I'm watching 60 Minutes, mainly to watch the President Bush interview. In addition, they had a piece on the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, which included a talk with the parents of the three accused players.
Most people know what happened, so I won't go into the details, but I don't think I've ever commented on the subject until now. Honestly, the guys accused were not people I had any sympathy for. I grew up lower middle class, and I was well aware of Chaminade, wheer Colin Finnerty's parents paid $22k a year to attend the prep school. Later, I went to East Carolina, where we got stomped by Duke every year to the tune of "Public School, Private School..... or if we scored, "That's Alright, that's Okay - You're Gonna Work for Us Someday". The thought of being able to buy a pair of strippers in college was ridiculous to me and my buddies, so if you thought I was more than willing to listen to Mike Nifong, you'd be right. Then something else happened - the truth.
It almost seems silly that the underlying reason for this whole fiasco is politics, but that's it. It was an election year, Durham County is heavily Democrat and African-American, so when a A-A woman comes to your office and says she was gang raped by a bunch of prep school jocks, you take it seriously. However, when you find out that the men accused are innocent, and that the accuser has a pretty thin story and a worse past, you drop the charges, take the heat, and let history prove that you were right. That would be the right thing to do, but we're talking about politicians here. Just keep covering up the truth, and throw some more on it and hope it's buried. Unfortunately, the truth has a habit of rising up, and it appears Nifong is taking the heat for using a troubled woman as a pawn, and for ruining three innocent ( though far from idyllic) men's lives.
3 comments:
Tawana Brawley comes to mind, though Nifong's 'do looks far more like Slick Willie's. Of note, henry McMaster's counterpart in NC didn't step into this case, Nifong has abandoned it to the AG's office, hoping to save face, we suppose.
Also of note, the state Bar, whose disciplinary actions against thier members tend to be kept from the public, lest slaps on the wrist be unfairly judged by an outraged badn of ignorant louts (non-lawyers), has announced that they are following up wiht actions against Nifong.
BTW, has Nifong announced his endorsement of John Edwards?
You are definitely right on this one.
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