Today and Tomorrow

It's Election Day in Durham. All over the blogosphere, Nifong supporters... frazzled by pole dancing videos and an awakening national media... seem to cling to one last comforting thought. If at day's end, Nifong is elected, we who support the boys will be devastated, humiliated, vanquished for all time. I have two words to say to them.

Not really.

We'd love to see Nifong rightfully removed today from the position he abused. We'd love to see all segments of the community rally against this man who exploited the legal system for his personal gain. We'd love to see a Hollywood happy ending where good triumphs over evil and healing begins in Durham, and this debacle of a Hoax begins to end. We'd love to see it. We believe we WILL see it. But we are wise enough to know we may not.

As voters go to the polls today, we believe they will vote Conscience, not Agenda. We believe they will vote Truth, not tortured mind-traps. We believe and hope all this. But if not, what will tomorrow bring? Well, I've been thinking about just that.

So to all the Nifongistas out there, here's a heads up about your heady predictions of our possible despair. Don't generalize about folks you don't know. That's what got you into this muddle in the first place. Watching Devon Sherwood the other day proclaim to a national audience... that he once had one brother and now has 46... made me think, "Devon knows them." He knows Collin, Reade and Dave. He knows them in all the settings and scenarios we can only imagine. Devon knows them when irritated, disappointed or distracted. He's seen them in the moments when their guard is down, and the gloves are off. In the days before March 13, when NONE of these three boys needed any good word from him, Devon saw them as they truly are. And he calls Collin, Reade, and Dave... brothers. And he endures hate, derision and criticism to claim those brothers on national TV.

Devon knows them. This is one endorsement that is stronger than steel. You Nifongistas can't tarnish it, or twist it or make it go away. Your generalizations about these boys look specious and spotty when standing next to what Devon has to say. So think about that now. If you Agenda-types imagine by tonight that LieStoppers will be crying in their collective towels, bemoaning electoral defeat, abandoning the boys... let me tell you this. You don't know these boys and you don't know us. In the unfortunate event, that scenario should happen… let me tell you about people I KNOW.

LieStoppers consists of different individuals, but one collective spirit. Victory today will inspire us, delight us, and drive us forward, toward vindication for these families, for Collin, Reade and Dave. Vanquishing Nifong will show us Durham, a world coming into symmetry which all good folks profess to believe in. We would be gratified and get on to step two.

But if Nifong is elected. What then?

I know these LieStoppers.

I'll tell you.

LieStoppers will still be here tomorrow morning, breathing fire. Forget despair… think dogged determination. We don't do angst, we redouble our efforts. Every Ashley propaganda piece has fueled a stunning rebuttal from someone on the blog. A twisted missive popping up from the professor-ly-pitiful Gang of 88 is manna for our creative heaven. Every Nifong outrage inspires us, rejuvenates us, rededicates us. I know these LieStoppers. A Nifong victory tonight will not bring ANY of us to despair. It will burnish ALL of us to whatever brilliance we might hope to possess. We will dig deeper, we will delve further… we will leave no stone unturned. We will write and rhyme and reason... parse the law and produce wickedly funny cartoons. We will not be eviscerated by a Nifong win today… by heaven, this crew will be invigorated.

And that's just us.

I'm sure the other Mighty Warriors in the field, will also be fueled and return rededicated to the fracas. The inimitable, remarkable NDLax; the brilliant and commandingly comprehensive Bill Anderson; the stalwart and steady Agenda slayer, John in Carolina; the prolific, ever-pounding Mike Gaynor; the never-failing Johnsville News; FODU's Jason Trumpbour, the constant voice of justice and reason; and before us all, the undisputed Hero of the Hoax…Professor K C Johnson, who has daily dissected and decimated the Hypocrisy before us with a clarity and power of conscience that has left us all in awe.

Nifongistas, we'll all still be here. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

I think Cheek will win today. I think Republicans... will not want a legacy of being Nifong enablers to be their burden to bear for all time in Durham. I think Durhamites do not appreciate being duped by those who are called to serve them, not deceive them. Because this Hoax WILL be unraveled. The ugliness at its core WILL be revealed. All eyes are turning increasingly to Durham. Even the bit of brightness we've seen to date has caused the roaches to begin to run for cover.

So tomorrow, I expect to be jubilant at a Cheek victory... but if the numbers are with Nifong, I'll be comforted by two very different philosophers.

I'll remember the words of Chaucer, "I'll but lie down and bleed awhile, then rise, and fight again."

I'll remember the words of country music star Garth Brooks, "Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."

Defeating Nifong in an election might be too easy, too neat and clean for him or us. We may need to work more, uncover more. He may need to pay a larger price, walk a longer crooked mile.I can't say who will claim victory tonight. But if it's you, Nifongistas... be careful on those victory laps. We won't be home, crying in our teacups. We'll be re-loading in the bushes, lurking in your woods, laying traps in your legal swamps.

To the families, either way, tonight is a night for rejoicing. Either we celebrate the defeat of Nifong and the new day in Durham… or we celebrate the indomitable spirit of people like Beth Brewer and her crew... and Devon Sherwood and his courage. . Either we hail an end to the Chief Hoaxer and his hypocrisy, or we hail the beginning of new firestorm of righteous rejuvenation.

Oh, yes! We can handle quite well either one. Here's to Today... and Tomorrow, whatever it may bring.

Joan Foster