As much as this is hilarious to hear, there is also a serious aspect. Republican candidate John James is in a close race in Michigan with incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow.

A reporter named Brenda Battel from the Huron Daily Tribune calls Michigan Senate Candidate John James to schedule an interview. She leaves a voicemail with the details of her request, then…. accidentally didn’t hang up the phone correctly; so the recording continues to pick up her comments.

What you hear next, after Ms. Battel thinks she has hung up, is the personification of media bias. Listen:

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UPDATE: Mrs. Battel is fired by the newspaper.

TRIBUNE FIRES STAFF WRITER –

“I have listened to the voicemail left by Brenda Battel to Mr. James’ campaign, and find no reason to defend this behavior,” said Kate Hessling, editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. “Brenda Battel’s employment has been immediately terminated.

“The Huron Daily Tribune sincerely apologizes to Mr. James and to the public. These statements do not represent the views of the Tribune as a whole, nor do they reflect the actions of a responsible journalist.”

(read link)

The New York Police have arrested James Polite (26), the man in this surveillance picture, in connection with anti Semitic graffiti found inside Union Temple in Prospect Heights. He’s believed to have also set fires outside schuls & yeshivas in Williamsburg. (link)

However, given the increased attention to hate crimes against the Jewish community, conspicuously missing from most media reporting on the arrest is the background of 26-year-old James Polite which was detailed in a 2017 New York Times article:

2017 – Mr. Polite, now 25, still believed that college was the best next step. He found encouragement as a volunteer in his teens, registering voters and canvassing neighborhoods in New York City during Barack Obama’s first presidential bid. Mentors on the campaign trail urged him to pursue higher education.

In 2008, at a gay pride rally for Mr. Obama, Mr. Polite met Christine C. Quinn, then the City Council speaker.  (link)

View image on Twitter

Christine Quinn @chriscquinn

12:05 PM – Nov 3, 2018

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) — Police have made an arrest after disturbing messages of hate were found inside a Brooklyn synagogue Thursday evening, the latest in a string of anti-Semitic incidents across the nation.

James Polite, 26, is charged with four counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and making graffiti.

Authorities said Friday that Polite was sent to Woodhull Hospital for psychiatric observation.

Polite is also charged with a string of arson fires in Williamsburg, including one at a yeshiva and another at a Jewish banquet hall.

Graffiti inside the Union Temple on Eastern Parkway in Prospect Heights read “Kill all Jews” and “Hitler,” along with some other horribly offensive language.  (read more)

December 17, 2017 – New York Times biography