Break From The Pattern
By Mitch Berg
Normally, with stories like that of Duluth-area DFL state Rep. Kerry Gauthier – who was caught en flagrante Clinton with a 17 year old outside a Duluth rest stop a few weeks ago – I’d say “the double standards astounds me”; the media have been largely, er, keeping their hands off the story.
There’s a notable exception; the Duluth News-Trib is not amused at the extreme paucity of information from the cops in re this case, including information they are required by law to release:
As Stahl reports, the Minnesota State Patrol and Duluth police at first flat-out denied a request by the News Tribune for public information pertaining to the “suspicious activity” at the rest stop. They refused even though Minnesota law clearly requires certain information on calls made to the police for service be made public. That includes the date and time of a call, the agencies involved, the nature of the request for police, and witnesses to the incident. The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act also states that agencies should release “a brief factual reconstruction of events associated with” a police call.
After the News Tribune informed the agencies what records should be public under state law, some information was released. But only details on the time, date and place of the call were released. All the newspaper — and the public, by extension — was told with regard to the reason for the police response was “suspicious activity.” That’s hardly “a brief factual reconstruction.” The State Patrol and the city of Duluth then passed the buck to the other with regard to who should release such a reconstruction.
Minnesota mainstream media (the News-Trib excepted) observes double-standard favoring DFLers; dog sniffs dog. As old as our 10,000 lakes. Cops – who were happy to blather about, say, Rep. Hackbarth, down to their personal opinions, when no personal contact, much less crime, occurred – are keeping mum about a favored DFLer.
Nothing astounding.
What is astounding? A 56 year old guy at a Swap Meat with a 17 year old apparently does not violate Minnesota’s statutory rape laws.
August 17th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
“Kerry Gauthier”. Huh.
You gotta be suspicious about any guy whose first name ends with an “rry”. Something not quite right about people like that. Maybe they are part-time Gypsies; or worse, over-the-counter pregnancy test salesmen, who later blackball you from the Rotary.
I’m just spit ballin’ here.
August 17th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Man, if Mitch’s blog had a “Like” button like FB does, I’d have hit it for that post.
“Swap Meat”
*guffaws*
August 17th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
St Louis County Attorney (Mark S Rubin) declined criminal charges. Wonder what political party with which Mark alligns himdelf….hmmmm….
August 17th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
If he were an R he would’ve been charged with at least a misdemeanor.
August 17th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Sucks. The name “Kerry” made Angryclown think it would be some hot lady. Yeah, that other thing is very wrong.
August 17th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Trolling for little boys on Craiglist, to bang him in the rear at a public facility. So it is okay to have sex with children at a busy pubic rest stop as long as you are a Democrat.
August 18th, 2012 at 8:44 am
Mark this down in history. August 17, 2012 at 3:33 pm, Angryclown makes a rational comment. Savor the moment.
August 18th, 2012 at 8:58 am
DG,
I’m saying this not to bag on, or even engage your point.
This is just something from a guy who writes a bit.
If you find yourself writing things that are sooooo long and take so long to get to a point that they look like a sea of gray swimming on a page, and you find yourself needing to make passages “bold” so they stand out from the sea of gray, and the bolded passages just turn into a huge sea of black? It’s probably time to self-edit just a bit.
To, y’know, hone in on the point you’re trying to make.
I won’t kid myself by pretending you actually read anything after you drop your comments, but it had to be said.
August 18th, 2012 at 9:49 am
Chuck: Hey, in a few months when the boy turns 18, maybe they’ll be getting hitched. You must not only hate gays, you hate juveniles. You’re just a hater when you try to make light of two people who obviously love each other dearly and have to express their love in public rest stops only because society won’t allow them to marry. (Either that, or the kid was looking to score a quick $20 for a meth hit).
August 18th, 2012 at 10:52 am
Republicans hold themselves to high standards of conduct. When they occasionally fail, they are ridiculed for their failure.
Democrats have no standards of conduct to be held to so they never get ridiculed for being low-lives. This is the one nice thing about being a Democrat.
August 18th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
The people of Duluth have a choice to make. A guy who enjoys the companionship of teenage boys with the Darn Fornicating Liars endorsement or someone else.
My bet is they reelect the deviant.
August 18th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Not “deviant”. “Alternative”. It’s perfectly natural to pray on minor children of your own gender. It’s a plank in the DFL platform, after all.
August 18th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
OK, so why wasn’t this a case of at least public indecency? Please don’t tell me that this isn’t against the law in that county!
That said, I don’t know that we need to rewrite the statutory rape laws; writing in maximum age differences between parties could get really, really problematic. However, I do hope that we can all agree that when an older person–say 25 or older–beds (picnic benches?) someone in their teens, it generally indicates that there is something very, very, very relationally wrong with that person; that they simply aren’t mature enough to appeal to someone close to their own age.
And that creepiness factor ought to keep them out of positions of high authority, methinks.
August 18th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Bubbasan the people of Duluth have the power to remove (John) Kerry Gauthier from his position of power. Will they?
As long as he has the Darn Fornicating Liars endorsement I have my doubts.