Of Media Agendas and the Lynch Mob Mentality (Jameis Winston, UVA Fraternity, Duke LX)

"This is the worst attack on an athlete that we have ever seen in the history of amateur sports," his attorney, David Cornwell, said Monday on NBC Sports Radio....

Part of that is because his own doing (see: Burger King, Publix, FSU Student Union). There's a big difference, however, between being a serial knucklehead and a rapist.

It didn't help Winston that the incident occurred as "rape culture" awareness was skyrocketing on campuses. The Washington Post recently ran a column titled, "We Should Automatically Believe Rape Victims." As FSU was struggling in a game against Boston College, a San Francisco columnist tweeted, "Beat the Rapist."

It's as if nobody remembered what happened to the Duke lacrosse team. Rolling Stone editors sure didn't when they green-lighted the expose on Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

As with those stories, Winston fit a media narrative about privilege and victimology. Even when the stories were shot full of holes, activists defended them on grounds they exposed a larger truth.

There's that word again. In quest of their version of the truth, activists are glad to dispose of a centuries-old principle of justice — the presumption of innocence. That led to the predictable fallout to Sunday's news.

"Winston Cleared of Rape Like Every Other Sports Star," was the headline at The Daily Beast website.

If you believe the fix was in, take a deep breath and think about what that entails. Harding, a former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, would risk his legacy to join the conspiracy to keep Winston eligible.

The fact is that despite the stumblebum police investigation, Harding still had 1,000 pages of testimony and evidence to review. And it all came down to what everyone should have admitted from Day One.

The Jameis Winston- Rape Culture hysteria is a splendid example of the workings of the liberal media mindset: Narrative over justice, emotions over facts. ESPN and much of the media followed the New York Times agenda like sheep. There's a big difference between being an idiot and a rapist. But do presumption of innocence, due process, and burden of proof matter to Americans anymore? I would expect more from the objective thinkers who populate Freerepublic. If we don't stand against the lynch mobs, who will?

Timmy, I’m concerned for you, because it’s obvious you haven’t looked at any of the evidence, but still felt the need to repeat liberal activists talking points.

Exactly which evidence have you reviewed: The 200 pages of testimony and evidence the DA released to the public? The 2 negative toxicology reports that were done immediately when the accuser’s roommate called in the rape claim, including the one sent to a University of Florida lab? The blood alcohol screen which showed she was not intoxicated? The contemporaneous physical exam by a trained SANE nurse in an independent hospital? The testimony of two of her “friends”? The two other sets of DNA in her shorts that her aunt/lawyer tried to get her roommate to lie about? Her voluntary association with Winston for months after the incident, including wearing his jersey to the game and tweeting about “her Jaboo”? Her “inability” to identify him for 6 weeks after the incident to the police, even though she sat behind him in class? Her subsequent refusal to cooperate with the police for 11 months until Winston won the Clemson game and folks were referring to him as the #1 draft pick and inevitable Heisman winner? Her facebook posts and tweets that showed she was a member of “Cleat Chasers”? —ALL of which belied her story which changed 7 times over the last 2 years of coaching by her lawyers?

Please enlighten me how your investigation into the “facts” was better than that just undertaken by a former Florida Supreme Court justice with no ties to FSU, who was selected by the accuser’s attorneys, and whom they praised immediately after the hearing.

Because at this point, it appears you’re willing to have the truth defined for you by the MSM and liberal activists. And if that’s the case, maybe you should find another board.

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