Candidate for Secretary of State of a huge state arrested for weapons-smuggling scheme; media ignores party affiliation

Ever hear the name Leland Yee?

If not, don't be concerned, because what and who he's involved with probably isn't important enough--or even interesting enough--to warrant national attention.

Yee is a state senator from one of the largest, most politically powerful cities in the country.  Until a week ago he was running for Secretary of State of his state--one of the largest and most politically powerful in the U.S.  He was widely regarded as a rising member of his party.

Last Wednesday the feds arrested him for allegedly offering to help procure and ship military-grade weapons--including shoulder-fired missile launchers--to Islamic militants.  Oh, and also for taking bribes.

Even more amusing, as he was setting up the gun-running operation Yee was also an extremely strong, vocal proponent of stricter gun-controls on law-abiding Americans.  So we can add hypocrisy to the story.

By rights this story should be what journalists call “good copy.”  It's got almost everything: political corruption, gun-running and sheer hypocrisy in a rising political star--exactly the kind of story you'd think the national media would have instantly picked up and run with.

How curious, then, that four of the most prominent news outlets in America ignored the story even two days after it broke.

I'm pretty sure you can guess why most national outlets have kept quiet: Yee is a Democrat, and a valued member of the party that elected Californians Nancy Pelosi and Babs Boxer.

In their first stories on Yee, neither CBS nor ABC bothered to note that Yee is a Democrat.

If Mr. Yee had been a conservative Republican or had ever attended a Tea Party rally, do ya think the MSM would have so assiduously ignored either the story itself or the guy's party affiliation?