November was a relatively light month in the case, with politics taking center stage:
- North Carolina's senior senator, Republican Elizabeth Dole, lost her bid for re-election. Ten weeks after AG Roy Cooper declared the players innocent victims of a rogue prosecutor, Dole had preposterously claimed that the lacrosse case was still “an ongoing criminal investigation and pending judicial proceeding.”
- Cooper, meanwhile, received more votes than any other North Carolina statewide candidate, after leading off his campaign with a TV ad celebrating his work on the lacrosse case.
- And after her primary victory, Tracey Cline won an unopposed bid to become district attorney--meaning, as Freda Black recently pointed out in the Chronicle, that we won't find out the truth about the actual role that Durham County's new "minister of justice" played in the lacrosse case until the civil case trials.
In the department of Duke double standards:
- Michael Burch, who allegedly raped a Duke student at a 2007 party hosted by a Duke African-American fraternity, was arrested for another rape allegation. The Group of 88, despite their stated concern with the prevalence of "sexual violence," remained as silent as the grave.
- The chairman of Duke's Board of Trustees chose to invest between $1 million and $5 million of his own money in the work product of a faculty member who had--in seeming violation of the Faculty Handbook--compared Duke students to a lynch mob and had suggested that the law might require Duke students to talk to Durham police outside the presence of the students' attorneys.
Duke is now suing its own insurance company.
Wendy Murphy is up to her old tricks.
The Durham "grassroots" re-emerges.
The City of Durham claimed that a recent court ruling means that the city is invulnerable to civil suits claiming violations of state law.
Several civil suit filings came in right at the end of the month; I'll be profiling these on Monday.
11 comments:
I like Elizabeth Dole, but she was mistaken in this case in many ways. The lacrosse case is an important case. Not only does the lacrosse case show that an injustice can be righted. The case shows the extent to which the leadership attempts to tell you what to think or how to characterize something in a way that is just impossible for anyone with common sense to imagin. The arrogance of such attempts seems to know no bounds otherwise how does one understand the behavior of the leading or powerful particpants like Dole or Broadhead and his faculty of eighty-eight or others who were dismissive of any consideration of innocense of those outside of the protection of political correctness. In Dole's case, she just didn't want to be bothered.
The Duke faculty member, Tim Tyson, who likened the lacross team to a lynch mob seemed to be attempting to hide the fact that he and his academic associates were themselves acting like a lynch mob. It is interesting to note his relationship with Bob Steel . . . these people are beyond the pale. The sad thing is they believe their own "reality" created for the "great unwashed and ignorant" public. They would appear to be practicing the great lie . . . they practice a tainted craft at their institutions of higher learning.
There have been many complaints about the case from the media helping to railroad the 3 guys to the senators who wouldn't help. I have noticed that the News & Observer is now using the term stripper when describing Crystal. I've read 2 articles in the las 3 hours and both use that term to describe her. Maybe they are waking up!
And just in case their lawyers haven't briefed them here are a few responses for the defendants to plaintiffs questions when we get to discovery.
"I don't remember"
"I have no recollection of that event"
"I don't recall'
And last but not least, to be used in only the gravest emergency
"My attorney has advised me to invoke my constitutional right to refuse to answer, as my answer might tend to incriminate me"
Hope this helps.
Wendy Murphy is now doing radio ads to go along with her Wednesday appearances on the Tom Finneran weekday show in Boston.
Response to 'gak':
They aren't waking up, this is called 'distancing themslves from the subject' so that they can later claim balanced reporting.
The MSM will continue to do liberal bidding because they discarded the moral rudder which used to keep them on the path to justice.
Though a light month there are a few noteworthy points.
1
Senator Dole failed to look out for the people of N. Carolina. When it was clear there were serious questions about the case she should have sought independent investigation. And is it true the US Justice Dept refused to investigate after North Carolina asked them to? The abysmal failure of upper levels of government to intervene when lower level government was obviously screwing up is one of the sorriest spectacles of the whole case.
2
Roy Cooper's election results show a lot of citizens were following or at least aware of this case
3
The Group of 88's failure to address these cases of sexual violence against women reveals their utter ethical bankruptcy. Again.
gak 1:19 PM said...
...I have noticed that the News & Observer is now using the term stripper when describing Crystal. I've read 2 articles in the las 3 hours and both use that term to describe her. Maybe they are waking up!
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That is part of the curriculum being followed by Women Studies, AABlack Studies and the Office of Student Affairs across the country.
The term 'stripper' or 'exotic dancer' is purposely being neutralized because it is offensive to these various groups as we saw when Duke brought the Sex Workers Art Show to campus.
Sex Workers to include strippers are being presented to us as people who need to earn a living by changing a fee to customers.
Thus, it is the customer and not the worker who is the culprit...or so goes their reasoning.
There are many agendas here and there have been many agendas in place long before the party in 2006.
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GP
This might be a valuable series from the N&O which editor John Drescher discusses here.
Joe Neff is doing some investigative work, so it should be worth following.
Lots of changes are obviously needed......as well as more dedicated and competent people.
" And is it true the US Justice Dept refused to investigate after North Carolina asked them to?"
I believe that was, indeed, reported.
And of course it's horrific.
But look at the horrific things that happen inside the justice system daily.
I share your---and most everybody's---disdain for Dole; however, there's a long, never-ending list of NC senators and congressmen who knew what was happening at Duke and in Durham and did nothing.
The Dems would never go against their black constituency for fear of losing votes. The Pubs are almost impotent because no matter what they do, when the issue is "race" they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
None of these realities are excuses for any of them to have remained self-serving cowards.
Then-AG Alberto Gonzalez was out of his league. hHe was appointed because of his personal friendship with the president and he was hardly effective.
No one in the GWB administration wanted to touch the Duke Lacrosse Hoax because it involved three white accused and a black female accuser.
A hornet's nest that no one wants to stir and get caught up inside.
These are the reasons I loathe race-hustlers.
They do damage, get paid well for doing it, and are never held accountable.
My senses tell me, though, that lots of things are changing.
Mike Nifong thought he was Atticus Finch, Tim Tyson thought he was Harper Lee, and Bob Steel thinks he is Harper/Collins.
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Debrah wrote: "My senses tell me, though, that lots of things are changing." I agree.
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I used to think the world of Elizabeth Dole. I cannot explain what happened to her, but I suspect a propping-up "Weekend at Bernie's" scenario. How else do you explain her absence from the Mangum Hoax or her bizarre campaign advertisement? It has to be the handiwork of drunk, white, male, over-privileged college kids.
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When you call it "Lacrosse," you can manage public relations. That is apparently of paramount importance to Duke University. I would call it the "University-aided, City of Durham-sponsored, Stripper Hoax, Raid, and Attempted Lynching of Innocent Duke Students." But that terminology, accurate though it is, has negative public relations connotations.
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Happy Holidays to the crew at Durhaminwonderland and Liestoppers. Hee Haw! MOO! Gregory
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