Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Lacrosse Case According to NPR

The lacrosse case attracted national coverage from the wire services, the major news networks, Newsweek, and from the cable talk shows, as well as slanted coverage from the New York Times and the opinion sections of the Washington Post. One other national media source devoted substantial attention to events in Durham: National Public Radio.

Conservative watchdog groups have long claimed that NPR exhibits a left-leaning bias in presenting the news. NPR’s record in the lacrosse case did nothing to dispel this allegation. The network seized upon the case early, played up the race/class/gender angle, and then all but dropped coverage as Mike Nifong’s case collapsed—only to return with an extraordinarily biased comment about the defense attorneys’ post-dismissal press conference.

The first quote in the first story on the case (March 29) previewed the approach that NPR would take. The quote came from a then-Duke freshman, who put herself in the minds of the lacrosse players in this guilt-presuming passage:
You know, I’m sure a lot of them are thinking that, you know, their parents are going to take, be able to take care of this one, and, you know, obviously we’ll see where the legal process takes it. But, you know, it’s just that attitude that, you know, we’re privileged and, you know, we don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else.
I asked the student whether, in retrospect, she stood by her quote; she replied that she would no longer comment on the lacrosse case, since she was “appalled” at how the media had exploited events in Durham.

A few days later, on April 7, host Ed Gordon invited onto “News and Notes” the omnipresent Houston Baker and Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a then-University of Chicago assistant professor whose website describes her as “professor, author, public intellectual, African-American.” The Baker/Harris-Lacewell broadcast typified NPR’s preference for either assembling entirely one-sided panels or constructing guest lists that tilted in a guilt-presuming fashion.

Just over a week removed from his public letter demanding the immediate expulsion of the entire lacrosse team, Baker pronounced himself “encouraged” by the Brodhead administration’s policies, which included the cancellation of the season, the firing of Mike Pressler, and the appointment of five committees to investigate lacrosse-related matters. Such initiatives, he gushed, could allow Duke “to become a national model of such self-scrutiny now.” He positioned the lacrosse players’ behavior as part of a 40-year pattern “of elite privileged white male violence against women, against neighborhoods.” And he vigorously defended Crystal Mangum, remarking, “I would say that one thing that I would not like to lose now and that is the focus on precisely the woman who was involved in this, the alleged victim, who is now being scrutinized, previous records and other things that may have occurred in her life, and that has absolutely nothing to do with this case. It’s the defense lawyer’s strategy.”

I thrice asked Baker whether, in retrospect, he stood by his comments; he declined to reply.

Harris-Lakewell chimed in that the incident showed that “that students are as much a threat to the community, not only through violence, but the university through the appropriation of land in black communities.” The broadcast not only rejected the presumption of innocence, but neither Baker nor Harris-Lakewell appeared to harbor any doubts that a crime occurred, based solely on information provided by Nifong.

Harris-Lacewell declined a request for comment.

On April 10, defense attorneys announced there were no matches in the DNA tests that Nifong had promised would exonerate the innocent. Those who expected this news might adjust NPR’s editorial line would be sorely disappointed. On April 11, the network constructed a three-person panel:
  • Commentator Jeff Obafemi Carr: “Something—I don’t know what it was, but something did happen at this party. We’re not quite sure what it is, but it’s been obvious from the start that the lacrosse team was sticking by a well-designed and extremely well executed code of silence . . . Now, I don’t know what the next step could or should be. I shudder to think that a young woman could actually have been sexually assaulted in any way whatsoever and some person or persons could get away with it.” Obafemi Carr declined a request for comment.
  • Penn professor Mary Frances Berry: “Especially in some of the upper echelons of athletics, there are a lot of instances where men beat up their girlfriends, and they commit acts of violence on women. And rape and sexual assault is not really—it bothers me that people say it’s a sex crime. It’s really an act of aggression and violence, and that’s what I think needs to be put on the table.” In an e-mail, Berry denied that her comments referenced the lacrosse players.
  • “Republican strategist” Tara Setmayer: “Victims get raped—raked through the coals, and in a situation like this, with this victim, unfortunately, her character and her past behaviors were brought up.”
In a news broadcast the next day, NPR obtained a quote from UNC law professor Richard Myers seeming to agree with Nifong’s decision to move ahead despite the lack of DNA. Yet, as Myers recently told me, he made clear to the NPR correspondent that he was speaking only in general terms, not about the case itself—the same approach he would take when he spoke with the N&O two months later. Unlike NPR, the N&O’s Joe Neff made clear Myers’ caveat.

The indictments of Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty prompted another burst of broadcasts. Reporting from the scene, Adam Hochberg sounded like a virtual Nifong p.r. agent:
One thing that we know exists is a rape kit test that was performed at Duke University Hospital, in the hours after the alleged attack took place, and that test was performed by a nurse. It was looked at by a doctor, and it concluded that, indeed, this woman was sexually abused.
Of course, “we” did not “know” this; in fact, Hochberg’s assertion was untrue.

Dr. Julie Manly had made no such claim (indeed, it would have been improper for her to have done so at that stage of the process). And the only “injury” that Manly detected (“diffuse edema of the vaginal walls”) was easily explicable from Mangum’s robust pre-party activities, and hardly in any case qualified as evidence that Mangum “was sexually abused.” The police and Nifong’s office certainly did not get this information from a private talk with Manly: no one from Durham law enforcement ever interviewed the doctor.

In an interview later that day, the ubiquitous Mary Frances Berry defended Mangum’s chosen profession, declaring, “There’s nothing illegal or immoral about being a stripper . . . People do all kinds of things to make money. Maybe she can make more money at that or not. I don’t think we should have any judgment about her or anyone else based on what employment they are involved in. So long as it’s legal. And that should not expose her, if this did happen, to non-consensual sex, because she is being a stripper. I’ve been to parties where some, they had a guy jump out of a cake, but we didn’t all assault him, because he was there to entertain us.”

But while there was nothing wrong with Mangum’s behavior, there was something wrong with that of the lacrosse players. “There’s always also,” contended Berry, “another big picture issue: what about other universities? All of this is going to make them look very hard at the behavior of students on their own campuses. Do they have frat houses or teams where they have strippers and things that go on there? And I think that they all will be taking a hard look.”

Coming from someone who had just implied that she had attended parties with male strippers, Berry’s passing moral judgment on the acknowledged behavior of the lacrosse players was quite remarkable.

Callie Crossley, described as a “social commentator,” joined Berry on the broadcast: “The larger context is, for me, is that something did happen.” (Well, of course, she was right—a false accusation of rape happened.) Crossley continued, “We have all kinds of stuff going on in that room, having to do with race and sex and class, and whether or not a physical assault happened, we are talking about sublimation of women, there’s a whole other stuff going on that I think are important issues for us to talk about with regard to this case. Whether or not it turns out that to be that there was in fact an actual rape.”

Crossley didn’t say whether she considered Berry’s attending parties at which “had a guy jump out of a cake” to be an example of the “sublimation of men.” Nor did she say whether the issues of race required the lacrosse players, having requested white strippers, to turn black strippers away at the door.

As was customary in early NPR broadcasts, no defense attorney appeared.

The early phrase of NPR’s coverage concluded on April 19 with an on-the-scene “report” from NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams. After mentioning that Reade Seligmann’s attorney was “claiming that credit card, ATM, and cab receipts verify that he was not at the party,” Williams asserted that “everyone’s saying that there must be some physical evidence, and it’s a heavy relying on the exam at the hospital, of the woman.”

Of course, everyone wasn’t saying this—defense attorneys had denied the claim vigorously.

Williams continued: “In addition, you have some corroboration, apparently, coming from a second dancer—who says that the woman was not drunk, was quite stable when she went in to the party—but later was stumbling and incoherent when she left the party.”

Of course, Kim Roberts had described Mangum’s claim as a “crock,” and her official police statement contradicted Mangum’s April 6, 2006 account in virtually every respect. Williams finished off by saying that “there’s no DNA evidence as yet”—a suggestion that there would be DNA evidence to come. As with every NPR broadcast during this period, he did not mention the language of the March 23 NTO that the DNA tests would exonerate the innocent.

Williams would stay in the Triangle after this report, and produce two egregiously one-sided stories in subsequent days, as tomorrow’s post will discuss.

Hat tip: B.M.

193 comments:

Anonymous said...

As I recall, Juan Williams has some personal experience with the justice system and allegations.

Didn't a woman accuse him of groping and sexual harassment some years ago?

Debrah

Anonymous said...

There's really no appropriate reaction, save dismay. These "authority" figures would be targets for satire, except no one would ever believe anyone could be so silly...

Anonymous said...

You can be sure that:

1. The Duke case (Nifong and his supporters) will lead to many truly guilty rapists to going free.

2. The attitude of these media/ academic types can only help rapists to go free.

3.Most of these people do not really care. They have their agenda and only answer to selected facts.

Anonymous said...

kc,

I'm a real Grisham fan, so am happy for you that he's written a praise on your book. The excitement is building!

Gary Packwood said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gary Packwood said...

KC said...

...I asked Barnett-Loro whether, in retrospect, she stood by her quote; she replied that she would no longer comment on the lacrosse case, since she was “appalled” at how the media had exploited events in Durham. She did not say that she in any way regretted her comment.
::
The script she was given did not include anything about 'reverse' or regret.'

I am hoping she is named and her appalling quote listed in one of the books coming out about this case.
::
GP

Anonymous said...

NPR needs to apologize for its awful and one-sided coverage of the frame of the lacrosse players. NPR should also pay damages to the families. NPR also should see a funding drop. There should be consequences for this truly bad journalism.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Funny the Mary Frances Berry didn't make her comments on Pacifica radio...
Is this quote attributed to Mary Frances Berry real? I've read it in several places over the years: "Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of white men and do not apply to them."

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

This is just one more example of why there should be no tax payer funded TV or radio in days of DirectTV and XM.

Anonymous said...

I'm waiting for PBS to produce a documentary or Front Line piece on the case. I may not watch, since I want to hold on to my dinner.

This case cries out for a look at journalistic lynch mobs as well as academic and PC lynch mobs. Somehow I doubt that is what we will ever see a report on . . .

One Spook said...

Debrah writes:

"As I recall, Juan Williams has some personal experience with the justice system and allegations.

Didn't a woman accuse him of groping and sexual harassment some years ago?"



According to this site:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1713

Williams had angered the liberal left by crticizing them for accusing then-USSC nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment saying, "Here is indiscriminate, mean-spirited mudslinging supported by the so-called champions of fairness: liberal politicians, unions, civil rights groups and women's organizations,"

The left fought back and, per the website, this happened to Juan at the Post where he worked:

At the liberal Washington Post, 50 female employees came forward, some to accuse Williams of verbal sexual harassment, others to press management to punish or fire him. "It pained me to learn during the investigation that I had offended some of you," wrote Williams in an open letter of apology reported in the Washington Post on November 2, 1991. "I have said so repeatedly in the last few weeks, and repeat here: some of my verbal conduct was wrong, I now know that, and I extend my sincerest apology to those whom I offended. I have committed to Post management, and I commit to you -- and to myself -- to change my ways."

A leftist who pissed off the left .... imagine!

One Spook

Anonymous said...

There's an entire population of people desperate to believe that the 3 WHITE guys are guilty.

Disgusting behavior.

Will do wonders for their cause, I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

When you look at crime stats by collegiate athletes, its truly appalling the media can't be bothered showing the whole picture.

Their's is a one-sided agenda, truth be damned.

Michael said...

You know, Carina Barnett-Loro, will like, you know, someday, you know, regret like, you know what she, you know, said like about channeling the you know, like the Duke Lacrosse you know, players.

Was she taught by Harris?

Anonymous said...

Williams has a low-key, thoughtful delivery that allows him to soft sell anti-white vitriol with credibility. Clever man. Regardless, he must be crucified.

Michael said...

NPR: We're f*****.

Looks like they made it way too easy for KC. Lots of chuckles in tonight's post.

Are their Duke Lacrosse broadcasts indicative of the academic rigor of their reporting and analysis? I seldom listen to NPR.

Anonymous said...

NPR is almost entirely staffed with folks who'd side with G88 against mere 'red state' humans and opinions. That's one reason why their 'panels' for discussion are so one-sided - they couldn't conceive that anyone would want to listen to someone who didn't talk like a G88 professor. Even when they do find a red-stater to quote (say in one of their stories on agriculture), said 'farmer' just coincidentally talks in the same cadences and phrasing that the NPR announcers study for so many years to acquire. The only folks on that station who are privileged to speak differently are some of their glamour announcers who aren't native English speakers, and of course various inner-city types being interviewed to prove an editor's point how racist our society is.

It may be that NPR's current funding is less taxpayer funds and more contributions from grant-funded orgs like universities and NGOs. However, it was set up and established, and all that superb hi-fi broadcast equipment was installed, on the taxpayer's dime.
And if they insist on being the Blue-state Advocacy Network, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ivory Tower and G88 Inc, they should jolly well refund (to the 50% of the population whose opinions and attitudes are sneered at and opposed institutionally by NPR) half of all its contributions from 1965 through the present.

A vast wasteland indeed, and growing ever more arid.

Anonymous said...

It's time and past time for the NPR to lose all of their taxpayer funding.

Between radio. TV, cable, and the WWW, there is no shortage of venues for information to get out. We don't need to be taxed to pay for it....

Anonymous said...

Interesting to read of more people who will only be remembered 200 years from now because of their statements on this case. Remembered as idiots.

Anonymous said...

NPR takes great pains to air BOTH sides of every issue. They broadcast the Marxist, and the Leninist side, too!

One Spook said...

I believe that after KC returns from Israel, we should all gather in Durham for a serious party.

Having had this experience with another online group, I can assure you it would be a total and complete hoot.

We can agree on the gory details later, but I propose this agenda, subject to any and all input:

Saturday Arrival:

5:30 PM: Gathering at a comfortable, but not ostentatious, party room.

5:31 PM: No-Host Bar opens

5:45 PM: After the second round of drinks, the three youngest members of the group will take Polanski out into the parking lot and kick the shit out of him, but not so seriously that he cannot continue drinking.

6:00 PM: Finger Food is served

6:45 PM: "MOO Gregory" will present architectural plans for a 78 foot statue of KC Johnson to be erected in front of the Duke Chapel. Gregory will compose and submit 4 different drafts of an inscription for the base, for approval by the group.

Discussion

7:45 PM: Smoke Break

8:00 PM: Voting on Debrah's "T's" begins before she laughs them off; Olympic Flash-Card method; 10th and 100th points used (ie, 8.75).

Discussion and tabulation of votes.

8:45 PM: Board Bus for Tour of Durham

Stops at: The homes of: Broadhead; Wahneema Lubiano; Karla Holloway; Cathy Davidson; William Chafe; Alex Rosenberg and Grant Farred.

9:45 PM Return to hotel

10:00 - 12:00 Discussion, frivolity.

Thoughts?

One Spook

Anonymous said...

One Spook wrote...

Thoughts?

Yes.

Smoking is bad for your health.

Anonymous said...

Good morning, KC,

Presumably you will move to later stages of NPR's coverage of the alleged rape case, citing for example, Madeleine Brand's interview of December 26, 2006, with Stuart Taylor, on "Day to Day"? I don't have time to cross check all of NPR's coverage, but Taylor, who is/was also writing a book on the case, is certainly critical of Nyphong in this interview...

Anonymous said...

'...we are talking about sublimation of women...' I wonder what Crossly thought she was trying to say.

KC,congratulations on whacking NPR. If the so called 'Fairness Doctrine' isn't defeated you can expect to hear similar bleeding heart lib-lab slop from every direction on your radio dial.

Anonymous said...

4:19

It is a bit too late for you to be still up! Good children should be asleep by 8.

I hear the children in San Francisco have outlawed smoking indoors and even on the street.

Thank goodness Spook's party will be in tobacco country.

Anonymous said...

I periodically receive solicitations from NPR or the stations carrying the "news and commentary." The written soliciations go directly into the circular file. If it's a phone solicitation, I tell the caller I already donated. To the NRA.

Anonymous said...

RE: Barnett-Loro--
You know, reading the, you know, response from, you know, this fine freshman at, you know, Duke, I can't help thinking, you know, could this imbecile compose a single freaking sentence without the standard "You Know?"

Anonymous said...

It is upsetting that so many who have commented on the lacrosse situation are supposedly educated or represent those who would represent themselves as educated. The fact of the matter is that they are close-minded bigots. Their bigotry has denied them any sense of fair-play or insight into the dynamics of what is really going on in the world including their own lack of even-handedness. They just don't get it.

mac said...

Mary Frances Berry?

"What's in a MFB bucket of chicken?
Left wings and @$$holes."

Old joke: goes back, can be used right or left. But in this case,
in MFB's case, the parts merge...
the whole bucket is full of holes.

To recap: MFB thinks it's ok for a stripper to strip,
but not for somoene to hire hire a stripper.

Economics Mao's way!
BTW: she allegedly carried his "little red book"
around with her.

mac said...

Juan Williams? Horny perv perp?
Someone call the Beltway Boys!

Actually, his criticism of the left is
what got him in trouble. So he says. He did apologize
to 50 female staffers at the Washington Post, but...
we don't know the whole story, and won't, not until the DNA -
(the not-yet-found-DNA)- shows up.

I mean everyone has DNA: the accused students had DNA.
Doesn't the fact that they have DNA
make them criminals? (strong sarcasm)

Hey, Juan: unfortunately, there could be "some corroboration"
(after all1 of the staffers might be lying, and 49 just jumped in to
stir things up a bit.) Maybe there's physical evidence as well?
Not that it matters: ask Levicy.
These kinds of things are not about sex,
but about power etc...

We just don't know.

Something happened at the Washington Post, though:
you can count on that!

Something happened...

mac said...

KC,

Have you interviewed Dr. Manley?
Have you attempted to interview Miss Samples?
Has DNA expert Levicy commented?

Oh, well. My guess is, except for Dr. Manley, they're all
"unavailable for comment,"
as with Obafemi Carr and Houston Baker.
Of course, Baker has commented:
in a bizarre, raging, mispelled email to a mother of a student,
demonstrating himself to be a "mother" of a professor.

Racists like Baker always run and hide.
Racists/sexists like the 88 and their comrades do, too.

Anonymous said...

Too many people who post here assume a monolithic left and a monolithic right (also a monolithic center?; dunno). They seem to assume that right = pro-LAXers and left is anti. I'm not sure it does much for the discussion.

Anonymous said...

Here is another one...
AJ

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7668930


Education
Higher Ed and the Fight to Change Campus Culture

Listen to this story...

Talk of the Nation, March 1, 2007 · Duke University releases a report on making the campus a safer and more welcoming place for all students, after allegations of rape shook the campus last year. Can the culture of American college campuses be changed for the better?

Guest:

Trisha Bailey, Duke senior, member of Campus Culture Initiative Committee

Larry Moneta, Duke vice president for Student Affairs, co-chair of the Campus Culture Initiative Committee

Janet Reitman, contributing editor to Rolling Stone

Anonymous said...

other than being in a remote rural area and having to listen to NPR drivel, who listens to them and do taxpayers still fund their liberal gibberish?

SNL had their nonsense programming down pat several years ago.

I always turn the radio dial rather than listen

Anonymous said...

6:59

Does your radio dial automatically go to NPR for some reason? Otherwise, your post doesn't make sense...

Anonymous said...

Somewhat OT, but I just read in this morning's paper that a Federal Grand Jury in Southeastern Virginia returned indictments against Michael Vick and others involved in dog-fighting. Now, what's wrong with this picture? About three months ago the dog-fighting thing broke and already the U.S Attorney has investigated and presented evidence of crimes before a federal grand jury, while in Durham, three innocent young men have had their civil rights sliced, diced, and trampled upon for over a year and nobody at the federal level is interested? My conclusion: even dogs have more rights than white, heterosexual males in today's PC world!

Anonymous said...

Is Williams a Communist?

Anonymous said...

6:57,

I think we can safely assume that Trish Bailey is not a card-carrying communist--even if she does interviews with NPR--unless the Tri Delts have become a communist front!

If you google her, you can pull up the interview through a Delta Delta Delta sorority site.

mac said...

6:50 am,

No, most of us don't assume that there is a "monolithic"
left or right: may be a few make that assumption. I don't.
But there is something of a pattern., and to ignore the pattern
is not especially helpful.

left-leaners like Susan Estrich
changed her tune pretty early on
in the case; otherwise,
the left has pretty much led the charge against the students.

As KC stated, NPR - (in this case) - "did nothing to dispel"
the notion that NPR has a left-leaning bias. Mary Francis Berry
is a case-in-point, as are most of the 88s and most of the
Feinsteins and Murphys and and and...

One of my hometown columnists/journalists claims
that there really is no such thing
as a "liberal" - (but he does take
pains to refer to "right wing Christians.")
Doesn't even recognize his own blind-spot, and
he gets his facts wrong so much of the time, he's unreadable.

Most of the time, trolls of/from the 88 show up on DIW
with the same old
"right wing male" diatribe,
"accussing" us - (as if we're a monolith)-
of being afraid of scholars, female scholars and AA scholars.

In that, you're right: the left-leaning trolls
do see in monochrome.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, 7:23,

I don't consider NPR left wing, so I guess I'm not surprsied that NPR's reporting "did nothing to dispel" its left-leanign bias. Didn't have one to dispell.

But then, I don't consider liberal to be left wing.

Are those who go at the so-called "left" on this blog also trolls?

Anonymous said...

I remember listening to NPR in the early 80's. I was always fascinated by South Africa and wanted to go after college. Almost every day they had a report about the country. After segregation ended I rarely heard the country discussed. One reason may have been it wasn't safe any more. I've never really listened since.

AJ

Anonymous said...

One Spook 3:02sm:
Good ideas for a party! I'm bringing a pot to bang and a sign to wave on the bus tour.

I can't say that I mind slanted/biased editorializing as long as the producers are up front and honest about it, and let's face it folks: NPR (along with the NYT and others) is editorializing, not valid, legitimate news. Those people just don't have the integrity to clearly state that they're presenting biased information. I like NPR in the same way I like Fox News (they're opposite sides of the same coin) - I get the news from the perspective of biased 'reporters' and thereby gain insight into how propaganda works. That way I can recognize when I encounter it and am prepared to avoid being hoodwinked.

What I do have a major problem with is editorializing on my and other taxpayer's dime. I agree with the other poster who stated that NPR should not only lose all public funding, but should also be forced to refund all of the funds back to, say, 1965. They have enough Sugar Mamma beneficiaries to do this and still be able to pay the under-worked, overpaid clowns like senior legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg (where has she been on this major case of prosecutorial misconduct?!), Susan Stamberg, Linda Wirthheimer, Cokie Roberts, Juan Williams, et al.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to thank 6:57 for the link. I don't find anything "left-leaning" about this discussion, not least, since it's "Talk of the Nation," which takes calls.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 6:50 am

Your point is well-taken. To me, though, I hear a deafening silence coming from most of those who perceive themselves to be on the left. I keep listening to NPR for statements from the ACLU or NAACP but must have missed them. Maybe I'll check the New York Times Opinion and editorial pages.
=====================================

Q: And, little Melissa, what are you going to be when you grow up?
A: I aspire to be a Public Intellectual.
Q: Oh, something like Garganus?
A: He role models a protagonistic social commentator that I hopefully will emulate.
Q: I believe you will do just fine.

Anonymous said...

Haskell,

Do you expect the so-called "Right" to speak up every time something bad happens to -- for example -- a poor young Latino or an illegal? If not, then you oughtn't expect the ACLU, etc., to speak up in all of the cases that interest you...

mac said...

Oh. I guess the interviews with the oppressed farmers
and farmworkers
and the poor, poor Sandanistas
and and and...

No, those aren't left: they're sappy.
They even have theme music!
(and sound-effects!)

mac said...

Sounds of laborers picking coffee beans for the exploitive
landowners...

Anonymous said...

Mac,

What's wrong with stories about oppressed farmers? Are they ok if there is no soundtrack?

mac said...

Last time I listened to NPR,
I laughed so hard I had to turn it off: 66 is not a road to be
driving when you're choking back
the laughter.

Anonymous said...

'...sublimation of women...'

I believe that is the process whereby women pass from a solid state to a gaseous state without going through a liquid state.

Chymist

Anonymous said...

Mac,

You can buy fair-trade coffee.

Anonymous said...

Mac,

Great that NPR made you laugh. Especially the Saturday morning programming is hysterical.

mac said...

7:43
And cry...

Oh, the pathos! My heart breaks!
Ah, the soundtrack, it adds so much to the ambience,
to the melancholy!

I writhe in NPR melancholy: whenever
I want to bathe in my own tears,
I am certain that I'll turn on NPR!

Anonymous said...

You know, Mac, you don't seem to have much empathy for people who are not as well off as you, however, well of that may or may not be. You don't come across as very nice on many of your posts. Perhaps, it's as they say about about all kinds of unpleasant historical figures: your wife/dog/children love you...

You can spare me the tale of how you made it all on your own or whatever...

Anonymous said...

speaking in mac's defense - there's a difference in having empathy for real people and having faux empathy for the manufactured sympathy stories cooked up in order to push a political agenda. But some people believe anything they're told as long as it has the right emotional content - that's been one of the basic issues pushing the Duke Hoax from the very start.

mac said...

Interview with the only man in the village who prefers the Taliban:

"Go home Americans!"

The rest of the village hates the Taliban,
because many of them lost their arms or legs
or loved ones to the Taliban.

But no: only the NPR can find that ONE LONELY
VOICE, the one only Jimmy Carter
coule love, and makes his voice
the voice of NPR. Leave it to NPR
to find that one voice, and to make the whole story about him.

And about the victimhood/sainthood of "Samples."

My heart weeps! Alas, I weep for
Crystal Gayle Mangum, the
soon-to-be-Rhodes Scholar, dancing
a la Demi Moore by night, working
tirelessly by day at her studies!
Weep, weep! She is suffering so,
scorned by whiterightwingmalechristians
who wish her to be their playthings
and to debase herself while they
laughandchortleuncontrollably
at her unique specialness!

Pray, tell us: why can't NPR get a handle on this story,
so obvious that even Susan Estrich can see it? Ah, the vaunted NPR!

When I want to "cry me a river," I'll read
Leonard Pitts, or I'll turn on NPR:
when I want to laugh, I'll do the same!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to thank 6:57 for the link. I don't find anything "left-leaning" about this discussion, not least, since it's "Talk of the Nation," which takes calls.


And aren't these calls screened before they are aired? What are the chances that someone opposing the prevailing viewpoint will get to make his/her case?

Anonymous said...

for those who wonder why Michael Vick has warranted a federal indictment while nothing similar has appeard in the Duke hoax yet - there is a rational reason. Interstate Conspiracy, which a federal grand jury is uniquely situated to consider. There's no criminal interstate element in the Duke case yet. (Although the boys were from other states, they were all residents of NC at the time of the frame) Feds won't get involved in the Duke case unless someone comes up with a way to file civil rights violations, which will probably never happen because the boys were never actually tried and all charges have been dropped.

re: the Vick case:

"According to court documents filed by federal authorities earlier this month, dog fights have been sponsored by "Bad Newz Kennels" at the property since at least 2002. For the events, participants and dogs traveled from South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, Texas and other states."

Anonymous said...

8:03,

If the calls on Talk of the Nation are screened/ and well they may be/ I can't imagine what is kept out. Do you listen to it?

And do listen to this link. It is pretty interesting.

Anonymous said...

To 8:07

If David Evans was 21 at the time of the charges, couldn't you call him a "man" rather than infantilizing him? Maybe, he doesn't consider himself a boy.

Anonymous said...

I supposed we haven't learned from the Lacrosse case that we should be sceptical of prosecutors' claims.

mac said...

7:55

I won't spare you: I want you to read this
post very carefully - (or have someone explain it to you.)

I work with lots of people
who have problems and pains and
so forth.

I've just learned to recognize -
as 7:58 alluded - that there is a
real difference between manufactured
"victims" and real ones.
I've been taken-in more than once
by sob-stories,
and I live in a neighborhood where
people come by and tell me that
they need money "because their sick
brother was in a wreck and they need bus money."

Yup. Same story, same person, 2 weeks apart!
Funny thing: when I offer to drive them to the bus station,
they go away with
an alacricity that I wouldn't
expect from someone so intoxicated!

Like the bread that my wife and I gave a woman:
she claimed her children were hungry,
that she needed bread and milk (couldn't tell, with all
the fat she and her beggar-in-training-daughter were carrying.)

She refused our unopened skim milk,
and accepted (grudgingly) our unopened 9-grain bread.
(Found out later that she makes more
with her two disabled kids than
my wife and I do, working full-time.)
So...we gave her two loaves of this high-quality bread
(that we bought at the outlet, as that's all we can afford)-
only so see it thrown in the street the next day, along with an
unopened bag of Arnold's bread
someone else had given her.
One of the loaves we'd given her
had a few pieces missing;
the other two were unopened: all were in the bag we provided.

Guess she didn't want the bread she claimed she wanted:
she wanted money!

And she makes more off the government from her family's
disabilities than people who work their asses off for their livelihood!

And what do we see when we show mercy and
compassion to the "less fortunate?"
Our bread, thrown in the street!

BTW: we give more - (in free work
and gifts to charity, church etc) - than Al Gore did
in his entire charitable contributions several years back.
Consider that we couldn't afford his monthly energy
payments if they were mortgage
payments, instead!

F'ing hypocrites!

Anonymous said...

I used to listen to that drivel, pre-9/11, and would almost fall over laughing at the sound effects - cue the sound of running water "Here in Nee hah rah wah, water is scarce, even tho' it is a rain forest" blah blah blah. It was all predictable and trite.

The same is true of their agenda - maybe Marx wouldn't consider them left leaning, but it's a matter of perspective.

KC doesn't consider Obama a socialist crypto-muslim threat to our nation, either. Once again, it's all a matter of where you stand.

Anonymous said...

KC said ...

Coming from someone who had just implied that she had attended parties with male strippers, Berry’s passing moral judgment on the acknowledged behavior of the lacrosse players was quite remarkable.


KC, less than a week before the fateful lacrosse party, one of the future 88ers urged a striptease to be done to disrupt a speech by David Horowitz. Not only this, but before the speech, Horowitz (and Stephen Miller, who you've mentioned before) met with Brodhead to urge Duke to adopt the "Student Bill of Rights" or whatever it's called. Both Brodhead's and Horowitz' remarks -- again ONE WEEK before the Hoax began -- are remarkable and deserve examination here.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Carina was appalled by the media's coverage of the case because NPR's quote of her remarks reminded her that it is better to remain silent and appear to be a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Other asides:

Can we have a show of hands from those who would want to ever be in the same room with a "public intellectual?" Now there's a social disease that is well worth avoiding.

What credentials must someone possess to be a "social commentator?" Or did I just become one with these remarks?

Anonymous said...

You are now a social commentator.

You get that the same way you become a climate expert.

Anonymous said...

You know, I’m sure a lot of them are thinking that, you know, their parents are going to take, be able to take care of this one, and, you know, obviously we’ll see where the legal process takes it. But, you know, it’s just that attitude that, you know, we’re privileged and, you know, we don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else.

Well, you know, I'm trying, you know, to figure exactly how, you know, Barnett-Loro was, you know, accepted at Duke. I had always, you know, considered Duke to be, you know, academically a step above, you know, many other universities. I guess, you know, she just proved that to be a totally, you know, false assumption.

Anonymous said...

KC: Keep up the great work and the pressure on the seemingly limitless number of politically-correct hacks. As the Hoax makes palpably clear, reflexive polemics can do real, tremendous damage to innocent human beings.

Leave no person/organization unchecked. Spare nobody or nothing from a cleansing from fact-based truth. Let your book follow the facts *wherever* they take you.

Anonymous said...

This is why we should not be funding NPR; the bias is atrocious. My wife, a Duke alumni, listens every morning. She will be shocked when she reads KC's book and learns the details of events, the number of people involved, and the fraudulent agendas that framed the entire hoax. She has no real idea how close we are to this happening to us with a college son in a liberal town.

Anonymous said...

The real problem with the media lies in the 24 hour concept. Every network is in a "rush" to be the first to get a story on the air. Damn the facts, full steam ahead.
If FDR had run WW2 in the days of 24 hour news, he would have been run out of office quickly. Fortunately for him, he had press sympathetic to his viewpoint and willing to hold stories in the interest of national security. Not so today.
Far too many "reporters" feel empowered to inject their bias into every story. Also, too often "news" is "spiced up" to make it interesting or engaging for certain groups.
Too bad

Anonymous said...

And, MAC, you write too much. Learn to edit yourself if you want someone who already considers you a jerk based on your earlier postings to read anything else you have to say.

Anonymous said...

8:53, So, tell us all, we can't wait to hear, how close are you?

Anonymous said...

politically correct (no hyphen) hacks? Those would be the people with whom you disagree, yeah?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said at 7:26...
Hmmm, 7:23,

I don't consider NPR left wing, so I guess I'm not surprsied that NPR's reporting "did nothing to dispel" its left-leanign bias. Didn't have one to dispell.

But then, I don't consider liberal to be left wing.


"Words mean what I want them to mean." -- Someone in Alice-In-Wonderland.

Anonymous said...

8:58

Liberal has never meant left wing until some Americans (right wing/righer wing) decided it meant that. Indeed, early left wingers, ie, social democrats, opposed liberals...but, that's history, so I guess it doesn't count.

Anonymous said...

You know, I’m sure a lot of them are thinking that, you know, their parents are going to take, be able to take care of this one, and, you know, obviously we’ll see where the legal process takes it. But, you know, it’s just that attitude that, you know, we’re privileged and, you know, we don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else.

Well, you know, I'm trying, you know, to figure exactly how, you know, Barnett-Loro was, you know, accepted at Duke. I had always, you know, considered Duke to be, you know, academically a step above, you know, many other universities. I guess, you know, she just proved that to be a totally, you know, false assumption.

--------------------

I was thinking the same thing. She uses "you know" three times per sentance.

Maybe by the time she graduates she'll learn how to say "like" instead of "you know".

Anonymous said...


Anonymous said...
8:58

Liberal has never meant left wing until some Americans (right wing/righer wing) decided it meant that. Indeed, early left wingers, ie, social democrats, opposed liberals...but, that's history, so I guess it doesn't count.

Jul 18, 2007 9:00:00 AM


The fact is that starting about 100 years ago socialists, trying to make headway in America, claimed they were the "REAL liberals". Eventually, the socialists took ownership of the word in America (but not elsewhere -- elsewhere the word "liberal" did not have the charm that it did for American ears).

Next time, read some history first.

Anonymous said...

8.58 writes: "politically correct (no hyphen) hacks? Those would be the people with whom you disagree, yeah?"

No, it would be the people (and I use that term lightly) who "disagree" with veritable and insurmountable mountains of incontrovertible exculpatory evidence. You know, idiots (evidently, like yourself) who still believe (or pretend to believe) that "something happened" because their "socially constructed" sense of "reality" and ideology require nothing less. "Yeah," those people.

Anonymous said...

"You know, I’m sure a lot of them are thinking that, you know, their parents are going to take, be able to take care of this one, and, you know, obviously we’ll see where the legal process takes it. But, you know, it’s just that attitude that, you know, we’re privileged and, you know, we don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else."

How articulate. I'm sure she makes Duke proud.

Anonymous said...

I listen to NPR and it has a role to play. I also give them $$ from time to time because I use what they provide.

But, when I talk to the cheery fundraisers during the twice-a-year Beg-A-Thons, I point out that I will happily double my pledge when they start presenting both (or more) sides of a story.

Anonymous said...

9:17,

I just love it when clever people like you, who assume they know what I think about anything, call me names. The misplaced hyphen remark (Americans don't hyphenate compound adjectives) was addressed to NPR, darling, or do you have early-onset Alzheimers? NPR seems to have presented a variety of information on this case, if belatedly, contrary to what KC seems to be implying.

And, no, smart one, I figured out fairly early on that something was wrong with the Duke accusations. And, in your opinion, I'm probably left wing. Very left wing.

Anonymous said...

sublimation:

1 a: sublime 1 barchaic : to improve or refine as if by subliming
2: to divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its unacceptable form to one that is considered more socially or culturally acceptable

Anonymous said...

I really love the calls for fact-based truth. One assumes that "truth" is fact based. Methinks the issue is not so much the data, but the way it is analyzed.

Anonymous said...

9:08, dearest,

Not being US-ocentric, I was speaking in world terms. And guess what, sonny boy, I'm correct.

Anonymous said...

9-17: "I just love it when clever people like you, who assume they know what I think about anything, call me names. The misplaced hyphen remark (Americans don't hyphenate compound adjectives) was addressed to NPR, darling, or do you have early-onset Alzheimers? NPR seems to have presented a variety of information on this case, if belatedly, contrary to what KC seems to be implying.

And, no, smart one, I figured out fairly early on that something was wrong with the Duke accusations. And, in your opinion, I'm probably left wing. Very left wing."

QED.

Anonymous said...

9:17:

Sorry to say, but you're looking even more foolish with every additional keystroke. Learn to quit while you're not too far behind. Just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

This blog really is like daytime tv! I just love it. Keeps me in touch with all kinds of great info and misinfo. Keep it up, boys.

ROFL, ;-p

mac said...

8:57
Yup: I write too much.
Maybe I'm a jerk, maybe not.

If you consider someone who attempts to help others
(the poor, the suffering) a jerk, I guess I am.

On the other hand, fat hogs like Gore
prefer to spend other people's money
to "help" the poor, while offering nothing
from their own substantial wealth.

Anonymous said...

9:37,

Why do you always call people names? It's as if you're developmentally disadvantaged. Couldn't you simply refer to Gore? Or Bush? (Oops. I forgot. He wants to take money from the poor.)

Anonymous said...

KC, It looks like you are covering every aspect. I look forward to the book.
NPR lost me back when they had some unbelievably outrageous coverage of 9.11 events. It was obvious then as it is now that they have no real concern for the country or the rights and protections of all citizens. They only care about their agenda, so I left them. I didn't always agree prior to 9.11 but those weeks were too much.I would not expect fair treatment for the lax guys, but until now I kept hoping the Times and NPR would finally be honest and fair. Everyone has gone back to their camps and have no intention of being fair. Some of these bloggers, who go too far to the right bear the blame as well.The country needs more independent moderates to get back our coure values both extremes only use them when convenient to their cause.

AMac said...

Hey Anonymouses,

How about using pseudonyms so that the rest of us can figure out who is saying what.

Writing for your audience--heard of it?

I hope other readers chime in to make this same point.

Anonymously, of course.

Anonymous said...

Hello 9:41,

This is O.T., but I am confused. I was listening to NPR when the plane hit the Pentagon and listened to it in the following weeks. It seemed to me--unlike some of the stations, which were sickly, they were so sacharine in their coverage--fairly straight forward. (I'm one of those people who got a bit tired of hearing patriotic music again and again and again.) What do you mean?

Anonymous said...

I was comment 9:45.

Anony Mouse

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I really love the calls for fact-based truth. One assumes that "truth" is fact based. Methinks the issue is not so much the data, but the way it is analyzed.

Jul 18, 2007 9:29:00 AM


Truth is in the facts. "Analysis of the facts" = "argument". The most successful argument is the one that is truest to the facts.

--Esquire--

mac said...

9:40 If you're the same as 7:55 (you all look alike to me) and
8:57, let's see:

You've said I "lack empathy for people who are not as well-off"
as me - (which I've disproven, and
besides, when you made that comment, you
have no way of knowing to begin with, proving yourself a solidly judgemental-type.)

You said I am "not very nice" - (matter of opinion) -
you compare me to historical figures (read: Hitler,)
and you accuse me of being a jerk
and developmentally disadvantaged.

You whine about name-calling?

I'd say you are a world-class, judgemental hypocrite,
on a league with Gore. Must be an 88 or a reasonably
accurate reproduction.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
9:08, dearest,

Not being US-ocentric, I was speaking in world terms. And guess what, sonny boy, I'm correct.

Jul 18, 2007 9:33:00 AM


I guess "not being US-ocentric" is what you meant by "American rightwingers changed the definition of liberal".

You can run, but you can't hide, Aunt Any.

Anonymous said...

To: Mac

I would have thought the apt comparison was with Joseph McCarthy or Roy Kohn. Hitler? You flatter yourself.

Anonymous said...

9:58,

In many countries in Europe, where the terms we employ in today's political discourse were popularized, the story is not as you tell it. Take the FDP in Germany as an example or the Liberals in Great Britain. Why is this a problem for you?

mac said...

The 88 and the press didn't hesitate for one minute
to label the young men
"rapists" and "racists"
and castigate them for being
(so they thought) rich and
privileged.

So many names, so few facts!
Eventually, even NPR-types ran out of hyperbole
until they dredged up Grranus,
who is fresh with name-calling and silly characterizations.

Anonymous said...

Who is Aunt Any? Any what?

Anony Mouse

mac said...

To the 10:01,
See? There's the name-calling
again!

Et tu, you silly bithh!

mac said...

Hey, Grranus,

How WAS Roy Cohn, anyway?

mac said...

Excuse me: I meant the 9:59

Anonymous said...

What names did 10:01 call? You called someone a silly bithh...

Anony Mouse

wayne fontes said...

I believe the blogger software has the option of forcing people to use a blogger account to leave a comment. I would urge KC to take this step. It would force people to use a name so I could follow the conversation and I think it would screen out some crap that KC has to delete.

Shorter: I second AMAC's motion.

I'd encourage people to listen to this NPR gem from Frank Stasio and Tim Tyson. Stasio adopts a super limp wristed Allen Alda personna as Tyson paints the most lurid picture of the night in question imaginable.

Anonymous said...

Hey Roy/Joe/Mac,

i guess you don't think you're in the same league with them either?

and is bithh...baby talk for bitch?!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm confused. I always thought NPR stood for

"National People's Radio,"

as in, you know, the
People's Republic of North America.

mac said...

To the 10:09,

Still think "something happened?"

Anonymous said...


From staff reports : The Herald-Sun
news@heraldsun.com
Jul 18, 2007 : 9:46 am ET

DURHAM -- Pittsboro lawyer Wade Barber will serve as counsel to the city of Durham's committee investigating the Durham Police Department's role in the Duke lacrosse case.

Barber, 63, is a former district attorney and Superior Court judge.

Former state Supreme Court justice Willis Whichard chairs the committee.




("Discuss among yourselves.......like butta....")

Debrah

mac said...

Wayne Fontes:
I second-the-second!

Anonymous said...

I took your advise and listened to the Frank Stasio interview. While Tyson, a "research scholar," incidentally, makes a large number of unsubstantiated acusations, Frank Stasio takes pains to use words like "allegedly," and "investigation pending," etc. I'd save my indignation for T2.

Was he an 88er?

Anonymous said...

Timothy Tyson

I can't decide what this guy is.

Debrah

Anonymous said...

10:14 Joe/Roy/Mac

I never thought anything happened that night in Durham, but I think KC's blop has brought people like you out from under their rocks!!!

Anonymous said...

Tim Tyson seems to have gone to the Department of African-American Studies at Madison, ie, Wisconsin. Google him.

mac said...

Sort of sums up KC's post:
the MSM has become more of a progenitor of gossip
than of real facts and information.

What's the value of a free press if it doesn't
report accurate information?

A free press should be free -
to report accurate information,
even when it's uncomfortable for
those in positions of power.

I think that's what our Founding Fathers had in mind.

mac said...

To the 10:20

KC's "Blop?"

The P isn't anywhere near the G key.
Had to be intentional.

mac said...

Is "blop" like "gorp?"

mac said...

Or maybe "Plob?"

Anonymous said...

So anyway, Spook has a great idea for a little get together, but do we have to invite mac? (He is such an ignorant slut)

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
9:58,

In many countries in Europe, where the terms we employ in today's political discourse were popularized, the story is not as you tell it. Take the FDP in Germany as an example or the Liberals in Great Britain. Why is this a problem for you?

Jul 18, 2007 10:01:00 AM


What is the story, as you tell it?

Anonymous said...

Divah said at 10:18 AM...

Timothy Tyson

I can't decide what this guy is.



I've been wondering, too. It's as though he's an 88ist who, for some reason, signed neither the ad nor the letter.

AMac said...

Jonathan Kern, the "Executive Producer for Training" for All Things Considered, wrote You can break out of the echo chamber: Achieving fairness and balance in 2004.

It is an interesting essay.

For years, NPR has had at least one senior in-house voice exploring the exact groupthink problems that dominated NPR's coverage of the Hoax/Frame.

Kern's pro-diversity efforts seem to have had no beneficial effect in this instance. Like LBJ, NPR execs may have preferred to have this critic inside the tent, pissing out.

I've emailed Mr. Kern, inviting him to comment on Prof. Johnson's analysis of NPR's reporting.

Anonymous said...

10:53,

The blog isn't the place for a history of the term, but liberal was initially used on the continent in the first half of the 19th century. A good political history of France in the 19th century would be of use. Or, a discussion of the industrial revolution in Great Britain.

Germany's parties today reflect this terminology. The Free Liberals, long the party of big business, are center-right of center, left of the Christian Demos and right of the Social Democrats.

Sorry to be so brief.

Anonymous said...

Schwetty balls. Oh my how those two hosts loved to talk about them. Parody is the best way to bring down the pompous.

And remember, diversity is only about appearance - never about opinion. Here in Durham organizations love to brag about how diverse they are and at the same time, brag that no Republicans are allowed. Oh yeah - groupthink at its best.

Anonymous said...

AMac,

KC's analysis of NPR's very early reporting...

Anonymous said...

Divah said at 10:18 AM...

Timothy Tyson

I can't decide what this guy is.

----

As far as I know, Tyson holds a position at Duke Divinity School, as "Visiting Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture". (I beleieve the U. Wisconsin at Madison web page is outdated, but maybe someone will correct me.)

Beyond that, he manages to get his name and picture in the newspaper almost as often as Al Sharpton, and seems to devote a lot of energy to publicizing himself and his books.

Anonymous said...

Take a look at this guy's career. He is Exhibit A illustrating the abuse and the overuse of race in everything under the sun.

He's from Oxford, apparently, just up the interstate from Durham. That place is where lots of Nifong and anti-lacrosse letters came from which were printed in the H-S constantly last year. Kim Brummell, the Victoria Peterson co-hort, is from there. She disappeared really fast. LOL! A total blooming idiot named Robert Paul who is constantly sending Leftist letters to that newspaper is from there. Paul even attacked me in a most personal way for comparing Mikey's methods to that of a pimp. And this was last Spring before the election.

It was a very witty letter on my part. Hilarious, really; however, disgruntled Leftists like Paul have no sense of humor.

There seems to be a kind of insular clique in that place, Oxford, as well.

Timothy Tyson's long diatribe printed in the N&O last year came within days of the Allan Gurganus longwinded attack. No doubt, the editorial staff was onboard with the same Gritty Gang of 88 mentality......and they have never backtracked or apologized.

Only when AG Cooper proclaimed the lacrosse players innocent did they write a good editorial. IMO, they should have been questioning the tactics in Durham long ago.

Again, IMO, the editorial page of the N&O was also afraid of offending the black community.....and showed no professionalism until the end when it was suddenly safe to talk about the truth.

Timothy Tyson is the worst of the worst. He marched with the protesters in Durham and carried signs. Read about his exposé on the Wilmington riots of 1898. Last year, 2006, it had been 108 years since the riot. What was so magical about the number 108? Nothing. Tyson wanted to capitalize on the ill feelings and the race issues that had been stirred by the Duke case.....so he wrote....and the N&O proudly beat us all to death with this never-ending tale. Some of it true, no doubt; however, just as much of the story was a hyperbolic flogging of all white people still breathing.....none of whom were around in 1898.

People like Tyson are feeling the pinch right now....the pinch of the reins which are pulling them back and putting a halt to this overblown and incessant quest of these race merchants to profit off causing discord.

I have repeatedly asked the N&O why they have not asked Tyson and Gurganus to do follow-ups to their work from last Spring.

The editorial editors say that they never solicit columns or anything from anyone. They just decide what to run from what is sent to them.

That means that an inordinate number of people from Duke and who are anti-lacrosse were very anxious to push their agenda as "guest columnists" this past year......because they were certainly prolific.

These people need to be cornered and forced to explain themselves.


Timothy_T

Debrah

Anonymous said...

It is funny to see Carina Barnett-Loro claim that the media exploited Durham, when she, herself, eploited the media for her 15 minutes of PC fame.

I guess only the pimp is victimized in her world. He could be making hundreds of thousands of dollars on Wall Street instead of tens of thousands of dollars on Angier Avenue, if prejudice hadn't kept him from going to school....

___________

I like to think that my money is well-spent on missiles and roads, but to see it spent on this and paintings of Jesus peeing on a cross, well, I want a logic audit!
___________

My joke in K.C. Johnson's "AJR: Comprehensive Summary" blog should be revisited:

I used to leave NPR on for my Parrot when I left for work, but I soon noticed that she started lying and omitting crucial facts. She also started to bait me against the dog.

______________

"Out of a sincere desire to protect future generations of third graders, K.C. Johnson traveled back in music to 'silence' the song 'Camptown Races' in true gangland style. Oh, doo-dah day!" Great Events in Music (Julliard Bulletin, 7/4/99). MOO! Gregory

Gary Packwood said...

NPR News Code of Ethics and Practices
http://www.npr.org/about/ethics/
::
GP

Anonymous said...

TO 10:56AM--

Stellar! I kind of like the Divah moniker that you devised.

Very clever.

Debrah

Anonymous said...

OMG.

We've got another race hustler using religion to support his quest.

Shades of NC NAACP's Rev. Barber.......like him, Tyson is a self-righteous porker mixing religion and race-baiting for a living.

Timothy_the_Divine

Debrah

mac said...

"Shades" of Barber?
Deborah, tell me you didn't!

Anonymous said...

9:17 - Sometimes people call names when there is a vacuum. I admire those - Debra, mac, polanski, et. al., that at least give themselves a moniker.

NPR is clearly to the left (or whatever you call it). What people are looking for is honesty - if a story is big when it appears that the sex/race/socio-economic narrative seems to be supported, then it is only intellectually honest to provide the same focus when that metanarrative goes south. That's how, IMO, a medium gains respect. The version of "justice" spouted by the 88, Brodhead, racists like Baker, NAACP, NPR, most national media is not really justice, just a cliched, dishonest from of propaganda that hurts our society, our families, our children, and our future - all of us.

Ed

mac said...

10:33
Please invite me!
Pleeeeaaase?
I wanna meet Tara!

Anonymous said...

Here's another example of what an idiot Timothy Tyson is. This was on the goofy Ubuntu site.


Tim Tyson, one of the professors who was at a Buchanan Street vigil,
said recently that his intent was not to attack the lacrosse players
but to draw attention to the larger issues of sexual violence,
classism and racism that the case seemed to embody.

“I wasn’t confident at that time that I knew what happened,” Tyson
said. “It still seems clear to me that something ugly happened in that
house. … I don’t think people should be used as things. If there
only had been an ugly incident and no allegations of rape, I still
would be disappointed with the students.”



Debrah

Anonymous said...

TO "mac"--

LOL!

Can you believe that I wasn't even thinking in those terms when I wrote that? Such brilliance beyond mention resides inside the Diva brain!

Serendipitous splendor!

Debrah

Anonymous said...

"Is this quote attributed to Mary Frances Berry real? I've read it in several places over the years: "Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of white men and do not apply to them.""

A disclaimer: I never heard of this quote, or indeed of Mary Frances Berry, until today, and I'm by no means an expert on how to distinguish real quotes from fake quotes. All I have is a little knowledge of memetic propagation, including how false quotes have propagated in the past.

With that said, however, I think that what Berry actually said was "Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of all Americans." You can of course read that in two different ways: you can read it as "though the rights of those who are in the majority are as important as the rights of those in the minority, the rights of those in the majority were never as jeopardized, and therefore they cannot be considered to be the need that civil rights laws were passed to meet," or you can read it as "because being in the majority generally protects the rights of those in the majority, they don't need to receive and should not receive protections that only came about because those in the minority needed protection, too."

At this point, there are two plausible scenarios: someone who interpreted the statement as meaning "white men shouldn't get any benefit from civil rights laws" repeated what they thought was an acceptable paraphrase of what Berry actually said. or, of course, someone who wanted to portray Berry and "her kind" as being actively hostile to white males decided that taking half of something she had said and mixing it with something she didn't say would be more effective for their purpose than sticking to the truth.

The quote is said to have originated in a proclamation, so if the proclamation could be located, the actual wording of the quote could be ascertained. As I said before, my suspicion is that someone heard or read the "all Americans" version, interpreted it as the "white men" version, and then told others "this is what Berry said about white men"; an awful lot of fake quotes have been defended by the fakers when the fakery is discovered with "well, this is what so-and-so meant so it really doesn't matter if I told falsehoods about what he actually said."

Anonymous said...

Divah said, OMG.

We've got another race hustler using religion to support his quest.

Shades of NC NAACP's Rev. Barber.......like him, Tyson is a self-righteous porker mixing religion and race-baiting for a living.

Timothy_the_Divine

Debrah

Jul 18, 2007 11:55:00 AM


Any thoughts on how Tyson managed NOT to sign the ad or the letter? Btw, I noticed on the Chronicle website that TT was named one of the "Dukies of the Year".

Hotel Romeo

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Anonymous said...

Regarding Mary Frances Berry: She has a long and outrageous paper trail. I am not surprised to read her comments about the lacrosse case, given her racist and anti-intellectual statements of the past. She simply is an evil person who has managed to gain more influence than she ever should have had.

DaveW said...

Ah. Mary Frances Berry. Thanks for the trip down memory lane KC.

I find it a bit conflicted that Berry feels we shouldn't pass judgment on Mangum for being a stripper but we nevertheless should judge the college boys that - however misguided it might be - hire strippers.

I guess she's saying its OK for strippers to make a living being strippers its just not OK for people to pay them. Or something.

Brilliant woman, our Ms. Berry. A real national treasure.

Anonymous said...

Williams is always making the most idiotic statements, as a regular panel member on a Fox News Channel program.I can't remember the program since I quit watching his stupid drivil. He's left-wing but he's low I.Q. as well.

joe sweet said...

"JLS says...,

This is just one more example of why there should be no tax payer funded TV or radio in days of DirectTV and XM."

JMS says..

I could not agree more! In one more crass display of rampant left hypocrisy, they vigorously attack and destroy in favor of separation of church and state, but it's perfectly ok to use taxpayer-funded radio to promote the liberal agenda.

Kudos to KC for highlighting their self-serving, biased coverage of the Hoax.

NPR should be made to adhere to "fair and balanced" in all their programming, using a format such as Hannity and Colmes.

The same for Limbaugh, you say? Since when has he been taxpayer funded?

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joe sweet said...

Polanski,

Selection of the topic is key, but giving a voice to the opposition in a taxpayer-funded broadcast might be nice.

As for Hannity and Colmes, when the latter speaks up, I click the remote - and not to raise the volume. Skeletor Alan makes my skin crawl!

Anonymous said...

TO Spook (3:02AM)--

Hilarious!

Debrah

Anonymous said...

1:o8
Poor Alan Colmes resembles a turtle. He means well but he's slow.

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Anonymous said...

This blog really is like daytime tv! I just love it. Keeps me in touch with all kinds of great info and misinfo. Keep it up, boys.

ROFL, ;-p



*********************************
This is very true of Wonderland. For the most part, an interesting group of characters shows up, producing a particular brand of soap opera......

......a kind of political, social, and cultural opéra-bouffe.

And like daytime TV, millions of viewers have tuned into KC's voluptuous Wonderland.

Always full of intrigue.......mystery.....betrayal.....love.....lust......a quest for revenge or justice, depending on the daily cast of characters.

Tune into tomorrow and each and every day to experience the many twists and turns.....full-throttle ecstacy....a pulsating force for truth and justice....as the dame in the flowing garb balances her set of scales.

Indulge.

A journey you have to experience to believe!

Debrah

mac said...

12:26
Just Google up Wikipedia's entry for Berry.
It mentions her (presumably former)
penchant for carrying Chaiman Mao's
Little Red Book.

The article is rich with illustrations regarding her mindset, such as it may be.

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Anonymous said...

"KC doesn't consider Obama a socialist crypto-muslim threat to our nation, either."

KC studies the evidence and evaluates it with a willingness to let it tell him something other than what he already believes, which is more than can be said by many who comment here.

Anonymous said...

9:17

RE "Americans don't hyphenate compound adjectives"

What you meant to write was that Americans don't construct compound adjectives with "ly" adverbs.

Therefore, "politically correct agenda" is correct.

P

Anonymous said...

How did Carina Barnett-Loro get into Duke in the first place? Doubt that she is a legacy and her verbal SAT couldn't be over room temperature. Maybe a diversity slot for dim-witted chicks with hyphenated last names.

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Anonymous said...

Car Talk is probably the only show on NPR that doesn't have the brain numbing pc censorship and studied NPR demeanor.

NPR refused recently a documentary on Islam which later FOX aired. It couldn't pass their pc censorship and their merrily mindless multi-culti meme. It's always been NPR's duty to push you to the correct conclusions. So typical of the left.

Anonymous said...

Juan Williams is as dumb as a rock. I'm always embarassed for him on the Brit Hume News Hour.

He's an absolute pathetic token on so many levels. He's what you get when affirmative action propels numbskulls to a level where they are out of their element.

Anonymous said...

To Anon @ 1:12: "Poor Alan Colmes resembles a turtle. He means well but he's slow." Very nice! I would add that, to a piece of lettuce, a turtle is worse than Stalin.

P.S. Yes, that turtle is a communist!

__________

To Debrah @ 1:46: This amazing cast of characters vies, in my mind, only with the fictional crew from South Park, Colorado. You're right about this case being interesting because of the people involved. NPR, on the other hand, is interesting to talk about ....

__________

To Polanski @ 1:59: I am unaware of the "right-wing politician" who attempted to de-fund NPR. I would note that my call to arms would be based not on emotion or politics, or even just on numbers. It would be based on logic, as a community service to America. Like the de-funding of Amtrak.

[AMTRAK CALCULATION]

No ridy = no money.

[NPR CALCULATION]

No truthy = no Benjamins.

Perhaps I would be less for a de-funding initiative if the reporters on NPR talked faster, lied less frequently and adjusted the pretentious dial to maybe a "4" or so. Middle-America should not be subjected to slow drawling speech unless it is spoken by somebody from Kentucky.

That is why I am suggesting a "logic audit." This would not be done by the GAO, but it would be done by "a" GAO -- the NEW General Accountability Office, which would be a department of the Executive Branch established to determine if it is logical to spend that $1,000,000.00 on roads in South Dakota or on paintings that depict only the color white (or black -- or perhaps artists will discover the aesthetically pleasing-ness of an all orange canvas -- I don't think the full palate has been explored in sufficient detail!).

Of course, the old GAO would have to revert back to being called the "General Accounting Office." We need the word "Accountability" to mean something more than mere dollars.

I realize that I used the phrase "mere dollars" as I type this in between frentic bursts of capitalistic enterprise, so please don't call me a hypocrite. That is stipulated.

_____________

Of the first tier of Super Heroes, Batman was, by far, the most notorious practical joker, always getting into his so-called 'utility belt,' and there was the The Flash, who, with the behind the back shoulder-tap shtick, was certainly prolific, but when K.C. Johnson joined their ranks, Zowie! Now that was a whole new level of punk'd! Speech by Stan Lee (D.C. Comics Convention, Urbana, 7/4/61) MOO! Gregory

Anonymous said...

1:59 is not Polanski.

Anonymous said...

7:26

Which department are you from? Women's studies or AAAS?

Anonymous said...

"though the rights of those who are in the majority are as important as the rights of those in the minority, the rights of those in the majority were never as jeopardized, and therefore they cannot be considered to be the need that civil rights laws were passed to meet,"
Robin Hood rides again (hood, thug, whatever)

"because being in the majority generally protects the rights of those in the majority, they don't need to receive and should not receive protections that only came about because those in the minority needed protection, too."
right is wrong, left is wrong, east is west, north is south, good is evil,...
anything else?

NPR--Notable Political Righteousness
(which has nothing to do with truth or fairness)

AF

Anonymous said...

3:33 "I am unaware of the 'right-wing politician' who attempted to de-fund NPR."

-----------

Actually there was a whole group of them, 10 Republicans under sub-committee chairman Ralph Regula (R-Ohio). You can look up his record here, but I think it fair to summarize it as right-wing:
http://www.ontheissues.org/OH/Ralph_Regula.htm

This article isn't a great one, but hits the major points for anyone "unaware" of this unsuccessful, very political effort to defund public broadcasting:

http://tinyurl.com/ccmvn

The article closes by mentioning one thing that played a big part in this idea being shot-down in flames -- that public broadcasting is particularly valued in rural areas.

Anonymous said...

To Anon @ 3:37:

You're right! I should have attributed the idea to Anon @ 1:59, who was responding to Polanski ....

Now, you've required me to waste a precious "Johnson-ism," much like the husband who is forced to have meaningless sex with his wife before heading out for a grand time at the bordello.

__________

OGLER: "Is that K.C. Johnson over there?" [pointing]

SCIENTIST: "No, that's just the projection into our dimension of an octa-dimensional being of supreme intellect and wisdom."

OGLER #2: "Well, whoever it is, he's eating a coney."

Overheard in New York City (9/8/06). MOO! Gregory (premise cheerfully stolen from Douglas Adams).

Anonymous said...

Gregory

Eating a coney?

Are u referring to Debrah Coney?

Anonymous said...

Stereotyping, are we, 3:39? Don't come from either of 'em. Completely different training. Got a problem?

Anonymous said...

Somehow, I'm not getting the hire-a-stripper vibe from the always-angry Berry.

Just not getting that vibe.

She'd first have to unclinch her jaw and take off her trousers.


Mary_Frances_Does_Dallas

Debrah

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Anonymous said...

There are some weird people on this Blog!

Anonymous said...

'"though the rights of those who are in the majority are as important as the rights of those in the minority, the rights of those in the majority were never as jeopardized, and therefore they cannot be considered to be the need that civil rights laws were passed to meet,"
Robin Hood rides again (hood, thug, whatever)'

This is apparently something you are having trouble parsing correctly, so let me try an analogy. Suppose there is a particular area of town where crime in general is known to be fairly frequent. There are muggings; there's drug dealing; sometimes there is even ... public urination. As a result of these crimes, the town decides that they are going to install bright streetlights, eliminating the darkness that the muggers and the drug dealers hide in, and sure enough, the muggers and drug dealers soon decide they'd rather not operate where the light is so bright. Oh, and the already-rare public urination becomes even rarer.

Now, when discussing the decision to put streetlights in, is it somehow outrageous to say "It wasn't done to discourage public urination"? Or is it simply a reflection of the fact that the muggings and the drug dealing were by far the more prevalent crimes and it was those crimes which prompted the installation of the streetlights?

joe sweet said...

"Joe,

I feel just the opposite: I love Alan Colmes. He had at 1 time 1 of the best late-night radio shows in the world. It was brilliant. Of course his station was sold, and he was fired. IMO, the reason the show sucks is because of Hannity who, I believe, is the de facto managing editor.

Polanski"

Roman,

That officially makes us polar opposites, except I guess, with respect to our like-minded views on the Hoax....

or are you one of the "grassy knollers" who still clings to the belief "something happened" that night?

OT a bit, but distant link to the grassy knoll, Ted Kennedy just "celebrated" the 38th anniversary of his heroic midnight swim off Chappaquidick. But who's counting?

Anonymous said...

8:58 Inre: "So, tell us all, we can't wait to hear, how close are you?"

I’m not too far off the mark, he on the other hand fits the profile perfectly. He’s a white heterosexual, 20 year old male from the wrong zip code, living in a similarly wacky college town with a vindictive, PC District Attorney. He was also once a helmeted athlete. Pretty damned close wouldn’t you say?

Thanks for asking, how close are you?

mac said...

NJNP,
This thread has been hijacked by trolls, all day long.
Patient comments - maybe too long -
are met with stupid comparisons -
(Joe/Roy/Mac)- and bad name-calling.

Frankly, name-calling can be a high art,
but not from these posters.

Don't worry about the 8:58 troll.

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Anonymous said...

1:59 Inre: Car Guys...

"Don't interupt me, while I'm interupting you." - Click and Clack.

These guys are good enough to stand on their own.

Inre: Colmes, my respect for him went up substantially based upon his post 9-11 commentary...I didn't agree with everything he said and don't agree with most any of his other views, but for one brief point in time he became human.

Anonymous said...

2:01 Do you realize Obama chain smokes? One wonders how the MSM and even NPR would pitch that fact if they were on the other side of the aisle or an independent.

Anonymous said...

5:13 Inre: Dr. Berry and "doing Dallas".

Please leave Dallas out of it. We have enough problems with the school board and city council.

Also, take a look at the size of her hands. Granted they are in the foreground and exagerated, much like a fisherman trying to impress friends in a photo by holding the fish with arms extended. But, good golly Joe Friday, I bet she can palm basketballs with both hands at the same time. Quite impressive.

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Anonymous said...

In case anyone still cares:

Tim Tyson was at the University of Wisconsin until he came to Duke in 2005. He's a visiting professor in the Divinity School and Research Scholar in the Center for Documentary Studies. His first book was on a figure in the Civil Rights movement from N.C. (Radio Free Dixie). His second book, Blood Done Sign My Name, is a semi-autobiographical account of an event of his childhood. When he was about 10 some white men in his hometown of Oxford, NC, shot and killed a black man who had "said something" supposedly, to a white woman. Tyson's father was a local minister who spoke out against the crime, which galvanized the black community and white liberals. But the good ole boys who did it got off at trial. And Tyson has a sister who was raped. So yeah, he came into the case with some preconceptions.

NPR addict (where else can you get world wide analysis on your radio, that at least tries to give both points of view.--and BBC, Diane Rehm, Fresh Air, the Saturday shows, etc.)

Anonymous said...

5:13 By the way why is it that some academics, and especially black academics, refer to themselves as Dr. instead of Berry, Ph.D.?

Others with the credentials have commented that they prefer to be called by their first name and only use Ph.D. for academic conference, publications, etc.

Anonymous said...

Mac, inre; name calling...typically any comment directed toward me will be the nicest words I hear all day.

I must say I am somewhat offended that someone would compare you to McCarthy; I thought I had that license.

Anonymous said...

7:51 author - NJNP

Anonymous said...

7:45 Never heard his radio show and doubt something like that would get much interest in D/FW.

I do agree with you about Hannity. He spends more time talking about what he's going to talk about - teasing the story or interview - than he actually spends conducting the interview or telling the story. There's no question that holding an audience is a very tough business; he reminds me of that most any time I view/hear him teasing his future topic.

I probably wouldn't enjoy having a drink with Hannity, but would trust him with my daughter.

On the other hand, I probably would enjoy having a drink with former President Clinton, but would never trust him with my daughter or put him in a leadership position.

As for Brodhead or the Gang of 88...I would not have my last drink with them and would never allow them to be stewards involving any of my family.

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Anonymous said...

"Department of English

Houston Baker, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor; Professor of English, with tenure [on leave of absence for the 2006-2007 academic year]"

I found the above on the Vandy site and was surprised that newly hired Houston Baker was on a leave of absence. Does anyone know what he's been up to? I'd like to think he slinked off somewhere to lick his wounds but that's just wishful thinking on my part.

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Anonymous said...

Classic South Park episode on Comedy Central now.

Funny as hell

Anonymous said...

I think Houston is in Rehab.

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Anonymous said...

new class

If nothing happens in a room can we still blame somebody for it???