MSNBC the station might be useless these days, but MSNBC the website is still pretty good, and they prove it with an article entitled "What Really Happened That Night At Duke," throught their Newsweek affiliation. It's a long one, but well worth the read. The only thing I will excerpt is this
For the press, it was an irresistible tale, with its stew of race, sex and class. It was a story that had every ingredient that the press savors. There were entitled rich kids at an exclusive university; there was a white prosecutor who seemed to be playing the race card to get elected by black voters; there was a sympathetic alleged victim, a black woman who was an exotic dancer, but who was also a single mother who said that she was a student at a local college. And lastly, there was an allegation of the most lurid kind of sexual violence. The press needed there to have been a rape to keep the story going. It was much too dull to consider that the lacrosse players deserved the presumption of innocence.
And there is the heart of the matter. In a media, and a liberal side of the internet, frenzy, the accused were considered guilty till proven innocent. Hell, some considered that, no matter what, they were guilty, and some still consider them guilty.
Now, a lot of folks have made a big deal out of Terry Moran's article, Don't feel too sorry for the Dukies. I'm not. I do not subscribe to his viewpoint, but, he is entitled to it. Sure, the players made some mistakes, and did some crazy things, but, didn't most of us during our college years?
And, yes, there are rogue prosecutors, and judges, around the country. Bad things happen to good, and bad, people. But, these boys were railroaded on a national stage, devoid of a basic American principle of innocent till proven guilty. No matter what the NC Attorney General said, this episode will stain the lives of them and their families. Even if they successfully sue Nifong and anyone else, recouping the money they spent, the stain will always be there. So, yes, they do deserve our sympathy.
Perhaps this case could be a wakeup call for what can happen with in the legal system. But, I doubt it will happen.
