Anyone with an adolescent son understands that the Mother-Son dynamic can become . . . well . . . problematic in those very interesting years of high school and/or college. In our family, my son and I had always been kindred spirits. We enjoyed poetry, and genealogy, and sharing the old family stories together. More importantly, he confided in me. But, as he left for college and started on a more independent path, naturally. . .he began to pull away from "Mom." Often, in those days, I was told that his life was "none of my business". . . that I should refrain from offering commentary or direction about "His Life." He became increasingly vehement and emphatic about it. And so, gritting my teeth (he is my oldest) . . . I tried.
He had a girlfriend in those days, whose career objective seemed to be marriage . . . IMMEDIATELY. Her mother, a physician, once closed her office for the day . . . because "The Kids" were having problems, and she needed "to save their relationship." During this rocky period, The Son actually spent two long days and nights in their home . . . "saving the relationship" (with the help of the Good Doctor, of course.) Intermittently, he would call from the guest room (panic rising), and beg one of us to drive there and rescue him. His best friend finally did attempt a hostage retrieval, but was met at the door by the Good Doctor and turned away. To this day, in the family, we enjoy re-telling this saga . . . now known forever as . . . the "Prisoner of Love" story.
That same year, on Mother's Day, The Son called, alarmed again . . . because the Marriage Talk had become very specific. He wanted to know what, if anything, I was doing to counter it? Had I told them my son was too young to get married? Had I told them my son still had several years of school? Had I told them to back off?
"No," I said . . . as I hadn't. "Why not?" he demanded. Because, this was His Life. His Business. As directed by him so many times, I was staying "Out Of It."
The resulting scorn was palpable. "That's your problem, Mom, when you SHOULD get involved with things . . . you DON'T!"
You just can't please adolescent sons or some addled Hoaxers either. From Melanie Sill to Herald Sun letter writers, the understandable concern of the national audience as they watch a malicious prosecution conducted unchecked before their eyes is meeting scorn and derision. This Lacrosse Hoax is none of our business. Get a Life. This is just, well, in the words of their now notorious D.A. Nifong . . . a "Durham problem that demands a Durham solution." Here are a few of my personal favorites offered by a few Durham natives and potential jurors. . .found, where else, than on the opinion pages of the "Nifong Herald Sun."
"Critics from elsewhere simply need to get a life"
"I have read in your editorial section, over the past several months, many letters concerning the Duke lacrosse case, written by people from around the nation. Their "interest" has puzzled me. Without fail, every one of these letters is pro-defense and vehemently anti-prosecution. Who are these busy-bodies? Do they think they have the right to tell us what's going on around here? Do I smell a rat? I could not care less about the outcome of this thing, but I do know that this team of gun-slinging defense sharks have shown a strong ambition to spin this entire saga by whatever means to their gain. I would not be at all surprised if they have put out a mailer to their colleagues around the country to fill our editorial pages with the kind of spin acceleration that serves only as defense propaganda.
"These letters also have a strong propensity to denigrate local government, posing them as bumbling idiots and shoddy bureaucrats. How many of them have ever even been here? Why are their lives so boring that Durham consumes them?"
Clifton Hunt
Durham
December 23, 2006
Mr. Hunt, I confess, I am one of those busy-bodies. But I swear . . . I never got the defense mailer. And, yes, you've nailed me . . . I've never been to Durham. I've never been to New Orleans either, but I was part of a local fund raising relief drive in my hometown for those folks in need. I've never been to Baghdad as well, but, for over a year, my sun-room was full of community donated items for goodie bags, sent not to soldiers I KNEW . . . but to soldiers whose names were submitted by chaplains, because their own families were unable to send them special treats. In my own hometown, I spend hours weekly with projects such as creating a free Family Garden for urban youngsters who might otherwise have no greenspace to grace their lives. I do have a life. Do you have a conscience? Newspapers all over the country have now twigged to the outrageous, possibly illegal framing of the three Duke students . . . but without "outsiders" pressing the story . . . some local folks like you would enable it, encourage it, or ignore it. Mr. Nifong drew us into this terrible tale, as he appeared on national newscasts last Spring . . . night after infamous night. He engaged us, and later, as the Hoax was revealed . . . enraged us. We are here to stay. But where have you been? Oh, yes, you've been out there "smelling a rat." Well, how far is your home from the D.A.'s office? The stench of this false prosecution would be overwhelming.
"Sick of lacrosse case"
"I am so sick of hearing about the Duke lacrosse rape case. I thought I was pretty fed up when the local and national press descended like the proverbial locusts earlier this spring.
"Admittedly I was peeved because I couldn't get my hair done at the Artistry Academy located on the same street. But that was April. This is December and I will be darned if I didn't see the beginnings of another media parade.
"Here's a question. What is so newsworthy about this story? Has reporting this story ad nauseam effectively changed the relations along the divides of race, gender and class in this city? Someone please explain to me how this "news opera" contributes to information that effectively governs the daily course of our lives.
"For me, as an instructor of mass communications,the biggest shame of this news debauchery was that pioneer African American journalist Ed Bradley's last piece for 60 Minutes dealt with this episodic, trivial pursuit. This case is not about truth and justice yet ironically it still is about the American way: money. I am sure if these indicted players hailed from lower tax brackets, there would be no high price defense
team."
W. Russell Robinson
Durham
December 23, 2006
Russell, civil rights have become "trivial pursuit" to you? Or maybe you believe civil rights laws don't apply to rich white Northern boys . . . those are just special laws used for just some special citizens and not others. Huh? We will soon see how many North Carolina politicians agree with you. If Easley et al stand silent in light of this kind of North Carolina "justice," they will have made a mockery of our justice system and themselves . . . just as you do. This case is all about "truth and justice." No one deserves to be railroaded, no matter their "tax bracket" or skin color. Wasn't that why we marched? Or was it just to switch from favored group to another? Many more poor blacks still suffer from small town hoodlum D.A.'s like Mike Nifong than do lacrosse players. This case could help open many eyes . . . and SHOULD. Beginning with yours.
By the way, Russell, do you ever see Melanie Sill at the Artistry Academy getting her hair done? Maybe that's the root problem of her pique over at the Editor's Blog. Something's annoying her . . . I'll vouch for that.
Yes, our Melanie at the N&O seems to be losing her patience with the "outsiders" commenting on the Editor's Blog. She posts:
"One of the points I made during the program taping is reinforced by these comments made on Christmas Eve and in the wee hours of Christmas Day: I have never seen a local criminal case that so completely consumed people so far away. It is truly a marvel of our times. The N&O has written countless stories about criminal justice and criminal defendants including the truly murderous as well as the falsely accused. None has induced the kind of obsession that surrounds this case. I'm not sure what it means, but through it all our focus at the N&O has been to work even harder at presenting clear facts and independent reporting. Part of that work involves judgments on what to include and to exclude -- we make these decisions every day, we discuss them to the degree that seems reasonable, and we have continued to try to do so in the face of a MIGHTY WIND here." (my emphasis)
For those of you who don't read the blog, the "mighty wind" blowing big time in Melanie's face . . . is mostly concerned with the N&O's decision to edit certain statements made by The Accuser to reporter Samiha Khanna in The Accuser's only interview, which appeared on March 25. In that interview, as The Accuser stood "with gym bag in hand" . . . (as we now know . . . ready for her nightly pole dancing duties at the Platinum Club) . . . she said a few choice things about the night in question. The N&O told us . . . it was her first time dancing provocatively for a group, it wasn't a great job, but honor student that she was, it fit her busy schedule of mothering and studying. But the soft voiced shy "Dancer," in describing what the N&O called "her ordeal," said some other things too. The N&O to this day has suppressed those statements. They are shrouded in mystery. But there are a few clues.
Editor Linda Williams writes:
"She provided a description of the then-unidentified second woman who had also been hired to dance at the lacrosse team party. She also offered an opinion about the other woman’s actions that night. The latter was clearly an opinion, offered without any substantiation."
Editor Michelle Valenzuela adds:
"We did not withhold any key information. Linda was trying to explain that when people are interviewed, some things that are not key to a story are left on the cutting room floor. There is a misconception about this supposed piece of information. It was not an accusation against Kim Roberts."
Editor Linda Williams popped in again:
"Again, for the record."
"As I explained previously, two things the accuser said did not make it in to print. As Ms. Valenzuela said, nothing about that information shed light on what happened that night, nor would the publication have made a difference in how this case has played out. As previously stated, the accuser offered a description of the second dancer hired for the party. The presence of a second woman at the party was already known, but she was not identified at that time. The description was withheld because it was irrelevant in the absence of any other available information about the second woman. The accusers' speculation about the actions of the second woman was also not printed. If we had printed that utterance - an admitted speculation without the slightest foundation to suggest the possibility of truth -- it would have been a conscious act of libel. Some people on this blog have speculated about the content of that specific utterance. You are wrong. Nonetheless, having made the decision not to print the speculation that was highly probably to be defamatory to several people, we have no legitimate reason to ever discuss publicly the specifics. Some of you have suggested that we should have printed it simply to show that the accuser was not credible. Such reasoning is curious. Moreover, it is neither legally nor morally defensible.
"I will not say what it was because it could be harmful to people who need not be harmed, and the accuser said she wasn't sure whether or not it was true. Our story reported what the accuser said happened not what she said MIGHT have happened."
Using The Accuser's own words to show her story is not credible is "legally or morally indefensible?!!!! Gosh, Linda, you do it every day against politicans you don't prefer. This woman has some special status to enable her to persecute these boys?
Anyway...My! My! All very mysterious . . . Such intrigue! Sometimes, just for a moment . . . I lose my focus and think I'm on the WTVD Board, back in the days when Cash Michaels was SH-A-AK-K-K-I--N-G and leaving his cryptic clues.
Yes, the N&O Editors seem very cryptic and even confused over there, trying to craft this story for us. But how well they crafted the story they wanted for the national audience last Spring!. They painted a poignant picture of The Accuser . . . a picture that largely remained in place for MONTHS . . . until the pole dancing video and the hidden DNA evidence were revealed. Evidence that The Accuser on the night of the Lacrosse party had multiple male DNA in her mouth, vagina, anus, and panties. Evidence that the only injury . . . "diffuse edema" and a few minor scratches . . . now coupled with her admitted motel "vibrator" appointment and being dropped in a strip club parking lot . . . turned the N&O portrait of the shy dancer into a tawdry Durham expose . . . and then, turned out to be all the "evidence" that the integrity-challenged Mr. Nifong seemed to have!
As the local paper, we "outsiders" assumed the N&O had the sources, ability, and journalistic responsibility to discover who and what this woman was. And, with the slightest of effort..in the early days..when it might REALLY have mattered, they might have presented a REAL PICTURE of the woman behind the charges. A rape accuser deserves a hearing, yes, but not a media make-over. We, the readers, deserve verifiable facts, not a fantasy of the alleged victim of a racially charged rape. We deserve the truth. That used to be what "reporting" was all about. Truthful reporting could have slowed Nifong or even shut him down.
Instead, their misrepresentations aided and abetted him. Just as they scoured Trinity Park, looking for every incensed neighbor to buttress their "Swagger Story" on the lacrosse team . . . one might have assumed fair reporters would have asked around a bit about The Accuser. Remember, one of the police that first night asked about The Accuser's children! Even we "outsiders" know that she was KNOWN! There had been another gang rape accusation against three other young men in her past. There was a serious, life threatening crime she previously committed. There were escort services and the Platinum Club . . . and Yolanda, who saw her dropped on the gravel of the strip club parking lot a few nights before. And probably much more, that the defense has yet to reveal. Slowly, at snail's pace . . . all this was revealed . . . but the N&O's early "portrayal" of the "victim," as they called her . . . would not be easily amended or corrected. The N&O created a false picture, a storyline about this Accuser, either through desire or design . . . that is still believed in many places and parts of Durham today. That's not reporting; that's advocacy!
The N&O's "victim" was the perfect foil for the rich swaggering white boys. Soft spoken, shy, crying, good student, Daddy's girl, mother, Navy vet . . . the newspaper cast her in a pink glow as they relayed her "ordeal." Furthermore, they enhanced the racial aspects of this case as they painted a picture of these two young black women, "crying" . . . huddling together in solidarity and suffering. Yet we know in some of The Accuser's early accounts to the various authorities, Kim Roberts was sometimes portrayed as a villain who stole her money and/or participated in the rape. So what did The Accuser tell the N&O on March 25 that they had to edit . . . and why? What "actions" of Kim's just had to go? The Big Wind at the blog is trying to blow the truth out of the musty corners of this flawed piece of reporting.
Melanie and Linda cannot fathom what the fuss is all about. The implication is, of course, that it is all coming from "Outsiders" . . . Out-of-Town bloggers and posters who need to "get a life." Yet it was "James" . . . a local . . . who posted this summary last night:
"The 'libel' excuse is not credible. I read the N&O daily and the paper conforms to industry norms, ie, will print what someone says knowing that it is what the person says - not what the N&O thinks.
"The 'reason' this was not disclosed (assuming that accuser stated Kim stole from her) was that if done you would have done all that legwork for nothing, ie, your accuser would not come off as a soft-spoken student that was new to stripping (the latter is not true and something you apparently chose not to investigate prior to publication). You appear to also have bent the meaning of 'student' (does one class count? two?) in a way that left the reader with the impression that she was full time.
"Regardless I read that article in print and noticed the 'charged' language immediately. The N&O generally avoids such tabloid articles but apparently it was too tempting. The only real difference between a 'story' and your 'story' is that in a 'real story' the N&O (and any other paper) does not take an editorial position or express support for an individual where you most certainly did (used language to garner support, excluded information, failed to investigate what was being said)."
The fact is this case, this outrage, this blatant example of prosecutorial abuse, this Hoax . . . is everybody's business. If nothing more than an ever-changing allegation from an accuser with "a long psychological history" offered in a political season can cause anyone to be indicted, then none of us are safe.
Melanie, and Linda, and Clifton, and Russell should direct their scorn at all the casual observers who are passively standing in the wings, silently watching The Show. Like the anonymous New Yorkers who watched from their windows as a screaming young woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death many years ago . . . that type of self-interested detachment is appalling, sub-human. I'm proud to stand with the concerned Durhamites and Outsiders . . . shouting and hollering and stomping our feet for justice! Not working for our own self-interest, like the depraved mind that began this travesty, but for a greater good. I'm proud to stand with the writers and posters and bloggers demanding the truth. Our numbers are growing every day!
God bless the Busy Bodies!
Joan Foster
37 comments:
Good work, Joan.
I've been amazed at the number of Durham citizens who seem to be offended that "outsiders" like me have spoken out about this case. As the potential future targets of Nifong's and the Durham PD's corrupt practices, I would have thought that Durham citizens would be glad that so many citizens from other states are unwilling to let injustice reign in Durham. Wasn't it Dr. King who said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere? We all have a stake in protecting our Constitutional freedoms -- and those of our neighbors.
I was wondering do Durham residents write into their local papers and complain about them covering stuff out of Durham? Never mind I don't need a answer for that. If the people of Durham are mad about outsiders getting involved in this case, they have one person to blame for that. It is Nifong. If he didn't do all those interviews on tv many of us would have never heard of this story. Any anger Durhamites might have about this case should be direct at Nifong and those who voted for him and not us.
Dear Joan,
Another excellent post. Also, great work at the Raleigh N&O's Editors' Blog.
I plan to post and link to your post later today.
To the two commenters,
I agree with you both.
John in Carolina
Joan great job. The of the poster above are correct. Nifong is the one to blame for all of this, not the outsiders.
Thanks Joan. I Have followed the saga at the N&O regarding the interview of the false accuser. It is time that the N&O go ahead and make the change in their name to what they are commonly known as in Eastern North Carolina.....Snooze and Disturber. It fits them exactly.
but.... the H/S is the official Snooze Room so you have to come up w/ something different for the N&O (which btw has run circles around the Snooze Room w/ it's reporting on this case -- scary, huh?)...
Tony Soprano poses a good question - I suspect that the insider/outsider definition depends more on what side of the fence you're on.
Here's an N&O letter-to-the-editor today from someone who might be considered an 'outsider' under that definition (even tho he's from Hillsborough :) -
Where's justice?
The Duke lacrosse rape allegation case provides the public with an important civic lesson about our legal system. From the very first days it was apparent that this case would be under a microscope -- from nonstop nationwide cable reporting to local coverage. I would have expected the district attorney to make legal decisions and public statements with the utmost care. Yet from the moment Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong inappropriately inflamed the situation by calling the lacrosse players "hooligans" he has made mistake after mistake, compromising his case and justice along the way.
Week after week and month after month go by, leaving us wondering about how the wheels of justice work. The N&O reported Dec. 24 that Nifong has refused to discuss the case outside of court, yet he gave a three-hour interview to The New York Times.
If this is what the public gets from its District Attorney's Office when the nation is watching and the defendants have the financial resources for the best legal counsel, then we should pause and think what this civic lesson is teaching us. What then do we get for justice when the media are not watching and the defendants have few if any resources to assist them in a trial?
Harvey Johnson
Hillsborough
Joan, I applaud you for keeping the N&O's feet to the proverbial fire. While the paper's coverage became outstanding AFTER Joe Neff and Benjamin Niolet took over, it was a major proponent of the Hoax before then.
The excuses that we hear now -- we didn't want to libel anyone -- just do not pass the smell test. Excuse me, but the story already was libelous. Furthermore, if CGM was making comments about Kim that were libelous and not credible, did they not stop to think that perhaps her OTHER comments were not credible, either?
Let's face it. They sent a couple of hard-core feminists to the woman, she told them what the N&O people wanted to hear, and they ran with it. They provided cover both to Nifong and to CGM, as opposed to providing the truth.
Yes, I applaud the work of Neff and Niolet. But, had the editors of that paper not been trying to emulate Nancy Grace and Wendy Murphy, perhaps this whole hoax could have been cut off early.
Instead, we got what we got. I only wish that the families could send the N&O their legal bills, since that paper is partly responsible for what they have experienced.
(And I won't even go into who was responsible for that execrable "wanted poster" that the N&O printed and distributed. No one still is owning up to that action, but my guess is that sooner or later we will find out just whose fingerprints were on that obviously false document.)
The fact is, this case, this outrage, this blatant example of prosecutorial abuse, this Hoax . . . is everybody's business!!! SUPERB, JOAN!
Add to that, it's everybody's business to pursue the TRUTH, to find the TRUTH, and act on the TRUTH. The "tired" complainers who see no outrage here are indeed akin to those who watched Kitty Genovese die a thousand deaths. What a great call back!
Bravo Joan!
Great analysis and a joy to read!
The editors don't want to release what the false accuser said about Kim Roberts. Why?
- It's about Kim's actions that night.
- It is not flattering to Kim because the editors said it could be liable.
- It's not substantiated; no evidence of the actions is known.
OK. This sounds to me like the false accuser is LYING and MAKING A FALSE ACCUSAION! That is pertinent to the case. However, the N&O can't release it now or they will be embarrassed. We already know the false accused said Kim stole her money and/or helped execute a rape. Either she repeated this to the N&O or she made another accusation. Either way, this is pertinent to the accuser's credibility. I hope that it eventually is revealed and that the Durham readership takes the editors to task for withholding the information.
Damn you Joan.....I'm going to have nightmares now about Nifong AND the DOCTOR!!! :) Thank you for so properly placing your nose.
Joan,
I love your writing. Thanks for the personal story on your son. My 19 year old has been chafing for awhile about his mother's "interest" in his life. Part of growing up is that resistance, I think. I might send this to my wife, but she already thinks I spend too much time reading and writing about this case, so I'll probably wait. I did send her your previous piece on thinking about the moms.
Interesting that Sill denies the hidden story is the alleged theft by Kim. Maybe the acccusation was that Kim was having sex with the boys. That might qualify as libelous to the boys in a way that might make the paper liable.
The Wilmingtonstar is just the first to call for Nifong to resign. The also wonder why talk to the NY Times and not a local paper? Is the HS no longer a friendly outlet?
The point is that the N&O cannot tell us that the secondary story was dishonest and explosive, but that the primary story -- that the lacrosse players raped dear virginal Crystal -- somehow was fit to print. That little doggie is not going to hunt.
Keep the heat on these frauds, please. Maybe Melanie can be the new PR chief for the Durham County DA's office!
I couldn't repress a few giggles at the field day of Freudian analysis Joan's Mother-Son dynamic suggests.
I am proud to stand with all of you!
Another masterpiece, Joan. I'm just another "busybody outsider!"
Texas Mom
8:42 AM
I moved to Eastern NC in 1991 and learned very soon thereafter that the N&O had that name. The H-S is a johnny-come-lately to the Snooze name. I am sure that we can find a more appropriate name for them. You must accept that the N&O earned that name many, many years ago. You can rest assured that I did not originate it.
duke09parent said...
My 19 year old has been chafing for awhile about his mother's "interest" in his life.
10:16 AM
duke09parent and Joan, It doesn't get a whole lot better with time. My 31 year old son still chafes when my wife and I try to impart our life experience knowledge to him. Even though we know he desperately needs it. LOL. We still hope that someday he will grow up and listen to us.
N&O editor Linda Williams better have that file ready for the FEDs when then do their investigation. Withholding significant information and protecting a criminal will be serious. The reporter Samiha Khanna was the only one who spoke with the false accuser in March, and instead of printing the truth, the total information they edited out pertinent information to present a false picture for the public of who the accuser is and what occured. That is false reporting. Ommitting the truth is the same as lying. They learned well from Nifong. The FEDS are going to want to speak with Samiha, my advice to her is tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and you will be spared punishment when this comes crashing down.
If the people of Durham stood up for the Constitution and didn't use this case to push their racist, feminist agendas, the entire world wouldn't have to step in correct a situation they refuse to acknowledge. The fact they elected Nifong is proof alone what a disfunctional society Durham is. For all those Durham residents who spoke up against this travesty, I am sorry your property values have decreased and your taxes will go up due to civil liabilities because of your ignorant, racist neighbors.
>
I am calling on Mike Nifong to Resign.
Resign, you no good bastard!
Joe Murray
>
Nifong has rested his case on Crystal. He has hidden her for these last nine months, even her family has had little contact with her. It will be fun to hear what she has to say about her DA once she has a forum. Most of the black community is clearly still supportive of her yet they seem posed to take on Nifong. I wouldn't put it past Crystal to accuse him of some unsavory behavior. It is the only way she can save face. She certainly has no problem throwing around wild accusations. Perhaps she will accuse him of rape! Oh, what a tangled web he has woven!
OUTSIDERS???? I live in the United States!! Is Durham in the United States??? We are talking about individual rights here..the one thing that makes this COUNTRY different from all others. But I guess all countries have their little cesspools.
Trinity60
Woody Vann defending Nifong in Washington post/ AP story, again. Everyone else pans Nifong.
Hay Nifong will need a defense attorney and Woody Vonn seems to be the only one left in town to stick up for him.
I dont see why you think nifong is going anywhere. He is going to be able to reinstate the rape charges after Crystal testifies and points out the rapists. Most rape convictions dont need DNA and nifong wont need it either. The judge will believe everything nifong tells him because he is the DA and his telling the truth. All of you know that these three are rapists and kidnappers.
Nifong is going to need a better attorney than Woody Vann.
The "victim" saids now she wasn't raped is she lying? I understand its harrd to keep track of all of her stories. So much easier for the 3 Dukies, they have only 1 story and they keep repeating it. Of course the Dukies have truth on their side.
The victum have truth on her side. In North Carolina the law says her word is enough to prove rape. She says she is raped so that is good enough for me.
That is the most over written tediously boring blog entry ever written about this case. Short and sweet: this is phony "Southern States Rights," the same slobbering phoniness that the South threw at all us "outsiders" when we dared stick our noses into the lynchings, the false imprisonments, and the restricted access suffered by Black People in the 40s and 50s. Call this what it is: Southern Klanishness, an attitude that brands anyone from out of town an "outsider" with no right of free speech. Klannishness over the Constitution, again. Tough Shit, South, you cannot violate the Constitution. Period.
Associated Press
Ethics Complaint Against Duke Prosecutor
By AARON BEARD 12.28.06, 5:29 PM ET
The bar has finally started moving.
Nifong's license is about to grow proverbial wings and fly away.
Good.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
this is to Tony Soprano,
People in Raleigh and Chapel Hill are NOT considered outsiders as the whole area is unified with a name/identity, the Triangle area, and technically, Raleigh and Durham are twin cities like St Paul and Minneapolis so you are making a fool of yourself by criticising the Raleigh paper for commenting on the doings in Durham; they are only 25 miles apart and are part of the same Triangle geographic area. That is a far cry from people from Massachusetts, Brooklyn, etc writing about how stupid Durham is, etc; if you check the letters at the Attorney General's office, I bet the vast majority are from out of state people. That is why Nifong won the general election; all his biggest critics and ABN supporters were from out of town and they lacked local fundraising and support. If you look at who is complaining to the Department of Justice, Rep Jones is not local either; his district is far from Durham and is a 74% white district at the coast, hundreds of miles away. Like a lot of Duke 3 supporters' comments on the blogs, Jones has a reputation for racism in his home district. Jones is famous for Freedom fries and for moving from a district that has a lot of blacks(first district) to one with hardly any (the third) and for changing his party to Republican from Democrat so he can put forward an anti-integration agenda and get elected.
Howard, this isn't a case of the Old South taking a dump on the Constitution. This is a case of a left-leaning segment of the New South laying a deuce on Old Glory. This particular blog entry was a dissection of the view you and many others, myself included, find offensive. An attack on the United States Constitution in Durham, NC, is an attack on the United States Constitution on every square nanometer of American soil.
7:22 p.m., I'm certainly not a racist. There's too much scum on this planet of all races and, on a more positive note, too many truly great people of all races, to make any comparisons based solely on race stupid at best. As for why people from all over the nation care about this case, see my comments above. Your comments only serve as evidence that you lack any valid arguments to bolster your case.
Oh, and Nifong won the election with only 49% of the vote. Had the ABN vote not been split between two candidates, he'd already be collecting his pension check. For another example of this happening, look no further than the 1992 presidential election. No Perot, no Clinton.
Idiot,
NONE of those representatives are from Durham or even the Triangle. They all come from the redneck dominated areas of the state and they are using this case to get their name in the news. They are republicans and they will do ANYTHING to discredit a democrat like Nifong. Where are the local representatives and senators? Nowhere to be seen and Gov Easley has not said one word.
Okay, 5:37, what about every one of his fellow elected District Attorneys, including the one for Raleigh, calling on Nifong to recuse himself and citing his own actions and his refusal to accept the help offered to him. You see the silence of the Democrat-dominated locals as a condemnation of the Republican Congressmen for daring to interfere when justice is being miscarried. I see the silence of the locals as an indictment of their character or an act of cowardice. They are Republicans, and at least they're smart enough to know which way this wind is blowing. I don't claim that they're doing this for altruistic reasons. I'm only stating that they're right.
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