Mike DeBonis

WashPost Hypes D.C. Gay Democrats' Woe: Back Straight Party Nominee or Gay Independent
By Ken Shepherd | April 16, 2014 | 12:45 PM EDT

There's a gut-wrenching dilemma facing gay Democrats in the District of Columbia and the Washington Post was determined that we read about it, placing staff writer Mike DeBonis's story, "Catania perplexes gay D.C. Democrats"* on the front page of the April 16 paper.

You see, David Catania, an openly gay white man who is a registered independent, is facing off against Muriel Bowser -- a straight African-American woman -- this November in the mayoral contest in predominantly Democratic Washignton, D.C. This, has prompted some soul-searching among otherwise staunchly partisan gay Democrats, DeBonis noted, devoting 29 paragraphs to the existential crisis. Deep in the article, DeBonis noted how Catania's former party affiliation, a decade ago as a Republican, might be a deal-breaker for yellow-dog gay Democrats (emphasis mine):

D.C. Mayor Pressured Ex-Gay Gospel Singer Out of MLK Concert, WashPost Downplays Censorship
By Ken Shepherd | August 13, 2013 | 12:04 PM EDT

The Washington Post reporter today that Mayor Vince Gray (D-Washington, D.C.) confirmed it was he who pressured gospel singer Donnie McClurkin to back out of Saturday's city-sponsored concert honoring the late Martin Luther King, Jr. McClurkin was the target of local gay activists because of comments he made in 2002 in which he testified about how he used to practice homosexuality but repented of that lifestyle because of his faith in Jesus Christ.

Although a group of local African-American pastors are furious about Gray's "insidious bullying tactics" and "outright infringement of Pastor McClurkin's civil rights," the Washington Post downplayed that angle in today's page B3 story, burying their outrage in the final third of the 9-paragraph article, "Gray made call to cut gospel singer from show." "Gay activists objected to scheduled headliner at King memorial," noted the subheader, giving the casual reader scanning the page no indication that McClurkin's treatment by the mayor has sparked outrage.

WashPost: NBC's Gregory Only 'Appeared' to Display High-Capacity Magazine on TV; Portrays Offense As 'Low-Level'
By Ken Shepherd | January 10, 2013 | 11:33 AM EST

While many in the media have defended David Gregory's violation of the District of Columbia's strict gun laws when he held up a 30-round magazine during a December 23 Meet the Press interview, the Washington Post's Mike DeBonis is taking things a step further, insisting we don't know for certain whether Gregory held up an actual magazine or just something that "appeared" to look like one.

From DeBonis's page B3 January 10 story (emphases mine):

HA! D.C. Liberals Fail To Put Corporate Donations Ban on Ballot
By Matt Vespa | August 9, 2012 | 3:06 PM EDT

The next time a liberal friend of yours tells you the American people believe corporate money in politics is a winning issue for Democrats, you can simply point out that in deep-blue liberal bastion of the District of Columbia that organizers of a petition drive to ban corporate donations fell short of the threshold for getting the issue on November's ballot.

That's right, as Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post reported today, the D.C. Board of Elections "invalidated about 9,000 of those [signatures], leaving them short of the 23,298 valid signatures required to appear on the ballot." DeBonis noted that "[t]he signatures were tossed out for a variety of reasons — belonging to unregistered voters, duplicating other valid signatures, missing addresses, having addresses that don’t match voter records, and illegibility. All told, the effort came up 1,726 signatures short."