BS: Re Duke Rape case-

Subject: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 06:48 AM

from the Washington Post. Interesting comments.


Guilty in the Duke Case

By Stuart Taylor Jr. and KC Johnson
Friday, September 7, 2007; Page A21

One night in jail: So concludes the Duke lacrosse rape case -- rape fraud, as it turned out. The legacy of this incident should include hard thinking about the deep pathologies underlying the media sensationalism and the perversion of academic ideals that this fraud inspired.

The 24-hour sentence was imposed on Mike Nifong, the disbarred former district attorney of Durham, after a contempt-of-court trial last week for repeatedly lying to hide DNA evidence of innocence. His prosecution of three demonstrably innocent defendants, based on an emotionally disturbed stripper's ever-changing account, may be the worst prosecutorial misconduct ever exposed while it was happening. Durham police officers and other officials aided Nifong, and the city and county face the threat of a massive lawsuit by the falsely accused former students seeking criminal justice reforms and compensation.

All this shows how the criminal justice process can oppress the innocent -- usually poor people lacking the resources to fight back -- and illustrates the need for reforms to restrain rogue prosecutors. But the case was also a major cultural event exposing habits of mind among academics and journalists that contradict what should be their lodestar: the pursuit of truth.

Nifong's lies, his inflaming of racial hatred (to win the black vote in his election campaign) and his targeting of innocent people were hardly representative of criminal prosecutors. But the smearing of the lacrosse players as racist, sexist, thuggish louts by many was all too representative.

Dozens of the activist professors who dominate campus discourse gleefully stereotyped and vilified their own students -- and not one member of Duke's undergraduate faculty publicly dissented for months. Duke President Richard Brodhead repeatedly and misleadingly denigrated the players' characters. He also acted as though he had no problem with Nifong's violations of their rights to due process.

The New York Times and other newspapers vied with trash-TV talk shows hosted by the likes of CNN's Nancy Grace, a biased wacko-feminist, and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, a right-wing blowhard, in a race to the journalistic bottom. The defendants -- who endured the ordeal with courage and class -- and their teammates were smeared nationwide as depraved racists and probable rapists.

To be sure, it was natural to assume at first that Nifong had a case. Why else would he confidently declare the players guilty? But many academics and journalists continued to presume guilt months after massive evidence of innocence poured into the public record. Indeed, some professors persisted in attacks even after the three defendants were declared innocent in April by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper -- an almost unheard-of event.

Brushing aside concern with "the 'truth' . . . about the incident," as one put it, these faculty ideologues just changed their indictments from rape to drunkenness (hardly a rarity in college); exploiting poor black women (the players had expected white and Hispanic strippers); and being born white, male and prosperous.

This shameful conduct was rooted in a broader trend toward subordinating facts and evidence to faith-based ideological posturing. Worse, the ascendant ideology, especially in academia, is an obsession with the fantasy that oppression of minorities and women by "privileged" white men remains rampant in America. Its crude stereotyping of white men, especially athletes, resembles old-fashioned racism and sexism.

Can this trend be reversed? The power of extremist professors will continue to spread unless mainstream liberal academics, alumni and trustees stop deferring to them and stop letting them pack departments with more and more ideologically eccentric, intellectually mediocre allies.

As for the media, the case shows the need for editors and watchdogs to remind journalists that they are supposed to be in the truth-telling business and that truth emerges from facts and evidence.

The case did feature one hero, who showed how academics as well as journalists should behave: Professor James Coleman of Duke Law School. Long a champion of liberal causes, Coleman broke ranks with his guilt-presuming colleagues after Brodhead named him to lead a committee investigating the team's culture. Yes, the report Coleman's committee issued in May 2006 said that some lacrosse players drank unlawfully or excessively and had committed such petty offenses as having noisy parties. But alcohol aside, the report was a stunning vindication. Team members had "performed well academically"; respected the Duke employees with whom they came into contact; behaved well on trips; supported current and former African American players; and had no history of fighting, sexual assault or harassment, or racist slurs.

The media long ignored this portrayal, which did not fit their mythical story line. Coleman later became the first -- and for months the only -- Duke figure to publicly denounce Nifong's violations of the players' rights. The media long ignored that, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: jacqui.c
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 06:57 AM

Maybe this case and the attitudes of the faculty will make parents think hard about whether their children should attend such a biased academy. In this case the pendulum certainly swung too far the other way.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 07:05 AM

I find the most telling comment to be
"This shameful conduct was rooted in a broader trend toward subordinating facts and evidence to faith-based ideological posturing. ....
As for the media, the case shows the need for editors and watchdogs to remind journalists that they are supposed to be in the truth-telling business and that truth emerges from facts and evidence."


It appears that the "liberal" side of things can be just as locked in their viewpoint and biases as they accuse the "conservatives" of being... Shocking!

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 07:24 AM

Of course they can. Nifong has paid the price; I believe that he's been disbarred. He was acting as a publicity-grabbing DA, which might possibly be okay on television but in real life can get you in lots of trouble.

As for the faculty, well, they're entitled to their own opinions just as everyone else is. They should, however, know enough that they don't shoot their mouths off until the facts are all in.

Truth to tell, I find that your politics doesn't matter in any of this. Both "liberal" and "conservatives" can be just as guilty.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 07:42 AM

Both "liberal" and "conservatives" can be just as guilty.

I can agree with this.

Did you hear about the Democratic congressman from CA at the airport?

Just a misdemeanor: No calls for him to resign, though...

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 07:52 AM

No, but then it's only 5:45 a.m. here and I haven't read the or heard the news yet.

But very little surprises me anymore.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 08:19 AM

Details Emerge in Filner Altercation
September 6, 2007 - 5:58pm

By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press Writer

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) - Rep. Bob Filner stormed into a United Airlines baggage office at Dulles International Airport, barged past other customers, screamed at employees and repeatedly pushed a female baggage worker, according to a criminal complaint.

"You can't stop me!" the California Democrat yelled.

"The police can," replied the baggage worker, Joanne Kay Kunkel.

Filner backed off only when he heard another employee on the phone with airport police, says the complaint, which offers more details on an Aug. 19 incident that resulted in misdemeanor assault and battery charges against Filner.

Filner was served Monday with a summons for an Oct. 2 court hearing on the incident. The complaint was subsequently filed in Loudoun County, Va., General District Court and released Thursday to The Associated Press.

It is based on a sworn statement from Kunkel, whose name had not previously been released, and was signed by a Loudoun County magistrate who found probable cause for charging Filner.

"Mr. Robert Filner came storming into our baggage office demanding help with his delayed baggage. He barged in front of a line, interrupting our business with other passengers. He is screaming," the complaint begins.

It goes on to describe Filner trying to shove his way into an employee-only office as Kunkel tells him to stop and tries to block him by stretching out her arms. That's when Filner tells Kunkel she can't stop him, and she tells him that the police can.

"At this point I am yelling for co-workers to call the police," the complaint continues. "He gets past me into the back office yelling at other agents. He again pushes me out of the way near the doorway. After hearing a co-worker on the phone with the (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority) dispatcher Mr. Filner leaves the office," the complaint concludes.

Filner has said he was tired when the incident happened, and he's described it as a misunderstanding and called the charges "ridiculous." But he has declined to be interviewed and has not provided details of what happened.

Filner's spokeswoman Amy Pond did not immediately respond to a phone call for comment Thursday.

Filner, an eight-term incumbent who chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, has displayed flashes of temper in the past.

About a year ago, he hurled obscenities at two Veterans Affairs officials after a briefing about the burglary of a laptop with military personnel information. The VA officials termed the briefing a "publicity stunt," which angered Filner.


(Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press Writer

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) - Rep. Bob Filner stormed into a United Airlines baggage office at Dulles International Airport, barged past other customers, screamed at employees and repeatedly pushed a female baggage worker, according to a criminal complaint.

"You can't stop me!" the California Democrat yelled.

"The police can," replied the baggage worker, Joanne Kay Kunkel.

Filner backed off only when he heard another employee on the phone with airport police, says the complaint, which offers more details on an Aug. 19 incident that resulted in misdemeanor assault and battery charges against Filner.

Filner was served Monday with a summons for an Oct. 2 court hearing on the incident. The complaint was subsequently filed in Loudoun County, Va., General District Court and released Thursday to The Associated Press.

It is based on a sworn statement from Kunkel, whose name had not previously been released, and was signed by a Loudoun County magistrate who found probable cause for charging Filner.

"Mr. Robert Filner came storming into our baggage office demanding help with his delayed baggage. He barged in front of a line, interrupting our business with other passengers. He is screaming," the complaint begins.

It goes on to describe Filner trying to shove his way into an employee-only office as Kunkel tells him to stop and tries to block him by stretching out her arms. That's when Filner tells Kunkel she can't stop him, and she tells him that the police can.

"At this point I am yelling for co-workers to call the police," the complaint continues. "He gets past me into the back office yelling at other agents. He again pushes me out of the way near the doorway. After hearing a co-worker on the phone with the (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority) dispatcher Mr. Filner leaves the office," the complaint concludes.

Filner has said he was tired when the incident happened, and he's described it as a misunderstanding and called the charges "ridiculous." But he has declined to be interviewed and has not provided details of what happened.

Filner's spokeswoman Amy Pond did not immediately respond to a phone call for comment Thursday.

Filner, an eight-term incumbent who chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, has displayed flashes of temper in the past.

About a year ago, he hurled obscenities at two Veterans Affairs officials after a briefing about the burglary of a laptop with military personnel information. The VA officials termed the briefing a "publicity stunt," which angered Filner.



He had better not plead "guilty.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: fretless
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 08:51 AM

Jerks on both side (obviously), but KC Johnson, who co-wrote the Washington Post aritcle, is a real piece of self-promoting work, too. The op ed article was little more than an advertisement for Johnson and Taylor's new right-leaning book on the same topic (with the usual diatribes against the supposedly left wing academy).

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:33 PM

Can we get a new thread title? There WAS no rape.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Greg F.
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:53 PM

subordinating facts and evidence to faith-based ideological posturing

And there you have the BuShites and the christian[sic] fundagelicals in a nutshell.

God Help America!

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:59 PM

Greg F.-

And also the "liberals", as is pointed out here.


BOTH sides are guilty, not just the side you dislike.


And God helps those who help themselves. So, I will work on controlling the excesses of the "conservatives, and YOU can work on the excesses of the "liberals.

Deal?

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Greg B
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 01:51 PM

Cut the guy some slack--- he was dealing with an airline :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: jacqui.c
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 02:51 PM

I can understand the frustration Filner was feeling but that doesn't give him the right to push to the front of the queue and to effectively assault an airline employee. The man obviously needs to attend anger management classes.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: heric
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 02:57 PM

Filner's case doesn't involve sex. Why is it even in the news?

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Midchuck
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 04:30 PM

Can we get a new thread title? There WAS no rape.

Yeah, but there was an accusation and a formal prosecution. So there was a rape case.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Greg F.
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 06:22 PM

I'm not sure what Bruce's gratuitous insertion of the Filner piece has to do with the subject of the thread- or anything else, for that matter. As for people acting like jerks, he might want review the consistently thuggish behavior of folks like Karl Rove, John Bolton, "Go fu$k yourself" "Buckshot" Cheney, John Negroponte, or the "professional" BuShites like Ann Coulter, Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham & on & on & on....

But be that as it may:

Per Bruce,

BOTH sides are guilty, not just the side you dislike
in the 'subordinating facts and evidence to faith-based ideological posturing' sweepstakes.

But there's a difference of degree, if not a difference in kind.

For the present administration's tenure of office, the score stands atabout: what Bruce calls "Liberals" 5, BuShites about 2,500+.

The devil is in the details. For example, I don't recall the Dems "swift-boating" anyone or carryiong on a campaign ofsubverting and supressing scientific fact.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: fumblefingers
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 09:37 PM

Greg F.

Democrat politicians never swear, drink to excess or screw around.

But just what this has to do with the Nifong case is a mystery to me.

Some folks jump on every thread with the intent of blaming George Bush and the GOP for everything that happens. It must be tough, hating so many people who don't fit into their political ideology.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 10:57 PM

"And God helps those who help themselves."

                And maybe he would, if there was such a thing.

                But what I got out of the whole thing was, the DA needed the black vote to get re-elected--or at least thought he did--and the Duke rape thing was where he thought he had to go to get it.

                Isn't this just politics as usual in America?

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Greg F.
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 09:20 AM

...with the intent of blaming George Bush and the GOP for everything that happens.

Not at all, Fumble, not at all.

I only blame 'em for what they're done & what they're demonstrably responsible for, and that's more than sufficient for a sentient being to despise 'em. I don't hate 'em at all- that would require way more time & effort than they deserve.

As for your fatuous comment about "The Dems", don't be an ass. I did not say said or imply that they were saints or somehow immune from criticism.

You present as a fairly good example of the traditional BuShite apologist who never allows facts or reality to impinge upon an opinion, idealological position or pre-conceived notion.

Keep up the good work.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Peace
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 12:17 PM

"It is the besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which the masses of men exhibit their tyranny."

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Riginslinger
Date: 08 Sep 07 - 11:55 PM

One doesn't often see quotes from James Fenimore Cooper.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: GUEST,282RA
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 11:06 AM

Funny how Bruce takes something that had nothing to do with anyone liberal or conservative leanings and turned it into just that while insisting the whole time that he is sick of people trying to turn things into liberal vs conservative. Further, he insists both do bad things but goes on to print some article about a democrat who lost his temper at an airline (the horror!) as though it means anything to anyone but him.

I think it's time Brucie-baby take his leave of this fourm. He is disruptive and probably a paid shill for the republican party being that he can't seem to keep from dragging into every thread he pollutes with his foul presence.

OTOH, he is quite comical.

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: Emma B
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 12:53 PM

Shill I love this place - you can learn something new everyday!

Subject: RE: BS: Re Duke Rape case-
From: beardedbruce
Date: 10 Sep 07 - 06:42 AM

"I think it's time Brucie-baby take his leave of this fourm. He is disruptive and probably a paid shill for the republican party being that he can't seem to keep from dragging into every thread he pollutes with his foul presence."



I don't think so.

Perhaps we should just edit ALL posts to conform to the desired political corectness, and enforce laws that require everyone to agree with whatever the Democratic party line is at the time. THAT would certainly be an improvement, according to some here.


282RA, did you even bother to read the start of the thread? Try it sometime: You might actually find out that just because someone disagrees with you ( or so you think), you err in calling them foul, or making false accusations.