Monday, May 14, 2007

Ashley: "We Have a Lot to Celebrate"

Three days have passed since the release of the Baker/Chalmers report, which conceded that a Durham Police Department investigation led to the indictment of three innocent people, but essentially blamed the defense attorneys for the problem.

Even before the report appeared, the N&O excoriated the department, and the Chronicle has likewise expressed skepticism about the DPD’s work.

The Herald-Sun’s response to the report? Silence on the editorial page—perhaps unsurprising given the page’s seeming disinterest in prosecutorial misconduct over the past year. And editor Bob Ashley’s Sunday column concluded with the following line, “The signs are pretty clear that we have a lot to celebrate.”

Amazing.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carolyn says:

Bob Ashley of the Herald Sun actually says 'the signs are pretty clear' about prosecutorial misconduct?

Hell, if the signs were written in crop circles in a field of corn, the idiot still couldn't read them.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what meds he's on but I sure wish I had some.

Gary Packwood said...

Bob Ashley’s is just continuing the tradition of denial and SPIN made famous by Baghdad Bob and Mayor Ray Nagin.
::
GP

Anonymous said...

See, just like Nofing said -- if you're innocent, you don't need an attorney and things will work out just fine. You can see that Nofing and Ashley are kindred spirits...

Now, if Nofing would just get rid of his attorney, he'd be OK too! Or, maybe his attoney status is the thing that has to go -- yeah, that must be it!

Anyone know if Ashley has retained council? This woulod tell us everything we need to know, you see: innocent until represented.

mac said...

"The signs are pretty clear..."

Ashley's tea leaves are apparently
full of THC, and those
are the signs he's reading from.

Welcome to Durh, North Korealina.

Durh de Durh!

Anonymous said...

Bob Ashley finds questions about Durham's negative image "wearily familiar to those of us in the media."

The media should be the vanguard of those seeking answers, not of those dismissing the questions.

Sharing the page with Ashley's op-ed was Duke President Richard Brodhead's commencement address at Fisk University. There was no hint of Duke or lacosse except this: "We follow the news of the criminal justice system, but it doesn't make us reflect on what it would actually mean to be just." Speak for yourself, buster. I would imagine the graduates of Fisk ("a historical black college") rolled their eyes at that.

Anonymous said...

At this point and time any one interested in the truth can safety ignore Ashley. If I were standing next to him and he said, nice weather we are having, I would still need a second opinion before I believed him.

Anonymous said...

I think Ashley is counting the days also - that darned statute!

Anonymous said...

Baghdad Bob and Ray Nagin are apt contextual entities to evaluate Durham at this point in time.

Bob Ashley is delusional. Any evaluation of the city of Durham that does not include the phrases "rotting cesspool", "filled with misguided hate", "in need of serious self examination" and "desperate victim mentality" is not in touch with reality.

What kind of diseased community could let Chan Hall's now infamous quote pass without widespread shock and panic at the morally bereft attitude which it indicated?

The attitude which enveloped the last year seem to indicate that Durham is a sad, dying city which could be greatly helped by people of courage and commitment such as the three Duke lacrosse players who were accused by a lying, mentally unstable, drug-addled prostitute and nearly railroaded by a selfish, corrupt DA. It's too bad that those three, much like most other Duke undergraduates, are practically sprinting away from their graduation ceremonies to get anywhere else. Durham could certainly use them.

M. Simon said...

I think the celebrations have just begun.

GaryB said...

Forget that silly little past legal tempus for a second. I just did quick compare and contrast between the two papers N&O and the Herald-Sun. No comparison -- the N&O is a real paper, the Herald-Sum is like one of those web-spam sites that only exist to get you to look at some advertising links.

Whatever else Ashley is, he's a poor editor and poor businessman.

Anonymous said...

The H-S needs to be careful or they may find themselves taking a stand in opposition to the City of Durham.
H-S: we have a lot to celebrate.
The mayor and at least 3 other city council members: we have a lot to investigate.

Anonymous said...

With what little hair the man has left, I'm surprised his lobotomy scars aren't more apparent.

Anonymous said...

The N@O is not covered in glory either. These folk should buy the USA today and read Cash/s paper in the barber shop.

Anonymous said...

Not amazing. Just evil.

Anonymous said...

Bob Ashley to make his point takes on Modesto CA as his whipping boy!

In fact if you remember the movie “American Graffiti” you saw it. It was the home of George Lucas and the site of that movie. Their DA is a good man who prosecuted a real criminal with the help of an Honest Police Force. That man was Scott Peterson.

Our local fools spend 13 months trying to convict 3 totally innocent guys and he has the nerve to say Modesto has an image problem?

Little Modesto it doesn't have to worry about a corrupt DA, police force, and a Snooze room.
.

mac said...

I think Bob Ashley misquoted himself.
He meant to say:

"We have a lot to be CELEBATE
about!"

Meaning: "ya sure don't want the mosquitos that come from this
breeding pool!"