Sunday Soapbox

To date I've held off commenting on the Duke LaCross rape case and it's subsequent dismissal and the Imus debacle -- mostly because everyone else was busy posting their thoughts and I decided to ponder the situation before speaking. That's what Historians do, they wait until the dust settles then armchair quarterback.

Duke case

• The proscecutor is the one in deep shit right now and is the one whose life has been truly destroyed. When I think about his choices when this case was started he was kind of in a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't situation. If he had refused to take what the woman said seriously the Black community and Feminst groups would have crucified him for letting boys-be-boys and letting the wealthy do whatever they wanted without having to pay for it. Once he brought the indictment and the media circus began his ambition got the best of him. A conviction on this could get him elected to higher office -- who knows Attorney General, which could lead to Governor -- he shot his mouth off trying to make the most of the situation. Then the case too a turn for the south. The other woman present rebutted the charges, DNA evidence supported the defendants, the accuser changed her story. It was time to cut and run, but he dragged it on and on, even covered up evidence because as a prosecutor he had been conditioned to deal with mostly guilty stupid and poor criminals who either plea bargained or had overworked crappy public defenders -- getting to the TRUTH is not the way the game is played -- his job was to get convictions. He didn't know the game changed when the defendants had means and competent lawyers. He didn't know how to cut and run until it was too late. This will be a good object lesson to other prosecutors about shooting their mouths off before all the facts are in, but I'm afraid for most prosecutors the lesson they'll learn is to let the wealthy get away with murder because they don't have the resourses to beat high priced attorneys. O.J., Robert Blake, and now this case kind of get that message across.
• For the students -- the fact that the proscutor will most likely be disbarred, his political ambitions ruined, and his future forever clouded -- it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy..
• There doesn't appear to be any consequences forthcoming for the woman who falsely cried rape. As a man with a son this bothers me. Our judicial system is stacking the deck in favor of women on rape and sexual harassment when in almost all other areas it tries for a reasonable (person not gender specific) ballance. As a husband and father of a daughter who naturally fears what could happen to her should the situation (God forbid!) I'd like the deck to be stacked in their favor. Truly a case of who's ox is gored. BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE A SAFEGUARD AGAINST BLATANT FALSE ACCUSATIONS. This woman is not the victim here she is the true criminal. She purposely ruined the players lives, destroyed the credibility of the city Police department and the District Attorney's office. Did the city and the state significant financial harm both in investigation and subsequent wrongful prosecution law suits. She incited race, gender and economic war across this country just to get her fifteen minutes of fame -- the only irony being that because of the nature of the crime her name is confidential. She did no good service to her race or women because it is hard enough for all women who really are raped to find justice without defense attorneys citing this case as a precedent to get their scumbags off. How many District Attorneys will be reluctant to pursue a real crime like this because of her lies? She didn't just ruin the lives of the players, taxpayers and prosecutor -- she will ruin countless other women's lives who really did suffer this crime.
• Any thoughts concerning this issue I would have about the Rev. Al Sharpton or the Rev. Jesse Jackson would be inappropriate as I'm not a member of their race. If they need to be taken to task for their handling of the situation it needs to done by his community. Just don't expect me to buy your brand of snake oil from now on.

Imus

I've never listened to a single broadcast and am glad I haven't. The only thought that comes to mind is what happened to the late ignominous Senator Joseph McCarthy. "At long last it has come out. Do you have no shame, sir? Do you have no sense of shame?"

All I can hope for is that this last election has returned a sense of shame. My regret is that it wasn't his audience that turned him off. If his listeners had felt a sense of shame about his comments real change would have happened in this country. Instead they're going to whine and complain that Free Speech has been sacrificed to political correctness. This group of listeners makes up anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of the population -- unscientific reasoning based on President Bush's approval rating of 29 %. Imus may be silenced, but that won't shut up all the other hatemongers on the airwaves.