Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Editorial Page Extremists

Two truly astonishing editorials today.

In Durham, the Herald-Sun writes that “there’s no choice now but to shut [the Whichard Committee] down. Reality can be a difficult pill, and this is no time for the city to lose its insurance company. Even without the committee, we know enough to realize that a bad crash is probably unavoidable. Now we’re just bracing ourselves.”

The Bob Ashley-led editorial page laments that the falsely accused “students and their families have retained some of the highest profile lawyers in the nation to punish the city and its Police Department . . . The players’ attorneys for this round of blood-letting include Barry Sheck, who helped represent O.J. Simpson.” (Actually, the attorney’s name is Barry Scheck, and he’s much better known for his work with the Innocence Project, which the H-S conveniently fails to mention.) Playing the race and class card so common to H-S editorials over the past 18 months, the paper notes, “We may also wish that the players would refrain from demanding a huge settlement that will only hurt Durham taxpayers who played no part in putting them through what, admittedly, was a long nightmare.”

Ashley et al. then outdo themselves:

The City of Durham is in a tough spot because, as they say, mistakes were made. We already know that a police lineup in which an exotic dancer identified the three lacrosse players violated police procedures. We can wish, in retrospect, that someone inside the department had stood up and screamed that the lineup was wrong and the case was a sham, but that didn’t happen.
The details of the lineup were publicly known less than a month after the first two arrests. Here was Jim Coleman, in the N&O, on June 14, 2006—in a statement ignored by the Herald-Sun editorial staff:

The circumstances under which the alleged victim identified the three defendants is typical. An assumption has been that Nifong and the Durham police merely botched the procedures under which the alleged victim identified the three members of the lacrosse team whom she claims raped her. According to the police account of the identification, however, the police officer who presided over the proceedings told the alleged victim at the outset that he wanted her to look at people the police had reason to believe attended the party. Thus, the police not only failed to include people they knew were not suspects among the photographs shown the woman, they told the witness in effect that there would be no such "fillers" among the photographs she would see.

This strongly suggests that the purpose of the identification process was to give the alleged victim an opportunity to pick three members of the lacrosse team who could be charged. Any three students would do; there could be no wrong choice. The prosecutor would not care if the pre-trial identification was subsequently thrown out by the court. The accuser would identify them at trial by pointing to the three defendants seated in front of her as the three men who assaulted her. The prosecutor would argue that she had an independent basis (independent of the identifications thrown out) for doing so.



Durham taxpayers can wish, in retrospect, that the city’s only newspaper had stood up and screamed that the lineup was wrong, but that didn’t happen.

----------

It’s not easy to make the Bob Ashley-led editorial board look moderate, but Group of 88 member Kathy Rudy was more than up to the task. Writing in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rudy (an extremist even among the Group of 88) states that she finds “what’s happening with [Michael] Vick, who pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge, alarming.” Alarming not because Vick admitted to a collective effort executing through drowning and hanging some of his dogs (Rudy euphemistically observes only that “Vick treated his dogs very cruelly”) but because . . . you guessed it:

"Vick is black, and most of the folks in charge of the other activities [rodeos, horse racing, dog racing, and the “billions of creatures we torture in factory farms for our food”] are white."

For Rudy, what’s the lesson of the case? Of course, white racism:

Animal advocates must start building coalitions with other social movements and non-white minorities if we hope to bring about widespread change for animals.

If we want to build a better world for animals, the animal rights movement must examine its own racial politics and figure out ways to put minority concerns on its agenda.

Kathy Rudy and Bob Ashley. Still playing the racial card—because, it appears, they have no other card to play.

106 comments:

Gary Packwood said...

Herald-Sun writes that the falsely accused “students and their families have retained some of the highest profile lawyers in the nation to punish the city and its Police Department.
::
How about the falsely accused students have retained lawyers to get at the truth? Period!

Punishment, if any, will be a function of truths revealed.
::
GP

Anonymous said...

If the public has to rely on MSM, in the form of the Herald-Sun and Journal-Constitution and their ilk, for being given necessary and sufficient information to cast reasoned votes on leaders and policies, this country is in trouble.

Anonymous said...

I posted a comment a few days ago in which I made a simple observation: The legal team assembled by the injured players would never have been called together, or come together, unless the eventual monetary pay-back envisioned was very large indeed.
That seems to be the exact point of the H S comment. And I mis-spelled B. Schecks name as Sheck.
Could it be? Those guys actually read us here?

Anonymous said...

"punish"

who is having revenge fantasies now?

Anonymous said...

Ashley (and I'll leave the other village idiot--Rudy--for others), is a sociopath. We're it not for some of the "highest profile lawyers," the innocent Lax 3 Hoax victims would have been framed, partly owing to H-S's actions (and inactions). H-S, Duke, Durham, Nifong, the G-88 et al.,--these folks deliberately set out to do these boys (victims) serious, grave harm. I, for one, hope they push Durham--and everyone else--into sheer financial ruin. These clowns deserve nothing less.

Anonymous said...

OK...let me get this straight. Ashley is concerned about the tax payers. Where were all these tax payers when the 'pot bangers' were making their noise. Where were they when the players were threatened with drive by shootings, the New Black Panthers, signs that read 'castrate',a university that threw them under the bus, professors that lowered grades and took out the famous 'listening ad' or the even worse...the Wanted Poster. Those tax payers spoke loud and clear when they voted Mike Nifong into office.
Do you really think after the 18 months of hell that ALL these players went through they care about the tax payers. Certainly no one cared about them. No one!

Ashley....WOW !!!

Duke Lax Mom AND SO VERY PROUD OF IT !!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Every time one of these race pimps speaks, it must make the late Reverend Martin Lither King, Jr. roll over in his grave. "Never mind the content of their character, let's base everything on their race!" Not one of the racists who gathered in Durham in the Spring of 2006 was overly concerned that the real victims of the "Duke Rape" were all caucasians and many, if not most, of their detractors just happened to be (ahem) "of color." If the race pimps are able to continue their charade, there is no hope that Rev. King's dream will ever be realized. And we can thank Jesse, Al, Waheena and the rest of G88 for their contributions to the racial divide that gets wider every day.

Anonymous said...

I guess that Marxist and PoMo nonsense is all fun and games until someone gets hurt . . . in the wallet. Now the people who dream of revolution and stringing up their enemies want mercy.

The real learning here, if any, will be among true liberals (as opposed to Leftists) and moderates who hopefully realize that Leftist wackos are not just some colorful kooks that liven up a community. They are malicious, dishonest, destructive, and expensive.

Anonymous said...

Dear Bob Ashley,

The Durham voters elcted Nifong and the city council in Durham. You get what you vote for. We believe the voters of Durham are responsibile for any civil liabilities that these public figures represent. Lets hope the monetary decision is large, and Durham itself is reminded for a long time about truth and honesty by its elected leaders. Lets also remember that the DPD is suppose to protect the public interests. They are not suppose to abuse the public trust out of malice toward some Duke students.

waiting for justice,

The Abused

Anonymous said...

YES, the legal team is looking at making a lot of money. They found a cesspool of wrong doing and immediately began licking their chops. Like shooting fish in a barrel. Why is Durham going to have to empty their wallets to pay these guys? Because the "punishment" is going to fit the crime. The only question is how many zeros will be on the check the insurance company writes. Ashley needs to look in the mirror. He still doesn't "get it."
cmf

Anonymous said...

To 9:49 (and "Duke Lax Mom AND SO VERY PROUD OF IT !!!!!!!!!!"):

God speed, and take *no* prisoners. We are behind you--and your boys--100 percent. I hope you just deep-fry these jerks. Show no mercy. They wouldn't have blinked at railroading your kids. They are only sorry (now) that they got caught.

Bury them.

Anonymous said...

Rudy has joined Selena Roberts and that guy from Syracuse (School of Management I think) in expressing two diametrically opposed world views on the Duke Lacrosse and Vick cases.

Anonymous said...

The Herald-Sun argues that Durham taxpayers "played no part" in the scandal. This assertion is nonsense, at least if we assume that the taxpayers are also voters. Nifong and the city officials who oversee the police department are all elected. Much of what Nifong did was based primarily on his calculation of what would appeal to Durham voters. And the Durham voters bought it, lock, stock and barrel. They shouldn't be insulated from the consequences of their decisions. They should be given the opportunity to reflect on why Nifong's tactics worked on them.

Oh - what about people who didn't vote for Nifong? Well, sorry, that's the way democracy works.

Anonymous said...

This was the statement of the player's attorney (Jim Cooney) the day all charges were dropped by Roy Cooper:

"And I want to call out first the newspaper in Durham, North Carolina, "The Durham Herald-Sun," who, to this day...(LAUGHTER) ... has not written a single editorial critical of the way in which Mike Nifong proceeded. If "The Durham-Herald Sun" had bothered to stand up and demand proper processes, the presumption of innocence, and doing things the way our Constitution provides, do you think Mike Nifong would have rolled forward?

Instead, they published editorials talking about how bad all the lacrosse players were, and that the lacrosse players should have to prove their innocence, and that, in addition to the crimes that night, there was a crime of a cover-up. And you will not see a word of apology from them.

In fact, as recently as two weeks ago, they were still publishing what they knew were lies, and repeating them."

I don't recall Bob Ashley asking the players to forgive the good taxpayers of Durham or his newspaper for their reckless coverage that contributed to the hoax back then. Too little too late now Bob.

You and your fellow Durhamites had your chance, now you're going to get what you deserve.

Anonymous said...

The Ashley led plea is most amazing:

“We may also wish that the players would refrain from demanding a huge settlement that will only hurt Durham taxpayers who played no part in putting them through what, admittedly, was a long nightmare.”

Excuse me?

Durham taxpayers most surely enabled and abetted the HOAX, for only they can accept responsibility for the politics, protocols and procedures of Durham. This responsibility rises not only from those events of today and last year, but also from the patina cast by past transgressions and affronts to sensibility.

Notwithstanding this responsibility, Durham taxpayers also remained largely silent to mounting evidence of evil, malicious injustice.

Silence in the presence of evil does not provide immunity to those who remained silent.
__________________________________

Ashley and the H-S editorial statements are an affront. This is not an apology, but a plea for continuance of evil.

I earlier posited the notion that $100 million represented a proper "atonement" amount.

I was wrong. Ashley has convinced me. For all those innocents who suffered the innocence forever lost, that is not enough.

$200 million, payable annually over two consecutive 30 year periods with interest at whatever rate Durham could borrow in the municipal bond market.** Poetic closure invites a rate of 8.8%
______________________________

** It occurs to me that this can be structured as a municipal financing so interest income could be exempt from Federal tax. Also, would this be the first ever municipal general obligation "justice" bond?

Anonymous said...

KC, check out Rudy's current research, taken from the Duke Women's Studies website:

"Research Interests: Ethics, Feminism, Religion, Reproductive Technologies, Animals

Current projects: Ethics and Animal Companions

The Ethics of Earthlings: Animal Advocacy for the Rest of Us.

Rudy's current project builds a new approach to animal advocacy based on feminist, postmodern, earth-friendly principles and themes. By studying animals as Pets, Food, Clothing, Entertainment, and in Science, she shows how we might understand the role of animals in human society from a different perspective than current dominant theories such as rights, welfare, or utilitarianism."

You simply cannot make this up!

Anonymous said...

Great - Rudy wants to "build a better world for animals." Fine, but how about building a better world for humans? Starting with, say, finding some new humanities faculty at Duke?

Anonymous said...

Just as the ranting of the race/sex/class crowd in the LAX Hoax has set back justice for real rape and sexual violence victims, so will the racist ranting of the Lunatic Rudy set back the prevention of cruelty to animals. Idiot!

Anonymous said...

hman ... no. The legal team came together because the families assured the lawyers they would get paid. About $1M per player by all accounts was put up/committed to, to ensure that the three sons did not go to prison for a crime they did not commit.

The lesson here is one of wealth, perhaps, in that they had enough backing to defend themselves when the media and political/legal machine moved to frame them.

As for the race card ... what about the "rich white guys" piling on the "black single mom & college student" thing? The media, Nifong, and everyone against the Lax players worked the race thing from day one. It nearly worked.

And the community jumped on with two feet, electing Nifong to a come from behind V after he promised to get these three guys hung.

So screw Durham taxpayers. If I went through this, I want to leave a mark so they thought long and hard about it the next time. Fix the problem(s), don't blame the downstream consequence.

Debrah said...

This is so pathetic.

Glad I haven't checked out the H-S website yet. There is really no hope left for people like Bob Ashley. I can only wonder how you end up being like this. What in his background--someone who supposedly got a degree from Duke and who isn't totally dumb--made him so illogical and openly dishonest?

The city of Durham should be shown no mercy. Those of us with memories know how they behaved as a whole and what they were willing to do to three men.

As for Rudy, I can only hope that most people look over her mumblings and do not take her seriously; however, we all know the Michael Vick supporters and apologists will take her comments to heart....as one more way to make excuses for a man who has shown indecency and barbarism.

As Jason Whitlock put it---Vick was given a whole lot of money before he knew what to do with it. The type of behavior he has shown should not be covered with excuses. He has to pay the price for what he did without people using his race to cloud the issue.

Rudy does have a point in that there is cruelty to animals throughout society. I agonize over this reality everyday. We can only deal quickly with those people who engage in cruelty which has been deemed illegal as Vick has done.

Rudy is beneath contempt for once again bringing in the race card as the main feature of her argument.

Anonymous said...

I hope Durham loses its insurance and property taxes quadruple to pay for the judgments against the city. They deserve it. It would be nice if the newspaper, and its maliciously ignorant editor, could be included in a suit. Durham hardly seems part of America.

Anonymous said...

Ashley should be reminded of Martin Luther King's quote:
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
Personally, I can deal with "stupid." I can deal with "dumb." I can deal with "ignorant." But I CANNOT deal with "evil."
Durham will pay for helping to perpetrate it.
cmf

Anonymous said...

In retrospect = We f__ed up!

Anonymous said...

One wonders how much the H-S currently pays in property taxes.

In addition to falling subscription and advertising numbers they will me able to add a new metric. The increased taxes associated to their lies.

If the taxes, bond rating, cost to defend the charges, etc. do increase as anticipated one wonders if Bob will write an editorial castigating those that were complicit, including the H-S.

Like the Klan of 88 showcasing that they are what they despise - racists, the H-S will demonstrate that they don't really care about those they profess to - Durhamites.

Anonymous said...

The Michael Vick thing is really wearing me out. Vick was rewarded by the Atlanta Falcons with a $130 million contract. This is racism? I enjoyed watching this guy play, and I am not enjoying watching his self-immolation.

A man who earns a $130 million contract and captains an NFL team should, and must, be held to a higher standard of conduct than any other player in the franchise. In the same way, the CEO of a corporation is held to a higher standard than his employees.

Vick was not just obliged to obey the law. He was obliged to take care of the PR image of the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL. The immediate details of his fall from grace are of no importance. The Falcons (and fans) have the right to expect impeccable behavior and performance from Vick. That's what the $130 million demands.

Anonymous said...

As a Durham resident, it is quite annoying to be lumped together with those who: 1) banged pots 2) believed these boys were guilty 3) voted for Mike Nifong 4) never spoke out on behalf of the wrongly accused. I do not fall into any of these categories. I also want Durham to pay dramatically for the wrongdoings against these kids. I also would like to see restitution for the other 43. I think Ashley should be run out of town and the Herald-Sun closed down as useless. And there are many other good, smart people in Durham that feel the same way.

You don't hurt my feelings by lumping me in with the 49% of Durham voters who elected Mike Nifong. You are simply incorrect to do so.

Hurl your insults a little more specifically.

Anonymous said...

I am not surprised that a radical leftist like Rudy would want to ally with the animal-rights nutjobs (who, incidentally are already to the left of...Trotsky). PETA is a terrorist organization with ties to the ELF and the ALF. If we were talking about Hizbollah, PETA would have been shut down years ago. Ms. Rudy no doubt supports other terrorist organization like the Red Army Faction, the PLO, etc., she just can't understand why the PETAists won't ask their ELF and ALF colleagues to burn property on behalf of NARAL, the Black Panthers, or Pravda.

Only one quibble with this post, and that is that Barry Scheck is most certainly best known among the American public for his role in defending OJ Simpson. Perhaps this is unfair, but it is true. I would not be surprised if everyone involved with the OJ trial will be stained by it for life.

AMac said...

Off-topic to the subject of this (currently most recent) D-i-W post, but not to the blog itself:

I just left the following comment on the "Credentials" thread.

---begin quote---

AMac said (8/29/07 at 10:51am)

Anon 10:07am --

Scott Kaufman, that "egghead blogger" you mentioned, wrote KC this morning that he's being spammed. This is almost certainly a result of his engaging in dialog on this [the "Credentials"] thread.

Scott, from what I can see, is a wholly credible person. He has guest-blogged for Jeff Goldstein of "Protein Wisdom" fame, which might be a meaningful bona fide for the rightward-leaning folks.

He's not making this up.

I denounce this harassment of a blogger for the thoughtcrime of dissenting from a Durham in Wonderland "consensus." There is no excuse for such anti-social and anti-intellectual behavior. None.

I hope other "regular" commenters will join me [on the "Credentials" thread] in expressing these sentiments.

---end quote---

Anonymous said...

10:04 says..The Herald-Sun argues that Durham taxpayers "played no part" in the scandal. This assertion is nonsense, at least if we assume that the taxpayers are also voters

But I don't think you can assume that, and presumably the HS doesen't either. A good deal of the Nifong voters are either unemployed or underemployed; paying very , very little in direct taxes to the city . What do they care if 1/3 of the voters in Durham (i.e. the "producers" who pay taxes) have their taxes go up ? (And, for that matter, why would the HS care either? They never did before!)

Anonymous said...

Kathy Rudy's article is pathetic. For her to compare what Vick did to the rodeo, or dog racing, or anything else is ridiculous. Vick intentionally murdered animals for no reasons other than pleasure and money. But he's black and we need to remember that white people are bad too.

Thanks Kathy, your such a great thinker.

Anonymous said...

Kathy Rudy's editorial includes:
"I look at this another way: If we find dogfighting unacceptable but we can live with other forms of animal abuse, what is the underlying distinction? Could it have more to do with the culture surrounding the human beings involved and less to do with the animals?"

Seems to me that the underlying distinction between dogfighting and other animal-based sports is the fact that the goal of dog-fighting is for one of the animals to be killed. That's why there is consensus (in the form of laws) that it is cruel.

If you want to argue that horse racing is cruel as well, fine. Discuss. But the consensus on the cruelty of dogfighting has nothing to do with it being a "black thing".

Anonymous said...

This post is entitled as "Editorial Page EXTREMISTS". I think time will show that "extremists" will not be the correct adjective.

Rather, I think the three falsely accused, their families and any other player that joins in the suit will be characterized as selfish in the H-S and most other papers. It is unbelievable that the editorial staff of H-S would write "The players’ attorneys for this round of blood-letting . . ."; "blood-letting", really?? But it is likely that other papers will pick up on the characterization of the Durham tax payers as the poor innocents who are going to be bankrupted by the "blood thirsty" players. The fact that the entire team was publicly humiliated and that the three falsely accused faced 30-years in prison for a crime that not only did they not commit, but that DID NOT HAPPEN will be ignored. Editorials such as the H-S editorial will not be extreme, but will be commonplace.

Personal note; one of the most eye opening experiences of my young professional life was when I was clerking for a judge assigned to the criminal division and I first saw a criminal defendant, up close and personal, bound in shackles. My judge after sentencing and noticing my reaction turned to me and admitted 'guilty as he is, it's a hard thing to send a man to prison'. Maybe Ashley and his ilk need to spend some time in a court room and see defendants in shackles and try to imagine an innocent man so bound. Maybe then their eyes will open.

Anonymous said...

When are people going to get it? Innocent until proven guilty is an absolute, and people/institutions/ media and cities must be held accountable to that principal.

The City of Durham elected Mike Nifong because he promised to prosecute 3 men. Instead of electing someone whose platform should be seeking truth and justice, the people of Durhan elected a DA on the basis of racism and hatred.

This lawsuit needs to leave a HUGE mark, and as far as I am concerned the NC NAACP should be sued as well, along with the Black Panthers and anyone else who so malicioulsy violated one of the basic principles of our justice system (again, Innocent until proven guilty). Most of us following this case know who those people are, and KC Johnson's meticulous documentation of the facts has systematically exposed the slime that used this case to bolster their own agendas.

I do feel sorry for the taxpayers of Durham who stood up for truth. Sadly, they were a drowned out minority, and now stand to pay for their peers intolerable stupidity.

Bob Ashley, as usual, is wrong. He continues to obfuscate the truth, use the media as his platform to spew lies, and fails to realize the need to seek truth and weed out corruption.

BDay

Anonymous said...

OK, Kathy Rudy's convinced me: We should re-legalize dogfighting -- and even have internet betting for it. Coming next: Yowltube.com

RRH

Anonymous said...

"We can wish, in retrospect, that someone inside the department had stood up and screamed that the lineup was wrong and the case was a sham, but that didn’t happen."

Ah-hah! Finally, they admit it. The case was a sham.

Why didn't *they* stand up and admit it months ago?

Anonymous said...

Is Ashley a Communist?

Anonymous said...

Is Rudy a Communist?

Anonymous said...

Yo amac, I left the 10:07 comment on the creds comment line. I didn't call ANYONE an egghead. Go back and read the post. I don't support the spamming of anyone, nor have I ever sent a nasty email to anyone involved in the Hoax. I actually think the accusation sounds a lot like the ones heard from the 88ers about "hate emails" and the like. You remember, the ones that have never been shown to anyone. debrah actually got my point. I believe these bloggers are tagging on to K.C.'s fame to prop up traffic on their own blogs. If I have any need to read K.C. bashing, I can stay right here. I have no interest in the blogs, nor do I suspect that many here do. Hope thats not to "anti-intellectual" for some of the guest here.

Love,
Floyd from Creedmore

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

1. Of course the Durham population is responsible. Nifong was pandering to the Durham population for votes. Without them, Nifong has zero interest in this case. [An added plus is that the 88 gangsters are generally the types to choose to live more urban Durhan rather than one of the more suburban counties around Durham.

2. Another irony is that Mike Vick is being sacraficed on the alter of PC that Rudy supports.

Anonymous said...

I am stunned that Kathy Rudy makes the statement:

We need to face the fact that dog fighting is not the only "sport" that abuses animals. Cruelty also occurs in ... horse ... racing.

I happen to know a little bit about horses. In fact, I know a lot. Family has been involved in flat track, steeplechasing, eventing and hunting for 50 years or so. One family member has risen to prominence in the publishing business with a prestiguous magazing covering equine matters. As a consequence of these family associations and through the years, I have met and spoken with many quite knowing people, from grooms, to jockeys, to owners of all manner of horse. (I've also mucked out a stall or two.)

If there is a single common denominator among those people that I suggest Kathy Rudy needs to better understand (or even witness), it's this: They have a love for their horses and their sport(s) and recoil in horror when they see cruelty of any kind. Yes, the vivid image of Barbaro breaking his leg is a convenient factoid for Rudy's hypothesis, but what she fails to understand is that Barbaro's tragedy did not occur by virtue of cruelty. My hypothesis: More wild mustangs break their legs stepping in gopher holes each year than break them in sporting events, unconstrained in any way by human interaction.

And, oh by the way, the views of these horse people to a great extent reflect their eye for life and interaction with other people. Yes, horses and equine sport tends to attract the upper class -- but that has absolutely nothing to do with personal economic reality(ies). It has to do with manners, social grace, decorum and the love of horses.

"Class" is not necessarily related to money or wealth. Too many (incorrectly) think otherwise.

I suggest that Michael Vick, by virtue of his manner (and not his race), is not upper class. His $130 million could not buy him admission to things that some receive for free.

I sure wouldn't share my stirrup cup, .... with either Rudy or Vick.

Anonymous said...

To 11:08

If there is evidence that one of us is harassing someone you should give that information to KC.

Didn't some of the 88-ers also claim harassment?

Anonymous said...

"Just as the ranting of the race/sex/class crowd in the LAX Hoax has set back justice for real rape and sexual violence victims"

I really hate hearing this. It's certainly made life harder for false accusers, but why is that a bad thing?

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

Another irony Rudy exhibits is how so many in the "humanities" have become anti human.

Anonymous said...

Bob Ashley reminds me of the boy who murders his parents and begs for mercy on the grounds that he is an orphan.

james conrad said...

"The City of Durham is in a tough spot because, as they say, mistakes were made."......the city of durham is in a tough spot because the city of durham violated its own procedures designed to keep the city from getting in a tough spot. a 10 to 20 million judgement would not be out of line here and given reports of a 5 mil insurance policy, the tax payers are gonna have to pay. hopefully the tax payers will wake up to the fact that change is needed in durham city gov

Anonymous said...

So why is the Atlanta Journal-Constitution printing Rudy's bilge?

How did they acquire this piece? Was it solicited or was Rudy shopping it around?

Is the AJC right to believe that printing it will help them sell papers? If so, who's the audience?

Anonymous said...

I love this paragraph of Rudy's:

Whether or not dogs are fought more by minorities than white people is actually unknown, but the media representations of the last several weeks make it appear that black culture and dogfighting are inextricably intertwined.
As a direct result of black activists using that argument in Vick's defense!

Ya gotta have a great ability to "compartmentalize" your thoughts in service of protecting your ideology against cognitive dissonance to read the above sentence and not come to a grinding halt. I guess I've just identified Rudy's target audience.

Anonymous said...

"Yes, horses and equine sport tends to attract the upper class -- but that has absolutely nothing to do with personal economic reality(ies)."

Gimme a break. That may not be the only factor, but it sure is one of them. Yearly maintenance expenses on a horse are a lot more than on a goldfish.

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or would anyone else like to get Leona Helmsley's dog and leave it on Michael Vick's back porch?

Anonymous said...

ralph phelan @ 1:14

I respectfully beg to differ.

It costs much less to go to a point-to-point, a steeplechase or the flat track than it does to go to a NFL or NBA game. In fact for about $150 per year, one can join the National Hunt and Steeplechase Association. And the membership provides for free admission to many events -- both fall and spring.

That's much less than season tickets to see the Braves.

QED
________________________________

I didn't restrict my comments to only those that owned horses. A lot of people enjoy equine sports without ever owning a horse.

I don't own a horse, but I enjoy equine sport. But I do own a goldfish, which right now, costs me more than my horse.

Anonymous said...

how about Vick's dogs on the Fong's back porch?

Anonymous said...

"Is it just me, or would anyone else like to get Leona Helmsley's dog and leave it on Michael Vick's back porch?"

But who is the dog's heir? Probably some conniving bitch.

Anonymous said...

Over at Liestoppers, "apiscustos" wrote: "Consider for a moment a herd of deer being run down by wolves. While survival of the group is important, the survival of the individual is more important for each individual. You can almost hear each of the deer saying, "I don't have to out run the wolves, I just have to out run you."

Durham is going to be sued. If I was a gambling man I would put money on there will be a trial. Durham is going to lose big time. The insurance companies are going to lose big time. The futures of those who mismanaged the crisis at the insurance company and in Durham are less bright. Carreers will be ruined. Some may go to jail, others will lose wealth.

All those in this sorry rush to judgement are now the hunted. Herding together is a useful device for individual survival against pedation for a time. It gives comfort to the individual because because the rest of the herd serves as a buffer between the predator and the individual. "To get to me they must get through them." It gives no protection because eventually an individual is not longer the fastest.

What we are seeing here is the Durham herd is coming under pressure from the wolves. The wolves appetites have not been sated by the first kills. (Nifong and Duke) The herd is no longer trying to out run the wolves. They are trying to out run each other."

Yeah, this sounds about right. I think it sums up recent events nicely.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see proof of Scott Kaufman's allegations.

I flat-out do not believe him.

Anonymous said...

I sent to the following email to Boob Ashley and one of his confederates:

In reading your editorial today, I must admit to being stunned at the naked hypocrisy that is going on. Where was the Herald-Sun a year ago when these indictments were made -- without a shred of evidence, as even you admit now? Oh, you were writing editorials demanding this case go to trial. You were defending Nifong. You were defending the police. You were defending Durham.

Where was the H-S editorial page a year ago when Reade Seligmann had death threats made at his hearing? Oh, you were giving us op-eds by people like Grant Farred, who was claiming that Duke students were a bunch of racists because of the voter registration some of them were doing. You gave credence to every lie that Nifong told, and you even claimed in one of your editorials that since there were a few minutes when Kim Roberts and Crystal Mangum were separated, that such circumstances meant a rape was possible.

Now you have the gall, the utter gall to call for the former accused and their parents to modify their demands so poor, poor Durham won't have to pay through the nose. If you two were so damned interested in Durham not having to pay and pay and pay for what city employees did, then why were you not urging caution when it counted?

The performance of your newspaper -- if we can call it a newspaper -- simply was craven. Of course, since the New York Times also was craven and dishonest in its coverage, you can claim that you were joined at the hip to the "newspaper of record."

So, if you don't want Durham's assets to go to the families that were grievously wronged, perhaps you should have thought of that when Nifong first was making untrue statements. Perhaps you should have done something besides trash "60 Minutes" when it blew the case apart in its broadcast.

So, be proud of your pathetic and dishonest coverage. And you can proudly say that you helped Durham to be sued. Furthermore, since the voters of Durham elected Michael B. Nifong -- with your blessing, I should add -- then they should be happy to pay whatever money comes out of the pending lawsuits. Pay it with pride. Durham was a place where innocent people were threatened with death -- and you stood by in that moment when it counted. So, please, please, please do not tell Reade Seligmann and his family to be moderate when neither of you were willing to do the same. And do not say to Collin Finnerty, David Evans, and their families, which suffered so much, that they should not be compensated for the crimes that your newspaper endorsed. Instead, maybe you should tell them you are sorry, and then turn in your resignations and let your paper be run by real journalists.

William L. Anderson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Anonymous said...

The title on Rudy’s article, “White culture’s hypocrisy about Vick,” is eye-catching, but never proven. She probably did not select it, and it is just meant to sell papers. This is typical of the AJC.

Even though she does state she despises dog fighting, she then goes on her crusade to condemn the condemners. The article is not well written, and one is unable to apply what she says to help those who participate in anti-social behavior.

She claims that is was the sport of upper classes. But when, 150 years ago? Can you just see the Vanderbuilts, duPonts, Mellons, and Asters having dog fighting events? The laws against these activities go back to the 1860s. Vick should have researched this a little bit better, only Idaho and Wyoming have it as a misdemeanor.

For the sake of her argument, let’s say her premise is correct. (Vick did it because the rich blue bloods did it first.) How come he and many blacks buy homes, get married, play polo, water polo, golf, avoid bling-bling, braids, do-rags, invest in Wall Street, graduate from college, create endowment funds, are visible in do-good projects, donate huge amounts of money to needy causes, etc.

Are readers to believe that black follow white evil acts, but somehow can’t good acts? Vick didn’t even follow the giants of his own culture (sports): Magic Johnson, Walter Payton, Shaquille O’Neil, Tiger Woods, Hank Aaron and many, many others.

Rudy then goes on to undermine her own dream that we will someday live in a place where we all believe as she does, in regard of the treatment of animals. She states that the only reason dogfighting is illegal is because the middle and upper class no longer do it. (Maybe whites finally saw it for the horror it is!) Also that law-enforcement has evidence that it is closely connected to gang activity, drug distribution, gambling networks, organized crime, etc.

She seems to put a wedge between the issue of right and wrong. If whites do right first, it does not count. By being first on this issue, whites seem to have put a stumbling block on blacks to stop dogfinghting.

Rudy continues:
“I am not saying dogfighting is acceptable, but rather that Vick should be publicly criticized for that activity, not for his participation in hip-hop subculture”
Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe this is part of the vast right-wing conspiracy? The problem is that it is difficult to find such wide-spread reports. The reporters that aren’t gushing with worship and hopes that he’ll be given a second chance, are merely criticizing him for his brutality (and these are far and few ) But, she can count on blacks to add this to their talking points, and hopefully the MSM will follow.

I can’t go on. The b*ll sh** just goes on and on. I have to go clean my boots.
cp

Anonymous said...

One of the big themes of the enablers was the importance, the critical importance, of holding the lacrosse players accountable for their actions....actions have consequences, blah blah blah.

It is not only acceptable, but imperative that Durham pay for its wrongdong. It was not "free" to elect Mike Nifung, it was not without consequences to enable a witch hunt, it was not without consequences to openly disregard police procedures in order to serve craven political goals, it had consequences.


What Bill Anderson stated, and what many of us don't forget is that the exposure of Nifong later in the day did not change the fact that virtually the entirely of the crime was open and visible early on from the refusal to abide by the results of the DNA testing to the phony line up to the conflicting statements. No reasonable person could have gone forward with the prosecution here but Nifong did and, facts be dammed, the city supported him.

So, why is it important to compensate the defendants? It is important so that the next time these issues arise, the citizens of the town or village or state, be it Durham or elsewhere, understand that refusing to abide by the constitution has costs and they may reconsider whether they should indulge their awful instincts at the expense of others.

Anonymous said...

In tolerating a corrupt police department, the taypayers of Durham indirectly participated in what is a travesty of justice. Just a little stand-up character on the part of the police department could have avoided all of this, and still there are those who would thwart the process of giving Durham an incoruptible police department for a generation . . . tsk, tsk, tsk. Come on boys, honesty is the best policy. You are not really stone cold crooks . . . are you?

Anonymous said...

Inman:
"I didn't restrict my comments to only those that owned horses."
< begin EmilyLitellaMode > Never mind. < end EmilyLitellaMode >

Anonymous said...

Prof. Anderson,

Why didn't you tell them what you really think? :)

RRH

M. Simon said...

Bill,

You sunk that one in deep. When do you start twisting?

LOL

Simon

=========

And what does MOO mean? I wasn't around when that happened.

Anonymous said...

The families hired attorneys to punish the city and DPD?

It is pretty clear the city and the DPD were not going to take remedial steps, give the original whitewash report, and the glacial pace of the Whichard Committee.

The lacrosse families are doing the people of Durham a favor by continuing to pursue this case. Parents living in Durham must understand that this apparent manufacturing, cooking and hiding evidence and other unethical behavior could happen to any of their kids.

IMHO, it will be worth whatever it costs teh Durhamites, if the end result is an ethical justice system.

-RD

Anonymous said...

The lying Crystal Mangum goes about her business,with no accountability and with no judgement from her community. She is rarely mentioned. The truth from this one person and all of this could have been avoided.

Anonymous said...

I have a really good analogy to the Vick case that shows that Rudy and her ilk are FOS.

In the mid 90s, 23 people (men AND women, ALL WHITE) were convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois of wire fraud in connection with the murder (mostly by hideous electrocution) of show horses, in order to collect on their equine insurance policies. These were mostly upper and middle class people, including George Lindemann, Jr., son of a BILLIONAIRE, who served nearly 3 years in a medium security federal prison for the crime of arranging the electrocution of his horse just to collect $250,000 in insurance money. (Those of you who are legal eagles can look it up: U.S. v. Lindemann, 85 F.3d 1232). Among those convicted was Barney Ward, an Olympic equestrian medalist. (U.S. v. Ward, 895 F.Supp. 1000). Additionally, all of the convicted felons were thrown out of the sport of horse showing by its governing body (American Horse Shows Ass'n v. Ward, 895 F.Supp 1000)

I rest my case.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Ashley wants to write a check.

Anonymous said...

Boob Ashley wrote back:

Dear William Anderson:

Thank yor sharing your thoughts.
We clearly disagree on our performance, and in the end, our success here will be assessed more by our readers and this community than by observers from afar.
But I do appreciate your taking the time to share your views.

Bob Ashley

editor
The Herald-Sun
PO Box 2092
Durham, NC 27702
919-419-6678

bashley@heraldsun.com


I retorted that at least I would not have to pay the new taxes Durham will have to pass.

Anonymous said...

Although it's not fair to lump them all together, it's clear the majority of the people in Durham were happy to sit back and let the hoax continue.

If you want to know what the people of Durham really think about the treatment of the lacrosse players, just read some of the old coverage of the Herald Sun and News Observer. You can also look at the Baker/Chalmers report (keep in mind this document was produced by the Durham police chief and city manager) that says there were no errors made by the police in the case.

Make no mistake, the chief of police and city Manager are saying they would do everything the same way all over again. Let's also not forget that nobody, not a single police officer or anyone else (except Mike Nifong) was disciplined in any way.

How can Durham possibly deserve mercy or forgiveness when no wrongdoing has been acknowledged?

Lastly, you can look at the activity of bigoted groups like the NAACP and UBUNTU, who to this day call the players rapists on their website. This is a group founded by Durhamites and operating in Durham. It claims it was founded in the aftermath of the March 13, 2006 rape of a black woman by the Duke lacrosse team.

I haven't heard anyone from Durham slamming these groups for their irresponsible and dishonest actions.

Attention Bob Ashley and people of Durham, you had the chance to speak out against injustice and instead you cheered it on. Some of your fellow citizens (just look at the Ubuntu website) are still cheering and stating as fact the rape the world knows is a lie.

You and your city are about to get exactly what you deserve. I for one will sit back with a nice glass of scotch and enjoy the show.

It's way past time for real "truthtelling" in Durham

Anonymous said...

12:04 Inman inre: Horse racing.

First, you sir are welcome regarding my note.

Second, your comment reminded me about the time my sweet mother-in-law hired some guys to sit in a portable deer stand mounted a tree about fifty feet from their home. They live on acreage in what has become an urban area and have a few horses.

It turns out new development adjacent to their property had scared up some ground hogs. Ground hogs and thoroughbreds do not mix well. So she negotiated a deal with a couple of bow hunters to solve the problem and they did.

I don't know of any that support dog fighting, however people like Kathy Rudy might want to spend some time in the country.

It is clear that she is too close-minded and intolerant...an anti-intellectual.

Anonymous said...

To Ralph Phelan,

Why do you say it is now more difficult for false accusers?

Au contraire. Crystal, the false accuser, is not being prosecuted, not for her false reports, nor for her drug use, public intoxication, or for prostitution. She's above the law.

Speaking of Crystal, why is everybody afraid to say EXACTLY how many DNA samples were found inside her? Is the number so large that it is embarassing to even speak it?

Anonymous said...

I can understand the decision to delay the Whichard committee - since any finding of wrongdoing could cost the City sizable insurance proceeds. I just hope once the cases are settled (no way the City would want to go to trial on this), they resume their investigation and announce them publicly.

I love Durham. I lived there for 18 years (1987-2005) and to be honest hope to move back there next year. But as costly as it may be to me personally in the form of increased taxes, I also hope the lawsuits are painful enough for the citizens of Durham to encourage them to clean house in their City government.

Durham needs a new mayor, new city manager, a number of new council members. The new police chief is coming - he can't be worse than Chalmers. The City's street are among the worst in the state (with something like 63% rated unsatisfactory). The schools (though not as bad as their reputation) are mediocre at best. Worst of all the City government (from the school board to the planing department) are dysfunctional.

If it is darkest before the dawn, let's hope a new day is coming soon for Durham.

Anonymous said...

The good citizens of Durham are ultimately responsible for what has happened, since they elected/hired(indirectly) thelr government officals and the Police Department and even actively participated in the illegal spectacle surrounding the so called Duke Rape Case. It is only fair that those self same citizens be required to compensate the wrongly accused la crosse players if it turns out, as it appears likely, that there was subsantial wrongdoing in the Durham justice system. Unfortunately, Durham is not an isolated instance of a gross miscarriage of justice. One hopes that the cost to the City of Durham is great enough to send a clear message to all parts of the country that the penalties for unlawful acts by those sworn to uphold the law will be very, very high!

LarryD said...

I understand that cock fighting is popular among some Asians (actual cultural influence here) and it's illegal for the same reason as dog fighting.

And Asians, being statistically more successful than even whites, can hardly be an oppressed group.

Come to think of it, what kind of racism do whites have, when Asians are at the top of the heap?

Anonymous said...

LOL at Rudy taking any position at all besides contempt for animal-killer Michael Vick. Shows the mentality of the 88. Am I being too dramatic to call it another case of evil defending evil? Animal rights activists, I think/hope, will never buy such stupidity.

Anonymous said...

How does one put a price on depriving three innocent young men of their freedom for 30 years?

How does one put a price on the permanent tarnishing their reputations have suffered?

And, how does one put a price on the year of hell that these young men and their families were put through?

Maybe if taxes have to be raised in Durham in order to settle with the lacrosse players, the citizens will start to demand more accountability from both their local government officials and from their local newspapers.

I hope that the players and their lawyers show as much compassion for the city of Durham as the city of Durham has shown them in the past.

Anonymous said...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution doesn't seem to learn, does it? Weren't they the paper who smeared Richard Jewell? Did they ever apologize/settle a lawsuit/otherwise indicate that they screwed up in that case?

Anonymous said...

Ah, geez, why did Rudy have to be a woman? You can not BELIEVE how embarrassing it is to see one of my sex whipping open her Duke raincoat in public to flash the world with her stupidity!

It was bad enough when she was playing with the Gang's string. Now she's playing with herself -- and making us watch! Disgusting!

Anonymous said...

If I were Reade, Dave or Collin and I met Bob Ashley, I'd be mighty tempted to kick that asshat in the crotch.

Appealing to the decency of the Lax 3 to spare the citizenry of Durham by not going for a large judgment. That would be the same group of citizens who were content to either participate directly in banging pots and issuing threats of violence or stand-by (accompanied with a shit-eating grin, I'm sure) and watch others do so.

I said a couple of days ago, I hope the Lax team takes Durham to the cleaners, but now that I've seen this summary of Ashley's POS editorial, that goes double.

Ashley had plenty of time to participate in helping to stop the Nifong Express. Instead, he spent months stoking the fire in an attempt to make the engine run even faster. Now he wants everything to just go away. I'm delighted that that just won't happen.

Rudy, on the other hand, is just crazy. No way someone with that thought process should be instructing anyone on anything.

A Duke graduate and a Duke professor writing such bilge in 2 different newspapers on the same day. Thank you, Duke, for your contribution to society in the form of these two losers.

Anonymous said...

Ashley wishes somebody had "stood up and screamed" that this case was a crock?

Gimme a break! The students couldn't even get the crappy DPD or DA to listen to their side. They were screaming "Innocent; Not even there!" and the DPD did not want to hear their screams.

The taxi driver "screamed" (and boy did HE pay for it!)

The first police office who carted the enebriated CGM off to sober up "screamed", but boy did HE pay, too!

Quote for our psuedo-literate Duke Prez Broodhed: "There is none so blind as him who will not see, and there is none so deaf as him who will not hear!"

Who said that?

The whole stinking bunch of the COULD NOT SEE and COULD NOT HEAR, because the truth was that the LAX guys were naive and foolish, but NOT criminals and that truth did NOT FIT THE BIAS of those who wanted them to be guilty and be sacrificed on the altar of diversity and reverse racism and sadistic heterophobia.

Durham is guilty by association. The taxpayers were the ones who chose to encourage the culture of lying crooked public officials, because they fed them the socialistic pablum they wanted to hear/ see/ eat / swallow. So that segment of Durham stands judged as "GUILTY" and complicit in the hoax.

Nifong is in process of getting his just reward.

Durham is in process of getting its' just reward.

Duke has had its' hands smacked, but the "just reward" is just beginning.

The Ashely article begs the INNOCENT to not "punish" the guilty! What hypocrisy!!!

What would Ashley be saying if the boys had been guilty? Would he have been pleading to the DA to have mercy on them and not "punish" them too much!!

These nut-case reporters need to have a course in logic. They don't even make sense!!

I'm so excited about this unfolding that I can hardly contain myself.

Only one thing still lacking. And it would just be too cool if some of these high-priced defense attorneys could pull it off...

I beg the question of the identity of the (multiple sources) DNA found on Crystal Gail Magnum's body.

I just really really want to know if any of it belonged to a known public official????

Anonymous said...

Somebody please help me understand this. Rudy is mad because she considers horse racing and that crowd to be "uppercrust" ( and therefore closed to anybody but whites). Maybe MIZ Rudy ought to consider that a LOT of the horses being raced are now owned by people from the MIDDLE EAST. Wealthy Arabs!

And she is mad because it looks like the poor ole Vick and his buddies somehow just got forced into strangling the dogs that couldn't win in their dog fights. Now help me here, Miz Vick, who was making Vick do that? Surely, somewhere along the way, one of your Gang of 88 buddies must have some cock-eyed study going that will explain why a BLACK BOY who is a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE and making more money than several generations of my (white) family will ever see... now help me figure this out... what abberation in his character would make this WEALTHY black athlete risk his whole career to indulge in the illegalities of dog-fighting, perhaps gambling ( wasn't over $100 million enough money for him?) and the ruthless, barbaric, sadism of HANGING the
looser dogs? Surely, one of those all-knowing, pot-banging brilliant profs at Duke can analyze the psycho-social abberations of Vick, and find some white person somewhere to blame.

It's a stupid crock!

There are cruel, awful, malicious white people, and no black person made them that way.

And there are cruel, awful, malicious black ( and yellow, and brown, etc. ) folks, and no other race made them that way.

It is really time that these nutcakes get past their aging hippy status and move into some concepts of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and accountability.

And I'll be danged if people are going to stand for Rudy extending the Vick saga into horse racing! Some people will write anything, just to get attention!

Does anybody really take people like Ashley and Rudy seriously?

Anonymous said...

carolyn @ 6:40

I'm really starting to like you!

Debrah said...

TO 6:40PM--

Very funny.....and clever!

Anonymous said...

One possible real good from the financial disaster the city of Durham is facing would be an inability to meet obligations. In that case, some entity would have to assume the obligations. The only likely candidate is Durham County; the two governments would merge into a consolidated government unit. The racial, social, and demographic characteristics of a merged system would profoundly alter my town, for the good.

Anonymous said...

I would be amazed if Rudy cared one whit what anyone of this board thinks about her or her statement.

Anonymous said...

8:29

I like your comments and appreciate them as well!

Anonymous said...

9:16

Interesting from a political strategy standpoint!

mac said...

I suspect that Kathy Rudy could teach us all a thing or two, hardened as she is, hating as she is, like a line from the song by Jan Arden:

"I thought you might have some advice to give on how to be insensitive."

Sensitivity isn't just a new garment, thrown on casually; it's not a soup du jour; it's not a current fad, made-to-order: it isn't sensitivity when you set a match to a bug you don't like, and weep over the one someone else stepped on by accident.

How does Ms. Rudy feel about Mr. Elmostafa? She hasn't demonstrated any sensitivity toward him? I think many have forgotten him: someone mentioned Mr. Elmostafa earlier in this thread: I strongly suspect - (and hope)- that he's got an attorney, or is working with the students' attorneys, and will be fairly compensated for Durhh's terrorism.
He's a hidden card in the deck.

I wonder if he's in hiding?

Anonymous said...

I'm the one who mentioned Mr. Elmostafa, but I had forgotten his name. Thanks for mentioning it.

I hope he IS in hiding. I would suspect that the Three GOOD families are looking out for him. He saved Reade's fanny... Actually Read saved his own fanny by getting out of that place FAST, but Mr. Elmostafa helped verify his alibi.

Speaking of all the goody-goody folks of the Gang of 88 "cultural sensitivity"... how do they account for the fact that an immigrant minority taxi driver was willing to practically risk his life to tell the truth about a "privileged class" white boy?

Nope! It is NOT about race, or about money ( see previous post about the WEALTHY sadists who electrocuted horses).

It's all about character ( who you are when nobody's looking) and you either got it or you don't and it has NOTHING to do with education, money, or skin color. And it doesn't matter which university you went to, or which political party you are, either.

Hats off to the GOOD Durhamite who is willing to move back and become a part of the solution!

Durham and Duke are worth saving.

But first, the fallout has to be cleaned up.

Gary Packwood said...

bill anderson 3:49 said...
...Boob Ashley wrote back:
...Dear William Anderson:
...Thank yor sharing your thoughts.
...We clearly disagree on our performance, and in the end, our success here will be assessed more by our readers and this community than by observers from afar.
...But I do appreciate your taking the time to share your views.
...Bob Ashley
...editor
...The Herald-Sun
::
And here I was so naive to think that he would be telling you that their first priority was truth telling for their readers and their community.

I was also naive in that I thought he would have at least acknowledged that his definition of 'community' and 'readers' had changed because of the availability of the INTERNET to 'readers' in the world 'community'.

I guess we will just have to keep after him year after year until he learns.

Lather, rinse, repeat
::
GP

Antaeus Feldspar said...

I seem to recall that way back when, back when people thought it was the lacrosse players that had done wrong, there was talk about Willie Gary striding into town for what I guess Ashley would call a "round of blood-letting" -- a civil lawsuit.

I wonder if Ashley can point to one place where he expressed a hope that Mangum "would refrain from demanding a huge settlement". Would he have pointed out that the players probably had nowhere near enough funds in their own names to meet the settlement amount, and fret that this would "only hurt" the parents who played no part in putting Mangum through what, allegedly, was a long nightmare? I can't picture it happening. I'm fairly sure, in fact, that Ashley would have sanctimoniously declared that the parents were at fault, for raising such hooligans as children. I don't see how, if parents are responsible for the acts of their children, Durham taxpayers are less responsible for the monsters they vote into office.

Anonymous said...

Willie did ride in - and rode out immediately when he met Crystal and the family. Not to be heard of again on this issue.

Anonymous said...

Durham has a terrible price to pay...

They fired up a lynch mob of outside thugs in the form of "new" Black Panthers, and demanded their Police Department and Nifong - and officer of the court, conduct their own version of a KKK lynching.

All on the basis of uncorroborated and constantly changing charges from a professional whore.

Durham should be sued to the point they can no longer support the ignorant taxpayer supported imbeciles who vote there... Fools and their money SHOULD be parted..

There is no proof that taxpayer money poured into supporting the electorate of Durham was a cost effective investment...

They can't seem to get past their "tribal" connections....

Dutch said...

Although ethicists discussing Lesbian Sex always leaves a bad taste in ones mouth, you can't lick Kathy Rudy's analysis.

The racism inherent in Rodeo is obvious to anyone who has ever spoken to or tried to understand Rodeo Clowns. I interviewed over eleven hundred Rodeo Clowns and other men who enjoy wearing fright wigs and patched baggy overalls for My thesis in '83 (Emerson), so I think I can speak for a fair sample of the profession. A lot of them drink which is what I think Kathy connected to, that and everybody is wearing chaps.

The sexual-racial overtones of Rodeo are obvious. The clowns jump in and out of "barrels", lusty young "cow pokes" "Bull Dog" steers, there is "Bull Riding" and an unhealthy amount of rope play. What's less certain is how all this relates to race but it does.

I could go on and I will. The donkey's painted like Zebras in Tiajuana, clearly a black and white animal ridden by the children of neglegent or intoxicated parents is another example. Monkey's forced to put on disgraceful displays by their Italian organ grinding overlords is another. (Although one can't help admiring the quiet dignity of a capuchin decked out in a tiny version of a Royal Welsh Hussar's tunic and one of those adorable pill box hats.)Will the madness never end?

Thank God Kathy Rudy has pointed this out to us and reminded us that no matter how many pit bulls Mike Vick dropped on concrete, its all about her.

Anonymous said...

5:45 Inre: post

I've been reading this blog for about a year and this is the funniest yet.

Outstanding post..."Best in Show".

Let's never forget, "Some pets deserve a little more respect than others."

Anonymous said...

5:45 Still laughing...

"And to think that in some countries these dogs are eaten." _ Buck Laughlin (Fred Willard)

Anonymous said...

I used to live in Virginia. During the years I was there, I recall reading in the local paper about several prosecutions of individuals who were involved in dog fighting (and some for cock fighting too). Most of the people prosecuted were white. If Ms. Rudy is claiming that Mr. Vick was prosecuted solely because he's black (and/or black and rich), then she should back up her argument with some actual facts. For example, how about providing statistics from Virginia that show how many people have been prosecuted on dog-fighting charges over, say, the past ten years. Then provide stats showing how many of those who were prosecuted were black. If Ms. Rudy can show some disproportionate numbers, maybe then we can consider her argument more seriously. Until then, she sounds like just another race/class/gender radical loon: "reality is whatever I say it is, and I don't need no stinking facts to back me up."

Anonymous said...

Vick --- exonerate Vick, elevate him to saint, elect him to Congress, hell, let him run as Obama's Vice-Presidential running mate. He's black, so he can't be held accountable to any laws. It's part of the black culture to dogfight, and break laws as any hip-hop, rapper song glorifies. Just kidding!

Anonymous said...

5:45 AM ... Great comment!

But you forgot to mention the dangers of second-hand smoke to rodeo animals. Most of those animals are themselves non-smokers, but they are subject to clouds of toxic, carcinogenic, probably atomic, cigarette smoke in those rodeo arenas. And who invented tobacco smoke?? .... Ok, it was persons of native Americanism, but white people are to blame.

Anonymous said...

Dutch @ 5:45

"...you can't lick Kathy Rudy's analysis."

I looked up "analysis" in a medical dictionary and couldn't find it.

I'm puzzled?

Anonymous said...

to 7:06 a.m.

Using facts to support her argument would require . . . dare I say it . . . research! And said research may contradict her narrative.

M. Simon said...

Again, what is the meaning of MOO?

To the Durhamite moving back.

Wait until after the judgment if you can.

House prices will be depressed.

Simon

Anonymous said...

m. simon:

"My Opinion Only"

Anonymous said...

Simon

I could be wrong, but I believe "MOO" is an acronym for "my own opinion."

Debrah said...

TO 12:54PM--

Thanks!

Someone has finally answered my question.

Anonymous said...

Just got back from Dutch's blog.

Its title: "Products of a Diseased Mind" is descriptive.

I read some of his work. Enjoyed it.

But if you comment, don't use the word "culture"...

Debrah said...

Hey "inman"--

Was the challenge you posted on the previous thread ever accepted?

Just curious, but not holding my breath.

LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

Nope.
Not a word.