An interesting, and revealing, vignette from Ben Himan’s deposition. On January 11, 2007, Nifong had a lengthy meeting with Crystal Mangum—not to discuss the myriad contradictions in her stories, but to tell her he was going to recuse himself from the case. His real goal appeared to be to press her to drop the case by telling her how bad things would be in moving forward. Had she done so, of course, the ex-DA would have had an excuse not to turn the case over to the attorney general’s office.
Afterward, in Himan’s retelling, Nifong recalled that he “advised her” that “if she pursued it . . . it was going to be very hard for her. That if she thought the night in question of the 13th and 14th was bad, that it was going to be very hard on her, that they were going to be . . . I don’t know how to explain it. That being on the witness stand was going to be just as worse or bad” as the initial “assault.”
It was almost as if Nifong was quoting the Saturday Night Live parody of Nancy Grace, which had aired a short while before his January meeting with Mangum. In the skit, Amy Poehler-as-Nancy Grace proclaimed that she and Nifong seemed to be the only two people in the country willing to stick up for false rape accusers, whose fate, Poehler-as-Grace noted, could actually be worse than real victims:
For the false accuser, when they are finally proved to be lying, it’s like being raped all over again—except for the fact that they weren’t actually raped the first time. And in that moment, the phony victim is forced to relive the horror of what she claimed had happened to her, which is not only emotionally wrenching, but almost impossible to do—since, again, it didn’t actually happen to her.
Reliving the horror of something that never happened....
ReplyDeleteOne of these days, CGM really does need to deja this vu.
The SNL skit aired 12/16/06, the day after Brad Bannon exposed the DNA fraud, and before Nifong dropped the rape charges. I doubt Grace would have conceded that much at that time. SNL's parody, as over-the-top as it was, still fell short of reality.
ReplyDeleteNancy Grace and the other talking heard(except for Dan and Shawn) were denouncing these guys on public television hourly - including Nifong's 70 TV appearances. The Observor and Ruthie's essai was out there - these are the bad guys.
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious. I must have missed this episode over the holidays.
ReplyDeleteAs grotesque as the script is, there isn't much distance between Pohler's comical delivery and the real Nancy Grace.
Oh, well......thanks to the Elizabeth Edwards method of procreating for loudmouth broads, Grace is now in the "family way".
No time for ripping out the hearts of young men at this time.
LIS!
Debrah
I find it very likely that Nofing told others he was trying to get CGM to drop things but actually told CGM whatever he needed to in order to try to advance his exit strategy, whatever it was. In fact, this may be why CGM did not cooperate with the AG investigation.
ReplyDeleteIn this scenario, Nofing thinks it is better if CGM clings to the "something happened" position, rather than admit he was wrong by dropping all charges -- especially given that he had just dropped the rape charge. He basically coaches CGM on what to do going forward -- witness tampering.
Was that Nancy Grace or Cathy Davidson?
ReplyDeleteIf I were producing SNL, I would have included the stripper scenario, and a satire of what might have happened in the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteStrictly from a comedic standpoint, the funniest thing about the hoax was a fat, unattractive thug, thanks to her race and gender, was able to almost crucify 3 innocent people.
Would SNL depict the revulsion on the players' faces as she gyrated her malodorous, chubby booty?
Lorne Michaels is PC, so he settles for a Nancy Grace parody.
And on it goes.
Polanski
Nifong is quote ...
ReplyDelete...That being on the witness stand was going to be just as worse or bad” as the initial “assault.”
::
And Crystal is thinking as he is speaking ...now which one of my assaults is he talking about?
::
GP
Haha! That is a riot -- thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete2:39pm: You are actually right about that!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry: this still isn't as funny as when Nancy Grace said
ReplyDeletesomething like:
(She was a victim of assault,)
"but I was a murder victim."
I heard it; she said it. The part in quotes is pretty much dead-on.
This woman should be confined in the same place as Crystal Gayle Mangum.
thanks for posting this. It was on y--t--- but then there was a notice that NBeCee had it pulled due to copyright infringement. (while other SNL skits including Amy as Nancy G were never pulled and were easily found) I think NBeCee should be proud of this work as they clearly finally got what was going on and to me this was when there was a turn in the tide in the MSM. Especially to whoever wrote the script. "blink--- blink---blink"
ReplyDeleteThat was superb black satire. Unfortunately, as K.C. has pointed out, it likely presaged real events. Creepy!
ReplyDeleteGreat writing and excellent impression, too.
Go get 'em, K.C.! Gregory
Amy Poehler wrote the piece herself.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn says:
ReplyDeletePoehler is hilarious!!
The only thing funnier than her is Jon Stewart's April 11 take on Nancy! (But then again, that's just because I have a sick soft spot for 'raping puppies'!)