# IOKIADDI (It's OK If A Democrat Does It)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 19, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622 "2013-08-19T08:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/1 "2013-08-19T08:47:37Z")
Is there in American political media an IOKIADDI rule? This was suggested in another thread, and I thought it deserved exploring further… What is the best example out there of the media granting Democrats a pass for egregregious offenses/failures, for which it would hold Republican counterparts to a much higher standard? In answering the question, it’s important that “It” at the end of IOKIADDI be furnished by infractions that are truly like-for-like. (My aforementioned relative likes to say, Nixon was forced to resign over Watergate, and no one even died! Unlike Benghazi, Fast and Furious, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/2 "2013-08-19T08:56:39Z")
Yea - I’m old enough to remember the complete pass the Liberal-commie-Fascist media gave Clinton over his private life and impeachment attempts. It was barely mentioned at all, you just wouldn’t know it was happening at the time. And to this VERY DAY I have absolutely no idea who Vince Foster is or why Hillary had him killed, such was the media blackout. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/3 "2013-08-19T09:03:52Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Is there in American political media an IOKIADDI rule? This was suggested in another thread, and I thought it deserved exploring further… > > What is the best example out there of the media granting Democrats a pass for egregregious offenses/failures, for which it would hold Republican counterparts to a much higher standard? The media is strongly pro-Republican. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/4 "2013-08-19T09:13:18Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > (My aforementioned relative likes to say, Nixon was forced to resign over Watergate, and no one even died! Unlike Benghazi, Fast and Furious, etc.) Does “etc.” include Iran-Contra and the snipe hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/5 "2013-08-19T09:15:22Z")
I give the liberal media at least a little credit – they were pretty unanimous in condemning Clinton for his rape of that pre-teen Monica. But, despite the hundreds of millions spent bringing him to justice, the liberals in Congress didn’t even convict. :mad: Wouldn’t you know? Worried about their own Wieners I’ll bet. 😛 And then – wouldn’t you know? – some liberals had the audacity to chastise GWB for his humanitarian efforts. The Iraq War cost _less than_ a million lives and _less than_ 2 trillion dollars, but you’d think it was as big a deal as the semen-stained dress to hear some extremists prattle. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/6 "2013-08-19T15:52:16Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > What is the best example out there of the media granting Democrats a pass for egregregious offenses/failures, for which it would hold Republican counterparts to a much higher standard? I can’t think of anything egregious. Democrats generally get it easier when they have sex scandals, but they don’t run on “family values” rhetoric so that’s not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/7 "2013-08-19T16:07:40Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > What is the best example out there of the media granting Democrats a pass for egregregious offenses/failures, for which it would hold Republican counterparts to a much higher standard? Gee, I’d have to guess the media was guilty for not calling Al Gore and John Kerry cowards for serving in Vietnam while making sure everyone remembered that George W. Bush spent his time in the National Guard keeping Houston safe from Communist air raids and was eventually suspended for not even showing up.:rolleyes: Next question? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/8 "2013-08-19T16:14:06Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > What is the best example out there of the media granting Democrats a pass for egregregious offenses/failures, for which it would hold Republican counterparts to a much higher standard? If you think this might be true, how about providing an example? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/9 "2013-08-19T16:22:54Z")
[Shodan] Everything. [/Shodan] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/10 "2013-08-19T16:24:47Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Is there in American political media an IOKIADDI rule? This was suggested in another thread, and I thought it deserved exploring further… ) Link? Because I don’t think it’s true. I’d like to see the original claim so we’re not debating with some hypothetical right-wing friend who is not part of this MB. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/11 "2013-08-19T16:30:15Z")
BJs! ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/12 "2013-08-19T16:31:44Z")
**John** , I don’t think you’ll be too surprised at the source, which I think is probably [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16583310&postcount=131) from regards, **Shodan**. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/13 "2013-08-19T16:34:04Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > **John** , I don’t think you’ll be too surprised at the source, which I think is probably [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16583310&postcount=131) from regards, **Shodan**. He seems to be talking about “the extreme partisans of the Left”, not the press. Unless he thinks they are the same group…? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/14 "2013-08-19T16:34:15Z")
The media, if such a singular entity even exists anymore, will overlook or excuse Dems going to war, bombing, torturing, eroding civil rights, and being in bed with corporate backers moreso than when Republicans do it. This specific example might just be YMMV, but I thought the Jefferson corruption case didn’t get much play considering the fact he was convicted for a record amount of years for a Congressman taking bribes. Maybe only mentioned at all because he had like $100K in his freezer, which lent itself to lame “cold hard cash” jokes. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Democrats generally get it easier when they have sex scandals, but they don’t run on “family values” rhetoric so that’s not surprising. This is the conventional wisdom, but I never saw it. The media is too lascivious to pass up on a juicy sex scandal. And the biggest one was Clinton. They had a field day with Spitzer and Weiner, the latter didn’t even have sex with anyone as far as I know. Who did they go soft on? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/15 "2013-08-19T16:36:43Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > This specific example might just be YMMV, but I thought the Jefferson corruption case didn’t get much play considering the fact he was convicted for a record amount of years for a Congressman taking bribes. Maybe only mentioned at all because he had like $100K in his freezer, which lent itself to lame “cold hard cash” jokes. My mileage does vary, because I remember it being reported, and not on page 19 either. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/16 "2013-08-19T16:39:35Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > This is the conventional wisdom, but I never saw it. The media is too lascivious to pass up on a juicy sex scandal. And the biggest one was Clinton. They had a field day with Spitzer and Weiner, the latter didn’t even have sex with anyone as far as I know. Who did they go soft on? Clinton was a sitting President going through the impeachment process. It would have been front page news even if it was for shoplifting a banana. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/17 "2013-08-19T16:41:40Z")
And Anthony Weiner is certainly getting a pass on sexting. There are three types of “media” in the U.S. The partisan left media will babysit the right - and probably blow stupid shit out of proportion or drag on “stories” for which there is no evidence - while ignoring egregious problems on the left. The partisan right media with babysit the left - and probably blow stupid shit out of proportion or drag on “stories” for which there is no evidence - while ignoring egregious problems on the right. The non-partisan media will hold everyone to the fire - if there is little evidence for a story, they will move on. MOST organizations are not absolute on any of these, and will be somewhat “non-partisan” or “partisan” depending on the moment in time. For instance, Anthony Weiner is simply too target rich for the partisan left to ignore - ignoring him assures their status as “biased” and they get no traffic on a juicy story. Finally, all journalist are human and all media is business - its impossible to be completely without bias, so as a consumer of information, you need to understand your slant. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/18 "2013-08-19T16:49:57Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Gee, I’d have to guess the media was guilty for not calling Al Gore and John Kerry cowards for serving in Vietnam while making sure everyone remembered that George W. Bush spent his time in the National Guard keeping Houston safe from Communist air raids and was eventually suspended for not even showing up.:rolleyes: > > Next question? John Kerry lied about his Vietnam experience and then ran on his service record. He was a joke then and he’s treated internationally as a joke now. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/19 "2013-08-19T16:54:17Z")
What did he lie about? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622/20 "2013-08-19T16:55:21Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > John Kerry lied about his Vietnam experience and then ran on his service record. He was a joke then and he’s treated internationally as a joke now. Cite for that, please(being an international joke, not his Viet Nam record)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iokiaddi-its-ok-if-a-democrat-does-it/666622.md?page=2)