Not infrequently, politicians get in trouble with the law – for a host of reasons, including corruption and sexual harassment.  While the political affiliation of the accused may be interesting, it is often unstated, unless you know what to look for.

Last week, the Seattle mayor, Ed Murray, found himself in the hot seat over 30-year-old sexual abuse allegations from three men.  I'm always a bit skeptical over decades-old claims, even against a Democrat big-city mayor.

Did I say Murray is a Democrat mayor?  It's logical, given that he is the elected leader of the "People's Republic of Seattle," but I didn't learn his political affiliation from the news story.  Yet I still knew.  How?

Three prominent news organizations reported the story.  ABC News, the N.Y. Times, and the Daily Mail all described Mayor Murray's past sexual hijinks without ever mentioning his party affiliation.  ABC News did mention that the mayor is "a warrior for core Democratic values."  But the same could be said about Senators McCain and Collins, who on occasion share this trait.  But no mention of his political party affiliation.

How do the media cover similar stories about Republicans?

Remember former Idaho senator Larry Craig?  He popularized the term "wide stance," which made it into the Urban Dictionary, based on his defense of his restroom stall antics.  The N.Y. Times covered the Senator Craig story with "Republican" in the first sentence.  Diligent journalism.  Giving us the "who, what, where, when" of reporting all in the first sentence, including the political affiliation of the perp.  Just like with Mayor Murray.  Or not.

How about a few other examples to see if there is a pattern here?

The N.Y. Daily News published a story about an Oklahoma congressman, Dan Kirby, using taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment complaint.  With no hesitation, the N.Y. Daily News announced the political affiliation of the accused congressman, both in the headline and in the first sentence of the article.

If Congressman Kirby had been a Democrat, is there any doubt that the word "Republican" in the headline would be replaced by the word "congressman"?

A Greenwich, Connecticut politician allegedly pinched a woman's genitals.  The Huffington Post, in the second paragraph, reported his Republican party affiliation.

If he had been a Democrat, he would just become a "town representative," allowing the readers to do their own research, if they so chose, to determine his political party.

Then there is the former "hip hop" mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick.  Logically, one can surmise that a city like Detroit would have a Democrat mayor.  Mayor Kwame had quite the time in office, including corruption and sexual misdeeds leading to his resignation and incarceration.  Politico covered his 2013 trial but didn't mention his Democratic Party affiliation until the second to last paragraph.  Who reads Politico articles to the very end?

The Huffington Post also covered the trial with no mention of the word "Democrat" in their article – instead, only that he was a "former Detroit mayor."

What's the punch line here?

Aside from the obvious – that the fakestream media go to extremes to hide or ignore bad news regarding their Democratic Party masters, while gleefully reporting similar news about Republicans – the rule of thumb for understanding news articles covering the misdeeds of politicians is that if said politician is a Republican, you will know if from either the headline or the first few sentences.  If you see no mention of a political party, odds are it's a Democrat.

Often a key to communication is to listen not only to what is said, but more importantly what is not said.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer.  Follow him on Facebook  and Twitter.