The now famous Duke rape case prosecutor has committed himself to the black community, by trying to undo the injustices that were done towards blacks for years. At least that's what the Black Panther Militia would have us believe. That's the whole rationale behind their blind support of the accuser and why they will accept nothing less than a conviction. Others that want us to believe that they are sticking up for oppressed blacks on a daily basis (like Jesse Jackson and his peers) believe it too, despite the fact, they do not use the same exact inflammatory rhetoric of the militia. Radical feminists have used it to promote their agenda, as well. But in reality, Mike Nifong, the DA in this case, has willingly allowed himself to be sucked in by it all and the evidence is the case, itself.
Even liberal leaning publications like Newsweek have now began to question the validity of this case, as many in the blogosphere have done since the case garnered national attention, back in April. In its June 29, 2006 issue, there is an article entitled, Doubts About Duke. In this lengthy and fairly thorough synopsis of the case, it examines the entire case front to back and draws the same conclusions that the crack staff here at PYY was inclined to draw, shortly after the case broke into the national media. (See: this and this) Subtle as it was, the article even implicates Newsweek, itself, in the mad dash to jump on this story.
From the Newsweek article:
The media coverage of the case has been enormous. NEWSWEEK put the mug shots of two of the players Reade Seligmann, 20, and Collin Finnerty, 19—on its cover the week after they were indicted. Some early accounts raised doubts about the guilt of the players, but the story more typically played as a morality tale of pampered jocks gone wild. Lately, as more evidence from police or medical reports have been filed or cited in court documents by defense lawyers, the national and local media have been raising questions about Nifong's conduct of the case and his motivations.
Just what are those motivations, you may ask?
Nifong is described by some lawyers as an adversary who gets dug in—and won't budge. But Nifong's motives may have been political as well. He was six weeks away from an election when the Duke case came up. Durham voters are almost evenly divided between black and white. One of Nifong's opponents was black and the other was white, but the white lawyer was much better known in the community, thanks to winning a high-profile murder case. (That opponent, former assistant D.A. Freda Black, became a bitter enemy of Nifong's after, she claims, Nifong fired her.) Nifong promised black voters that he would not let the Duke case drop. He indicted two of the players two weeks before the election. He won narrowly, taking a larger share of the black vote than the other white candidate.
Unless new evidence is found that reverses the vast majority of the present evidence, it is the opinion of this writer that the above snippet of this article is, in fact, the crux of this whole matter: Politics.
As the case has been unfolding in the media, it appears that three men, a university (to include an entire team of one sport), and black Americans everywhere have all been wronged by this one selfish stunt. The MSM jumped on it, the radical fringes previously mentioned jumped on it, and Mike Nifong (a candidate for re-election) jumped on it. This they did, long before all of the facts were known.
The three men that stand accused are being held in a state of limbo (while DA Nifong digs in and refuses to move, until well after the November election) and are facing serious charges that could severely impact their lives for a long time. There's no denying it. The university has lost an entire athletic program, with the coach being villified as a negligent enabler of Animal House antics by his players. When this is settled (by the charges being dropped or by acquittal if this case goes to trial), they will all likely recover, over the course of time.
But it is the American black community that will likely see the most damage, in that, future cases (that may actually have merit) could very well be minimized and disregarded, due to the prosecutorial misconduct by DA Nifong. A shadow of doubt can (and will likely) be cast on these future cases, all because a DA seeking re-election wanted to garner the majority of the black vote in his county. (See: The Boy Who Cried Wolf) Maybe victims will be hesitant to come forward, afraid that their story will not be believed, maybe the DAs themselves will be hesitant to go forward with some cases, because the fallout of another false accusation could be detrimental to their political careers. But no matter how it plays out in these future events, there will be some effects.
Anytime a politician or elected official chooses to play a race card or grandstands to win the support of any racial demographic, he/she bastardizes all legitimate instances of discrimination or any other form of racial bigotry that has occurred or will occur. And, when the media plays into their hands to generate a story, they must assume the risk having egg on their face, like Newsweek now has. But give them credit, they have stepped up to plate and accepted their share of the responsibility for their part in this, even though it is a subtle admission.
Be that as it may, the only one that has the ability to right this particular wrong, is Mike Nifong. But given his conduct up to this point, it's highly unlikely that he will reverse course, until well after the election. And it's a shame that the people of Durham County, North Carolina cannot see what his true motives are and vote him out, in November.
Hat Tip for the Newsweek article: RCP
