Thursday, March 26, 2009

Grisham on Public Memory

From page 43 of John Grisham’s latest novel, The Associate:

Each fleeting thought was chased away by the next, and he found it impossible to concentrate, to think rationally, to focus on what should and should not be said. Decisions made at this ugly moment could reverberate forever. For a moment he settled on the three Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of raping a stripper. They were eventually cleared of everything, but only after an excruciating trip to hell and back.

It’s reassuring, to put it mildly, that this Grisham passage reflects one element of the conventional wisdom on the case (along with the affair as a textbook case of prosecutorial misconduct and of faculty race/class/gender groupthink).

That said, imagine if only 10 percent of the country continues to believe the Wendy Murphy/Mike Nifong/Group of 88 version of events. That would be talking about 30 million people.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

30,000,000 people. And if only 10% of them vote, then it is enough to swing a Presidential election.

God Bless John Grishman for his direct use of the language (stripper). It is a pity he omitted the more accurate and descriptive "drug-addled" to more fully describe her.

It is important to remember that it is a drug-addled stripper who the Klan of 88, and more importantly Bob Steel, Richard Brodhead, the Duke Board of Trustees, the media, and other abettors defend.

Unrelated I met a prospective Duke student last night. He is extraordinarily sharp and talented on many levels with deep ties into a top Ivy. Surprisingly after visitng his legacy school he is considering Duke (and others). Fortunately I have a copy of Durham in Wonderland that I intend to give him.

By the way he is interested in medicine. I would not be able to sleep at night without providing him information about the environement he is considering to enter.

Anonymous said...

Reassuring indeed KC. These days I think that it's not just people who know or don't know. I think there is now a significant sub-set of people who FEAR. They simply are afraid to speak up about what they know to be the truth. So we have (1) those who know the truth and willing to speak up, (2) those who are brainwashed by the idealogues, and (3) those who know the truth but are afraid to say a peep. Sadly, the last group is much larger than most think.

Anonymous said...

Furthermore, we can expect to see some of the mainstream publications and news outlets trying to resurrect the story as a travesty of justice -- against Crystal and Nifong. People like Murphy and others are throwing a lot of lies and half-truths out there.

Unfortunately, we never will be able to stamp out all of the lies. For example, Karla Holloway has written that she believes Tawana Brawley really was sexually assaulted. This is someone who openly says she does not believe in evidence, but uses on race as her guide to what is true or not.

Since Holloway is in a position of influence, and since she is given deference in the academic community, she will be able to lie with impunity and no one can do anything about it.

Debrah said...

There's a lot that can be done about it.

Just depends how willing people are to actually do it.

And how relentless.

Even far left Liberals know how void of substance the scholarship of people like Holloway really is.

Get a few under the glass at a party and they will admit it.

There must be relentless push-back and a commitment to stop the destruction and the free and easy ride those like the Gang of 88 take inside the academy.

Most people are too preoccupied with paying the mortgage and the bills to put the required time into such efforts.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention the parade of academics testifying on behalf of Ward Churchill in his suit against the University of Colorado. The Klan of 88 Duke faculty is not alone, they and their friends are well established in the academy. If Churchill wins, truth becomes just another equally valid perspective. Look for more action by the folks at Duke and their fellow true believers. What you will not see, will be suits to bring equally dubious scholarship into the academy. No, alternative perspectives must be politically correct. Reminds me of Ron Radosh's account of the Cuban explaining the difference between socialist lobotomies (good), and capitalist lobotomies (evil) with utmost sincerity.

Orson Buggeigh

Debrah said...

It's really hot that Grisham referenced the Lacrosse Hoax in his latest novel.

Such a vivid illustration to show that this horrific and deliberate injustice will live on and on and will be forever an example of how many have allowed the issue of race in this country to be exploited and bastardized.

Debrah said...

".....imagine if only 10 percent of the country continues to believe the Wendy Murphy/Mike Nifong/Group of 88 version of events. That would be talking about 30 million people."

**********************
But perhaps it's mostly a predictable 30 million.

With a current population of about 300 million, from the percentages the 30 million would predictably come from the black population.....with a few agenda-driven loons like Murphy and company dragging along to round things out.
**********************

(Census 2000 showed that the United States population on April 1, 2000 was 281.4 million. Of the total, 36.4 million, or 12.9 percent, reported Black or African American.

This number includes 34.7 million people, or 12.3 percent, who reported only Black in addition to 1.8 million people, or 0.6 percent, who reported Black as well as one or more other races.)

Anonymous said...

I know that John Grisham gave a blurb to Until Proven Innocent. Did Grisham make a public statement during 2006 in which he stood up for the Duke players after it was obvious that they were being falsely accused?

DN

Jim in San Diego said...

The Grisham citation is an awesome example of how beliefs enter and are sustained by our culture.

The idea that the Duke Rape story is a hoax, and that injustice was done to the Duke students, is seeping into our culture.

Another example is the repeated reference to the Hoax in comments by Appellate Court justices, in a truly critical forum.

IMHO, this blog and its blog owner is the single most important source of persistent energy to spread these ideas into our culture. We are really looking at the future of responsible journalism, right here.

Jim Peterson

Anonymous said...

The words of Winston Churchill ring true in regards to how many Duke students and a significant portion of this country view the LAX case:

"Once in a while you will stumble upon the truth but most of us manage to pick ourselves up and hurry along as if nothing had happened."

Anonymous said...

I've been following this blog, and other blogs dealing with the Duke Lacrosse rape Hoax, pretty faithfully ever since the Hoax made the pages of the London Examiner -- I believe, more than a year ago.

There is one thing I've barely seen mentioned. It is the likely effect on the students who get conned into taking courses "taught" by members of the Group of 88 and other professors who teach Meta-narrative type courses. Given the relative lack of worldly-wisdom of many college students, they will presume that they are actually being educated when they are in reality only being indoctrinated.

They are the ones being cheated by these ideologues.

How many employers will hire a college graduate who majored in Women's Studies, or African American Studies, or the like? How many students who sign up for these types of majors in college (or graduate school, for that matter) have done any research on what majors have real-world employment potential?

Because their post-graduation job searches are going to produce hard, rude shocks. And I'll wager NONE of the Group of 88 have done anything to clue them in.

Gus W.

Anonymous said...

It would even be one thing if there was solid academic content to these courses - but there is not. What a liberal arts education is supposed to do is to teach one to think critically. Those professors who tolerate no dissent from their stated positions, who constantly put down all other groups, and who are so willing to read race and gender into every issue do not further their students' abilities to think critically -rather they are engaged in a brainwashing that is no different than that employed in the madrasas that train young Muslims in terrorist activities.
This inability to exercise critical thinking will be the reason that the graduates of these programs will have difficulties in the job markets of the future. Given the fact they they have been inculcated in victimology, they will feel that entitlement should replace hard work as well. It does not bode well for the future.
cks

Anonymous said...

It would seem the entire country has decided to go on an "excruciating trip to hell," while the "back" to sanity can never be freed from those who argue that "something happened" until hell freezes over. The center of this crisis is a leadership population that has been bullied and lied to beyond reason. It is an ongoing intimidation that has made otherwise fair and supposedly intelligent people remain quiet in the face of many obvious wrongs and abuses being committed in the name of political correctness. It is behavior that requires victims. It is racist and the whole country seems to have been deconstucted from reality in this way . . . with arguement not reasoned but purposed for power and personal enrichment . . . these people have destroyed a wonderful culture that was capable of righting past wrongs. It has been ripped apart for the enrichment of few. A new cultue of victimhood and oppression has taken its place filled with corrupt academics, bank presidents, politicians, and the Michael Nifongs of the legal system. Lots of luck getting "back."

Anonymous said...

One member of the Duke lacrosse team was from Charlottesville Virginia where John Grisom lives and the nature of the complaints was well known there from the beginning.

Anonymous said...

GusW: not to worry that they won't find private sector jobs. They'll all go back to campus where, unscreened by anyone with common sense, they'll the long climb to tenured professor. They'll probably teach your kids.

Anonymous said...

I am not a good TV "watcher" I am always doing something else while watching/listening. There was a reference to the lacrosse case made during a TV show on Monday night, the name of the show is Castle.
When I heard the case mentioned, then I paid attention. It was something to do with a kid keeping a video on his cell phone, for proof. It will continue to pop up for years in who knows what places.

Anonymous said...

D-i-W readers have probably spent thousands of dollars on John Grisham books and movies, and what does he do to repay us? Awesome. Thank you, Mr. Grisham.

Gary Packwood said...

Anonymous 3/27/09 :: 11:19 AM :: said...

...It would seem the entire country has decided to go on an "excruciating trip to hell," while the "back" to sanity can never be freed from those who argue that "something happened" until hell freezes over. The center of this crisis is a leadership population that has been bullied and lied to beyond reason. It is an ongoing intimidation that has made otherwise fair and supposedly intelligent people remain quiet in the face of many obvious wrongs and abuses being committed in the name of political correctness.
::
Beautifully written and a good description of the behavior of French aristocracy just prior to the revolution who never learned and never forgot.

In this case however political correctness results in the creation of level after level of politically correct groupthink with each group believing they are the spider with the other groups being the fly.

It gets confusing since none of the groups embrace truthfulness as a virtue.

But they all do have one common characteristic. None of the PC groups at Duke (or the AIG crowd) demonstrate any understanding of reciprocity. They are in this for themselves and thus the spider and the fly will be revealed soon for everyone to study. And in the case of Duke, for the alumni to study what 'diversity' they have been paying for all of these years.

I expect to see great turmoil at Duke led by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if the alumni don't act soon.
::
GP

Anonymous said...

Antioch College, formally of Yellow Springs, Ohio, was a left-wing hyper-politically correct learning institution famous for her "progressive" degrees.

Alas, Antioch is no more. Just prior to her demise, she sent out a final desperate SOS for her alumni to contribute more money to prevent certain death.

Unfortunately, her alumni were not able to respond financially to prevent the inevitable. It seems that graduates with a degree in "queer minority women's studies" just aren't earning much money in the real world, and because of this they could not contribute to their alma mater.

Subsequent law suits against "the man" were fruitless, as she was never able to fully establish who "the man" was that was keeping her down, and representing attorneys(with degrees from other institutions) quickly lost interest.

Antioch is no more, and it is kind of a shame, as many pretty buildings are now abandoned in southwest Ohio.

The good news is near-by Wright Patterson AFB is considering purchasing the property and establishing a test-bombing range there...(just kidding.)

The bad news for a lot of former "professors" is that they are learning to ask "fries with that?" (not kidding.)

Anonymous said...

What do you want to bet that Coach K gets fed up with all the nonsense and soon moves on? He'd be great at Kentucky where there is now an opening. Can't imagine that he and Broadwhatever are simpatico.

Debrah said...

Looks as though the Tenured Radical will be rubbing elbows with Gang of 88 mascot Tim Tyson this weekend.

Debrah said...

Duke admissions:


Large application pool leads to record low percentage admitted to Duke

From staff reports : The Herald-Sun
Mar 28, 2009

DURHAM -- Duke University has accepted only 17 percent of applicants for admission to the Class of 2013, the lowest acceptance rate in the university's history.

Duke mailed its acceptance letters Thursday to 3,517 top high school seniors from across the country and around the world. The students were accepted out of a record 23,843 applications submitted to Duke as part of the regular-decision process.

Thursday's mailing brings the university's total offers of admission to 4,065, including 548 early-decision applicants accepted in December. Duke received 1,539 early-decision applications, the second-largest number in the university's history.

Duke expects about 1,705 of the accepted students to enroll this fall.

A notable trend among accepted applicants for the Class of 2013 is that almost 19 percent (770) of them did not specify their race or ethnicity on applications, compared to about 9 percent (370) among accepted applicants for the Class of 2012, said Christoph Guttentag, dean of Undergraduate Admissions.

He believes this reflects "a possible evolution in student thinking" regarding how they identify themselves.

Also notable, he said, is the more than 10 percent increase in the number of students indicating they are applying for financial aid.

"I don't think any of us are surprised that more students are applying for financial aid this year, and I expect that more of our students will be receiving aid as well," Guttentag said. "Our commitment to keeping Duke accessible to students from every background hasn't changed at all."

Duke University's admissions policy is "need blind," meaning applicants are accepted regardless of their ability to pay for college. Duke also meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need.

Duke is changing some of the ways it is encouraging admitted students to enroll. Blue Devil Days, which offers prospective students the chance to tour Duke's campus, attend classes and meet with administrators and faculty, will change from four one-day programs to three two-day programs (April 5-6, 9-10, 13-14). Duke officials believe the opportunity to spend more time on campus will provide students a better sense of university life.

The Undergraduate Admissions Office has also changed how it notifies students of their admission decision. While all students received their decisions online, only those students who were admitted or placed on the waiting list will automatically receive mailed letters. Students who are denied will be sent printed letters on request, or if they have not viewed their decision online within 72 hours.

Debrah said...

Unfortunately, more of the same:



NCCU cited for financial mistakes

By Gregory Childress : The Herald-Sun
Mar 28, 2009

DURHAM -- State auditors have cited N.C. Central University for "significant deficiencies" in the university's handling of its finances for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.

Among the trouble spots were overpayments to employees of more than $13,000 and underpayments of $6,200, which occurred during calculations for retroactive pay related to salary adjustments.

Auditors noted that the mistakes occurred while NCCU was experiencing "significant turnover" in the university's payroll division that led NCCU to hire "temporary employees to perform crucial payroll functions."

While the overpayments and underpayments are small in the context of a $117 million budget, a spokesman for the Office of the State Auditor the fact that they occurred at all is cause for alarm.

"The amount is not as relevant as the fact that the weakness is there," said state auditor spokesman Dennis Patterson. "It's the fact that there is a weakness, a hole in the armor that might allow for greater loss."

In a statement, NCCU said, "Chancellor Charlie Nelms and the entire NCCU leadership team are fully committed to resolving all internal control issues identified by the Office of the State Auditor."

Specifically, as it relates to the payroll issues identified by auditors, university officials said steps -- which include hiring a Certified Public Accountant as payroll supervisor, beefing up staffing in the Payroll Department and hiring a new assistant vice chancellor for human resources with 25 years of experience within the UNC system -- have been taken to correct the deficiencies.

Auditors also found that the university did not properly manage students' accounts. The deficiency resulted in ineligible students being allowed to live on campus and register for classes and the university's accounts receivable balance being misstated.

An examination of 40 student accounts receivable balances found among other things that nine students were allowed to register even though they had a combined balance of $33,194. Policy requires students to pay all of their prior balances and one-half of their current charges before they are allowed to register. Auditors reported that they were unable to determine who was responsible for allowing the students to register.

Six other students were also allowed to register even though holds had been placed on their accounts due to nonpayment. Their holds were "erroneously or intentionally" overridden by university personnel, whom auditors were unable to identify.

Also, auditors found that NCCU's student accounts receivables account contained credit balances of $652,145, with the majority dating back more than one year. The credits represent funds owed unidentified parties, which should be reported as accounts payable.

NCCU officials said steps to resolve the deficiencies include "reviewing and re-engineering the student account process and by strengthening interdepartmental communication and holding ourselves to a higher level of accountability."

Auditors also identified weaknesses in the university's information system's access policy, which they believed could lead to unauthorized or inappropriate transactions.

Those weaknesses included:

- Multiple employees in the information technology systems unit who can log in to the information system under a single user name. This single user name accesses the security form that creates/modifies user accounts, grants access to security classes, sets up passwords and locks/unlocks user accounts. With multiple users having the ability to log in using a single name, there is no way to trace activity to the responsible employee.

- Several individuals having unnecessary access to forms and security classes, even though they had no job responsibilities that required them to have access to some of the forms and/or classes.

- One of the security classes, purchasing and receiving, included forms and responsibilities inconsistent with appropriate segregation of duties. Individuals assigned to this security class may create a requisition, process a purchase order and verify the receipt on a regular basis.

Auditors advised NCCU to continue to assign employees the least amount of system access to perform their jobs and to review access rights on a regular basis.

In response, NCCU said the items identified by auditors were immediately resolved by "significantly reducing the number of people who are granted access to the information system."

"To further strengthen controls, management has initiated a restructuring program in IT to review and monitor the university security system," the statement said.

haskell said...

KC, very well said indeed, from Mindingthecampus.com

From Minding the Campus

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2009/03/by_kc_johnson_several_years.html

Anonymous said...

You all understand don't you that the lower the admission percentage the more selective the school looks--and that this is good news for Duke?
Just wanted to make sure no comments about that shows them what lacrosse has done to them. Actually the numbers show they've got the reputation stuff ramped up even higher

Anonymous said...

Another product of a good Liberal Arts Education?


Gradulations! Three and a half minutes in which the Congress was prevented from doing anything even more stupid than this.

Ms. Corrine Brown received a Communications/Speech degree from Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, and later taught her newly acquired skills at the same institution.

http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/tinfoil_brigade/gradulations_th.php

Debrah said...

From KC's latest Minding the Campus article, he uses this quote from Bauerlein:

...."academics with too much confidence in their audience utter debatable propositions as received wisdom."


It's perfect and succinct.

This quote describes exactly how everything is framed even before the first word is uttered during such gatherings.

I love that quote.

And it's a good thing KC didn't say it first.

I would be going crazy right now!

LOL!!!

unbekannte said...

I have the utmost respect for educators, people like Professor Johnson. I have no respect for pseudo educators like the gang of 88.

The gang of 88 have emerged from nothing new. They arise from an old, discredited view of education: them who can do: them who can't teach.

jamil hussein said...

On related note: I went to see Indoctrine U last week in ny film festival. Even though I knew the basic idea, I was utterly shocked about the militant anti-free speech and indoctrination campaign at our campuses. Kc was on the documentary, too! Hope some network will pick it up (certainly not PBS, but maybe fox)

Debrah said...

To Jamil Hussein--

Someone from Fox Entertainment Group in LA was inside The Diva World yesterday.

No doubt, having just been here.

LIS!

Debrah said...

The trailer for Indoctrinate U

Kantian said...

Tyson's hustling again.That man needs to get an honest job. It's sad and a shame any institution including Duke tolerates this type of lying. If this is what Duke has to offer, then our higher education system is doomed.Don't you know how sad he was when he didn't get the chance to railroad the Duke lacrosse players?

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:01

Student interest in Duke is hardly the right place to look for evidence of damage to Dukes reputation. Better would be the way the Lax case is analyzed in the future when examples of extreme prosecutorial and School Faculty abuse are talked about.

Anonymous said...

K.C. how much longer until the defense actually turns over discovery. How long can they hold out. When do you expect the civil trial to begin? These families need to get on with their lives and they are just waiting forever for this legal process to move forward. I thing the defense is dragging this out in hopes the families will run out of money and give up. I am sure the legal team of the 3 families have so much evidence of the frame up and destruction of evidence, tampering with reports, etc they will have no problem winning the case. But it is taking so long.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I bet that the City has already secretly settled out of court to avoid the embarrassment of having the dramatic and disturbing allegations exposed.

Anonymous said...

How long until the silly suits are dismissed? Any reading of the briefs submitted by each side can see that the player who were not charged have NO standing at all. The city has not settled and if they have any guts, they never will.

This talk about the 88 professors at Duke rings so hollow. It is just cover for people who cannot figure out why more people like professors who teach interesting classes. Duke or any institution hires whom they want. A smart university does not want a bunch of haters on campus. What you people on here are always harping about is this false claim that you cannot study anything but a rigid interpretation of US history. I suppose we cannot study science after 1776 either.

Duke is as strong as ever. You sourpusses can continue to talk amongst yourselves. Reading this stuff makes my eyeballs hurt. The more you talk, the crazier you all sound. Duke is weakened because of the nut jobs who cannot find anything useful to do with their lives.

I defy anyone on here to compare the briefs submitted by each side and tell me which ones are grounded in reason and more importantly, they law. For such high priced lawyers, they sure hired a bunch that has some very flawed legal reasoning.

For neo-cons, you whine a lot. My son attends Duke and he is doing just fine with the faculty in place. You go start your own school if you do not like they way it is being run. The free market breeds competition. See how many people enroll in your university that teaches classes on Ronald Reagan all the time.

kcjohnson9 said...

To the 11.01:

I fully agree with you that "a smart university does not want a bunch of haters on campus."

If you want to return to the reality-based community, I'd recommend that you analyze the enrollment figures for the Group of 88; at least in the spring 2008 semester, the last time I did so, they'd hardly be classified as well-enrolled courses.

As for the rest of your . . . intriguing . . . comment, you appear to be laboring under a few illusions: I publicly supported (and donated to) Barack Obama, both in the primary and in the general election. You might know President Obama as the man who opposed the "neo-cons'" foreign policy and who just said that not only can we "study science after 1776," but that the federal government will get out of the business of politicizing science. I strongly support his viewpoints on both matters.

(Also, a suggestion: I'm going to assume that your comment wasn't intentionally riddled with grammatical and/or spelling errors. But the problem can be avoided by a thorough proofread in the future.)

Anonymous said...

(Also, a suggestion: I'm going to assume that your comment wasn't intentionally riddled with grammatical and/or spelling errors. But the problem can be avoided by a thorough proofread in the future.)



Is that the best you can do? You have nothing else so you point out grammatical and/or spelling errors?


***Blink Blink***

kcjohnson9 said...

To the 12.04:

I believe my comment contained four paragraphs; I would urge you to re-read it.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 11:01 said:

"Duke is as strong as ever. You sourpusses can continue to talk amongst yourselves. Reading this stuff makes my eyeballs hurt. The more you talk, the crazier you all sound. Duke is weakened because of the nut jobs who cannot find anything useful to do with their lives."

So which is it? "Duke is as stong as ever", or "Duke is weakened"?

If you have a son at Duke, I would think reading this stuff would make more than your eyeballs hurt. You are spending $50,000 a year to have your son educated/indoctrinated by the group of 88? The emperor has no clothes.

For his sake, I hope your son is not a student-athlete at Duke.

-RD

unbekannte said...

Anonymous 3/28/09 11:01 PM

"How long until the silly suits are dismissed? Any reading of the briefs submitted by each side can see that the player who were not charged have NO standing at all. The city has not settled and if they have any guts, they never will."

There's the rub. "The city" has no guts. "The city" demonstrated its guts or lack thereof when it prosecuted the innocent Lacrosse players just to pander to the racist politically correct mob in "The city".

Debrah said...

"Is that the best you can do? You have nothing else so you point out grammatical and/or spelling errors?"


In all human exchanges, those things are very important.

They send a signal---loud and clear.

And, after all, so much of this blog is about the academy.

Ordinarily, reading a comment with numerous spelling and grammatical errors---(which we all make now and then, but not as a rule, when we don't proofread)---gives the signal that it's a safe bet the commenter is not a scholar.

However, as many of us have experienced with frequency for the last three years or so by reading work and responses from Duke's Gang of 88......that assumption has been turned on its head.

Debrah said...

Readers should check out Dowd's Sunday column.

We've got to make Lula an honorary member of Duke's Gang of 88.

LIS!!!

Debrah said...

Another postcard from the edge of Durham.

They spend all their lives trying to glean the race of everyone, yet no significant time trying to ameliorate the elements which are the cause of their problems in the first place.
*******************************

H-S's John McCann:


Looking at the race factor

Mar 29, 2009

A dude told me he's hearing from brothers jonesing to get their hands on Jeffrey Hamilton Gist, the guy who admitted to choking his stepdaughter to death.

Mylin Bullock was just 16 years old.

And she attended Northern High School, where students can't catch a break from campus grief. Back in December, Northern student Anthony Pegram lost his life after a car wreck near the school.

But zero in on the death of Skye Lee, who was a Northern student trying to raise a baby boy when she was shot to death in March 2008. Her son's father, Cory Anthony Jiggetts, recently was sentenced to 20 to 24¬ÃŽ© years behind bars for the murder.

Why didn't Jiggetts get life?

Well, Lee's family wanted to get everything over with, so a plea deal of second-degree murder was reached as opposed to pursuing what reportedly was a solid case that could've warranted a first-degree murder charge with a more severe sentence.

Earlier this month, Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline had to fend off accusations that she and those in her department don't value black folks' lives. Community activists Melvin Whitley and Victoria Peterson, along with County Commissioner Joe Bowser, raised the issue of plea bargaining more or less allowing killers to get away with murdering black people.

Others around here have similar thoughts.

Original Styles barbers Jeff Warren and Malik Brown are trying to understand why the anniversary of the murder of Eve Carson -- who was a white UNC student -- gets so much attention, while the anniversary of the murder of Denita Smith -- she was a black N.C. Central University student -- just sort of comes and goes.

Now, there's really no argument regarding the sentencing of Jiggetts. Lee's family wanted that plea deal.

But those skeptical of the system are standing by to monitor the judicial ferocity when it's time to deal with the two Durham individuals charged with killing Carson. The skeptics would argue that there absolutely will be no plea deals for Demario James Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., because a white person's life was rubbed out by the hands of black people.

In May, a trial date is scheduled to be set for Smith's accused killer, Shannon Elizabeth Crawley of Greensboro, according to information coming out of the district attorney's office.

Well, to get something positive out of this, consider that Whitley, Bowser and Peterson were black folks questioning Cline, who, too, is black. Which is refreshing, right? Sure it is. It means they're not letting Cline off the hook just because they're of the same race. That's healthy.

Digressing here, think back to when our school board was full of drama: We had black school board members and black activists kicking white Superintendent Ann Denlinger in the tail because black students were getting suspended more than white students, and black students weren't getting it done in the classroom like their white peers.

But current Superintendent Carl Harris is black. And we don't have the drama we used to have.

Things sure must have improved mighty fast.

As for devaluing black life, we can't point the finger at the judicial system. That's happening long before the district attorney and the rest of them get involved.

I was in conversation the other day with an older white lady. She couldn't understand why people who look like me seem to hate so much people who look like me:

"It's black on black," she said. "It's blacks killing blacks."

Debrah said...

A sidebar report on Blogger.

Many blogs as well as my own---and I see that Wonderland's meter is stuck as well---are experiencing problems on the Profile page.

When visitors click on the page, the "hits" aren't recorded.

It's been stuck on the same number all weekend.

Anonymous said...

I suspect that the ungrammatical troll is a Group of 88er or sympathizer. Nobody but a Group of 88er cares about their jobs and reputations, and it is easy to camoflage your self with mispellings and run-on sentances.

Anonymous said...

John Grisham first gave a glowing review of K.C. Johnson's book. He next stuck a blurb about the Nifong/drug-addled prostitute/Group of 88 fiasco in one of his own books. The final step is a Grisham novel involving a Duke/Nifong scenario. I think it would be a big hit.

Expose these clowns, cheats, liars, frauds and vicious charlatans!

RighteousThug said...

Anon 1:47pm said:

"Nobody but a Group of 88er cares about their jobs and reputations, and it is easy to camoflage your self with mispellings and run-on sentances."


That's not camouflage for a G88er.

Panacea said...

11:01 You sound like the same Old Song.You just can't stand to hear truthful words no matter what. Where have we heard this before, If you don't like the lies in book, go write your own. If you don't like the brainwashing that's being taught today, start your own university. That's a lame excuse for anyone not be able to admit they are capable of comprehending the word truth.
That's the main REASON why KC's blog is so popular. Because of the intelligence, honesty and truth that KC delivers to everyone.The vast majority of DIW bloggers are honest and have their moral compass set on the truth in any case.

Debrah said...

It's been discussed on many occasions how very silent and useless Triangle politicians were during the Hoax when their help was badly needed.

David Price was particularly silent and avoided all conversations about it like the plague.

On a page listing contributors to his campaign that I came across there were some very familiar names.

Cynthia Broadhead
Lorna Chafe
Robert Keohane
Laura Keohane
Lee Smith (wife of Hal Crowther)

Even Deepak Chopra!

And I used to like the Deep.


These are just a few, but as one can see, an interesting few.

With these kinds of supporters, along with Durham's much-needed black voters, Price was not about to say anything negative regarding Duke or Nifong.

Scott Huminski said...

The task of charging Mike Nifong with federal civil rights felonies is now with the U.S. Attorney. Below are my two letters of criminal complaint against Nifong.

Scott Huminski
111-2c Killam Court
Cary, NC 27513

George E. B. Holding, USA*
310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 800
Terry Sanford Federal Building & US Courthouse
Raleigh, NC 27601-1461 13 February 2009

RE: Michael Nifong criminal complaint

VIA FACSIMILE: (919)856-4487

Dear Mr. Holding;

Please consider the criminal prosecution of Micheal Nifong for civil rights violations in the Duke Lacrosse case. At the minimum it appears that Due Process and Equal Protection violations certainly may have occurred to the three victims/defendants in the case.

You have authority to prosecute Mr. Nifong and other government actors under the federal criminal statutes. (18 USC § 241,242). Thank you.


Very Truly Yours,




_____________________________
Scott Huminski
(202) 239-1252
s_huminski@live.com


Scott Huminski
111-2c Killam Court
Cary, NC 27513

George E. B. Holding, USA*
310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 800
Terry Sanford Federal Building & US Courthouse
Raleigh, NC 27601-1461 10 March 2009

RE: Michael Nifong criminal complaint

VIA FACSIMILE: (919)856-4487

Dear Mr. Holding;

This is a follow-up to my criminal complaint concerning Michael Nifong dated February 13, 2009. To specify further, Mr. Nifong’s conduct appears to violate the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Attached is my earlier letter that your office confirmed receipt of. No person in this country has more power to destroy the lives of private citizens than a government prosecutor. A strong message needs to be sent that misconduct will not be tolerated. Thank you.


Very Truly Yours,


_____________________________
Scott Huminski
(202) 239-1252
s_huminski@live.com

Anonymous said...

Maybe the difference between Eve Carson's Murderers and the sentence of Mr.Jiggetts, is that one case is in Durham County and one is in Orange County. Something as simple as that explains so much, but is ignored because it undercuts the theme of victimhood that the columnist wanted to write about.