In Giving Ellison A Pass, The Star Tribune Destroys Itself

Yes, I know it’s the Star Tribune and yes it isn’t a very good newspaper on balance and balance is the last thing you’ll find in its pages. Yet by its own lights, the newspaper is a beacon of integrity, honesty and truthfulness. Without it, you’d be less of a person and you certainly wouldn’t be informed. The truth is the opposite of course but you couldn’t prove that by it’s editorial board.

That board shredded what little credibility it possessed when it wrote a deeply disingenuous op-ed the other day, covering for the repulsive Keith Ellison in the midst of allegations from his most recent girlfriend, Karen Monahan, and her allegations of domestic violence. In “Still Seeking The Truth About Allegations Against Keith Ellison,” the Star Tribune conclusively demonstrated that its board is made of up partisan political hacks and not principled community standard bearers, as it pretends to be.

After paying lip service to the “Me too” movement, the board lies to itself and its readers by glibly saying “The terrain here is still fresh.” Nonsense, it is anything but. People more important and careers more substantial than the poster child for CAIR have been destroyed over much less. Of course, the board has to find some escape hatch in order not to condemn an Islamofascist and bigot that the paper itself had helped to create. The political coverage of the Star Tribune is a joke, one only they apparently aren’t in on.

Because Monahan claimed the existence of a videotape of the abuse, the board concluded that the burden was on her to produce it, precisely the opposite of the reason that the victim said she didn’t feel compelled to: why should women be believed only if there’s a videotape of the abuse? Real life produces very few of those while, unfortunately, producing many instances of domestic abuse and violence.

Pathetically, the editorial quotes sympathetically from Ellison’s daughter in their shameful evasion of moral responsibility. Monahan’s son actually broke the story in a Facebook post which oddly is neither quoted from nor linked to, both of which Ellison’s biased observer’s are.

By the time the board wrote this appalling little piece, the name of Amy Lawrence, a victim of Ellison’s from 2005 who called 911 to report he had assaulted her, and which report was documented and in the public domain, and who wrote of her ordeal in 2006, had resurfaced in the news. The “newspaper” made no mention of this news. Monahan’s allegations are all the more substantial in light of Ellison’s violent past behavior.

Reps. Jason Lewis, Erik Paulsen and Tom Emmer would have been flayed alive and then scorched to a crisp by this dishonest group of people had similar allegations been made against any of them. This is so obvious, so axiomatic, that it’s almost embarrassing to have to say it out loud. Conservatives should no longer spend time or energy pointing out the pervasive, rank hypocrisy that infuses the Left; it’s such an everyday occurrence that their time is better spent fighting other fights.

The Star Tribune editorial board consists of Scott Gillespie, Jill Burcum, Denise Johnson, Patricia Lopez, John Rash and Lori Sturdevant. Remember that when you next see them in any media reports or on social media but don’t respond to them, don’t engage with them. They’re beneath contempt.

Photo credit: NY Post

John Gilmore

John Gilmore is an author, freelance writer & former opinion columnist for Alpha News. He blogs at minnesotaconservatives.org & is @Shabbosgoy on Twitter