Emanuel Cleaver's "spitting" claims have been repeated endlessly by the mainstream press - including the Kansas City Star, which wrote about the story at on several occasions. In the first:
Over the weekend, Cleaver was at the center of another incident as he walked into the Capitol to vote. A man spat on him while other protesters shouted homophobic and racial slurs at Cleaver and another black congressman with him.
And again, in the article "Kansas Citians Should be Outraged Someone Spat on Emanuel Cleaver":
So when some Tea Party supporter spat on Cleaver Saturday on Capitol Hill because the U.S. congressman is black, that Tea Party supporter insulted Kansas Citians as well.
Now that there's conclusive proof Cleaver was lying, what's the reaction? Nothing. The only way to find the genuine account of what happened is through blogs, like Riverfront Times, 24th State, and The Source.
There is a simple lesson in all of this: after casting an incredibly unpopular vote, Cleaver was trying to get sympathy by faking a racial incident. He lied about the spitting, and he lied about the racial slurs. His claims were serious, but by that same measure, they deserved serious scrutiny. And they never got scrutiny.
Local and national media aren't doing anything to correct their inaccurate reporting on this story.
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