PrintAugust 9, 2008
NY Times Portrayal of Detroit Mayor's Legal Problems
Kwame Kilpatrick is not identified as a Democrat but the Attorney General who charged him with assualting two police officers is a Republican who is expected to run for Governor. Mike Cox has to reject a reporter's suggestion that he was "not impartial " on the matter.
Mr. Cox, who was one of the first officials to call for Mr. Kilpatrick's resignation, called the assault charges "simple and straightforward," and said the case could move through the system within 90 days.Mr. Cox, a Republican who is widely expected to run for governor in 2010, rejected a reporter's suggestion that he was not impartial on the matter, saying, "The people of this community will make the call" as a jury on whether Mr. Kilpatrick is guilty.But he did seek to put the assault charges in a larger context.
In the New York Times world, a Democratic politician charged or/and convicted of a crime is the victim of a Republican conspircay or vendeatta (see, for example, the Times treatment of Don Siegelman, the convicted former Governor of Alabama).
