrupt.
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