Reasonable Doubt

In my efforts to keep the Duke Lacrosse story going, I stumbled upon an interesting website and a very good Op-Ed piece from the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus. The first site, Dilby.com, purports to name the accuser as Crystal Gail Mangum as well as printing the address where she no longer lives. This site is also known for naming Kobe Bryant's accuser. I'm not sure about the accuracy of this information. I was really only looking for the team roster. The Op-Ed by Ruth Marcus is an excellent rundown of various pieces of information behind the claims of reasonable doubt. I can only say again, let these kids get on with their life. I have no inside information, but these guys are being dragged to hell and back for one person's ego, just get on with it already.

Just drop the case

Generally, when I got to Sportsline.com it's to check out my fantasy baseball teams or check scores. Every once in a while the sports world has a captivating story that deserves coverage. I really think the Duke lacrosse story is one. While it's fading in most media outlets, the sports world is still paying attention. Reade Seligman is one of the 3 players wrongfully indicted in this case. Today a judge decided to reduce Seligman's bond to $100,000 from $400,000, money his father had to borrow. Here's the part that I think stinks: A trial isn't scheduled to begin before spring of 2007, so the two underclassmen will have missed 3 straight semesters of school for something they haven't done. I really really really don't like lawyers that much, but I really really really like vengeance. I hope that the parents of these kids counter this entire mess with a nice wrongful prosecution suit. Their children have been tainted for life whether they like it or not. Eventually it will fade, but over the course of the next few years, they might as well walk around with targets on their chests.

Free the Durham Three

Like clockwork, Newsweek picked up on the whole Tawana Brawley of Durham mish mash, and has a lengthy article on the demise of this spectacular waste of time and taxpayer money. Is it too much for Mike Nifong to admit he's made a mistake and just walk into the sunset? It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see this idiot delay the proceedings until after the elections. It's the only way he'll be able to get around this shameful display.

Guilty?

Are the Duke Lacrosse players guilty? Absolutely. They're guilty of behaving badly. They're guilty of underage drinking. They're guilty of being white. This is apparently enough evidence for Durham DA Mike Nifong to base his entire re-eclection campaign. 3 white students, nay athletes, took part in a fairly raucous party at an off campus house, where 2 strippers were slated to perform. I hate to blow the lid off of the dark underside of college, but this sort of thing probably happened at at least 40-50 other schools during the past school year. Unfortunately, only one has garnered national press attention because Tawana Brawley wasn't available at the time. At first, it didn't look good for the Duke lacrosse team, much less the university. Yes, the lacrosse team has been involved in prior incidences of bad behavior, but nothing on this scale. As time goes by, however, more evidence points to a very bad conspiracy to re-elect the Durham county DA, take down Duke and put 3 young white men in a position where they are marked for life. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the New Black Panther Party have all been quick to presume guilt based on race. And when these 3 young men are cleared, the gruesome threesome or race baiting will, of course, claim that racial differences are at fault for the outcome, rather than the ovewhelming evidence and lack of character on the part of the accuser. It's a shame that these young men are having their lives upended for at least a year because they went to a team party. If that were a crime, our prison system would be overloaded with college students from all walks of life. Lashawn Barber has a much more eloquent take on this case.

Excuses, excuses

I may be the laziest person with a blog. Well, maybe apathetic. I have plenty of good reasons though. My work hours keep me in Amish country until 8 p.m., my laptop ceased functioning, I've been reading and losing wieght (not at the same time) and I just haven't really found anyting worth a good rant. It's been a while, but I'll find some things to get me worked up. It seems the only thing that has changed since my last post is that Zarqawi feasted on a 500 pound bomb. Democrats still hate Bush, and still complain about Iraq. John Kerry is still fighting the Swift boat battle and still hasn't released his complete military records. I guess the only rant I want to unleash is regarding the Duke Lacrosse players and the overzealous agenda of a prosecutor looking to court the black vote. I'll get into that later. Ta ta.