http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/
LAX coverage unfair
What hypocrisy! Nowhere in your Jan. 11 editorial do you admit culpability for the rift between town and gown, black and white, rich and poor, private and public education.
You, along with Duke's administration, were the very first to join with District Attorney Mike Nifong in his vainglorious pursuit of a higher profile by leading a figurative lynching party against three lacrosse players. When this is all over, if there is any justice, Nifong will be disbarred, disgraced and both unemployed and unemployable.
Duke's administrators will probably reach a settlement with the families of the accused and should, but probably won't, lose their jobs. The paper will remain whole, and that will be a grave injustice.
Perhaps the next time, the paper will at least pretend to be objective and report events as they unfold, rather than play apologist for some incompetent bureaucrat simply because he shares your leftist philosophy.
David Highlands
St. Petersburg, Fla.
January 20, 2007
More media exploitation
There was yet more media exploitation of Durham's lacrosse tragedy Tuesday night. Paula Zahn of CNN swooped into town for another round of hit-and-run "television journalism." Zahn hosted a televised forum on race.
Those of us who work and live in Durham know this wonderful city and its wonderful people -- who come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Out-of-town media shills like Zahn know and care nothing about Durham, its history or its people. They've proven it innumerable times in the last months. Their only interest in Durham is to play on this city's tragedy to whip up their ratings and their paychecks.
It would have been great if Paula Zahn gave her "forum" and nobody showed up.
John Madden
Durham
January 20, 2007
Nifong's fumble
I am appalled at District Attorney Mike Nifong's handling of the Duke lacrosse case. It seems Nifong has been trying to make a name for himself at these young men's expense. The whole dirty episode has backfired on him and now he wants to turn the heat over to someone else.
After all that has come out in the news, it seems to me the girl should be put on the hot seat. No, actually, Nifong should drop the case and let all concerned get on with their lives. It's about time our prosecutors start trying to get to the bottom of cases and quit trying to make a name for themselves.
Well, this one has made a name for himself, but you can't print it in a family newspaper.
A.D. George
Hot Springs, Ark.
January 20, 2007
Tired of LAX case
The first thing Roy Cooper, North Carolina's attorney general, does after receiving Mike Nifong's request to take on the Duke rape case is to go on CNN and hold a press conference. All he had to do was issue a one sentence press release but it seems that politicians cannot resist the opportunity to grab their one minute of fame.
Sadly, this is all at the expense of the three young men who are accused. I hope this fiasco ends soon.
John Garand
Durham
January 20, 2007
No excuse for Nifong
Three years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to the Durham/Chapel Hill area a couple of times to visit a friend who was doing her residency at Duke. I found the area to be a great place to dine, shop and visit historic sites. After the Jan. 14 story on "60 Minutes", I was appalled at the way the Duke boys in the rape case have been treated by law enforcement in Durham.
I hope District Attorney Mike Nifong gets his day in court. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior.
Denis Crivello
Alton, Ill.
January 20, 2007
Not visiting Durham
As a Tennessee transplant in Ohio and a Democrat to boot, I am totally embarrassed by the prosecutor in the Duke rape case. Durham and Duke University are the laughing stock of America and the southern justice system. Anyone who would send their child to your county to attend Duke would have to be crazy!
Anyone guilty of the things the Duke students are accused of should be made an example of, but to not even investigate the charges or the credibility of the alleged victim and drag it out for 10 months is criminal.
Who is going to pay the legal bills for the accused? Who is going to wipe this rape charge from the memory of all the people these accused Duke students come in contact with for the rest of their lives?
It certainly appears District Attorney Mike Nifong was playing politics at the expense of three boys who only wish to obtain a degree from Duke.
The people of North Carolina should be embarrassed and most especially the citizens that elected Nifong. The university should be ashamed for their actions as well.
The common, decent people of Durham should be protesting and marching in front of the prosecutor's office demanding the state take action against him. How many other cases has Nifong railroaded?
Not only will my children not be attending Duke, I certainly won't be visiting your county anytime soon.
Monte Scott
Centerville, Ohio
January 20, 2007
I, for one, am not embarassed by the idiocy of those who fabricated, fueled, and abetted this hoax. People like this exist throughout the U.S. They hate America. They hate themselves. They hate themselves so much, all they can do is project their self-loathing onto others. Some make a very good income at doing this.
I find it profoundly good that all Americans can see what "self-haters" will do to innocents-but-in-the-name-of-ideology/belief/religion if ever empowered anywhere.
People like these are simply, domestic terrorists out to rape the Constitution and the lives of innocents in the name of their cult religion commonly referred to as the alter of Multi-culturalism and Diversity and because the hate first exists in their own hearts, they then look to devour others.
The Church of Multi-Culturalism & Diversity makes a very good income, lots of fundraising and speakership opportunities. It's become a very profitable industry which shams as a "civil right".
Even the adherents and faithful to the Cult of Hate can be useful props, like suicide bombers, for their Faith in the Cult. They like to think of themselves as "heroes".
The enemy I can see with my eyes is always better than the enemy I haven't yet identified.
Am I embarassed? No. I don't buy into the "mind-meld" script of Political Correctness. Ergo, how can I feel embarassed. Their shame belongs solely to them, and to their adherents. And they wear this shame as proud bearers of IEDs strapped to their chests.
How can you feel embarassed by people who hold life and freedom in such low regard?
Feeling embarassed is not the answer.
Removing these poor souls from positions of power is a start. Exposing their madness helps to deprogram those who've been lightly socially infected.
Ultimately, holding their feet to the fire and light of day is what does them in. Those whose brains and hearts have been corrupted, so thoroughly, may be able to derive benefits from deprogramming, but they are addicted to a false "power rush". So, the solution there is to keep them from their drug of choice: power.
This happens at the voting box, in private councils electing Deans and Presidents of colleges and in faculty appointments.
We must each do our part to help these poor addicts. After a time of walking a genuine life free from their addiction, it is possible that other parts of their brains and hearts might be workable. As it once was, when they were young, young children and before they became mentally infected, and that which then spread to an infection of heart, and action.
Sincerely yours,
...Alia