Folks,
I don't have time tonight to do the work I want to do on some of the very questionable statements The Raleigh News & Observer news columnist Ruth Sheehan made in her Jan. 1 column.
But I'll be at it tomorrow.
I plan to question why Sheehan said to readers:
What kind of dimwitted fools does Nifong believe us, and the potential jurors, to be?If you fell -- hard -- for what Sheehan told readers, you're no doubt saying to yourself: "Gee, poor Ruthie, she was fooled by Nifong just like me. I must send her a 'Cheer up; it's not your fault' card."
I ask this, of course, from some experience.
I was one of the hopelessly naive who fell -- hard -- for Nifong's original depiction of the case.
In statements the State Bar now says violated ethics rules, Nifong described in detail the horrors of the alleged gang rape, including an attempted strangulation and racial insults.
Like others, I was outraged. And I wrote about it. I make no apology for that.
Ah, but if you've keep reasonable track of things, you know Sheehan viciously attacked the Duke students for following the advice of their parents and attorneys in a column that ran in the N&O on Mar. 27, before Mike Nifong spoke publicly about the case.
Mike Nifong is an early riser, so he had plenty of time to read Sheehan's Mar. 27 column before later in the day speaking publicly for the first time about a case that Sheehan had already said involved a team's silence that was sickening.
But now she's blaming Nifong for "his oringinal depiction of the case."
I want Nifong disbarred. I think he should go to jail. But he shouldn't be Sheehan's excuse for her column unless he spoke to her before she wrote it or spoke to other N&O staffers who "fed" Sheehan what she wrote.
I'll have more to say tomorrow.
8 comments:
Excellent catch, John. They can run, but they can't hide.
Walter Abbott
Good get! Looking foward to part 2.
Ruth also wrote, "I make no apology for that. It is not my job to wait for cases to be resolved and then walk through the aftermath and shoot the dead."
Ruth actually did something far worse than shooting the dead --- she shot the innocent living.
I'm looking at this a little differently: The Ruth Sheehans of the media are perfect examples of what Nifong's misconduct has needlessly wrought on these boys.
Instead of getting angry with these folks, perhaps we need to encourage them to tell their story. The more we hear, the bigger hole Nifong will have to climb out of.
JinC,
I agree and said something similar in a post that got lost over the New Year holiday.
Jon Ham
Sheehan is a terrible writer - really bad. I do not want an apology from Ruth - Brodhead - gang of 88 and other enablers - Getting fired is right with me. She wrote what her wanted her to believe and wrote what her paper wanted her to write. Scummy
John - Great catch - All the enablers think the rest of us are stupid - we are not.
Well whadda ya know? Prosecutors lie. Journalists lie. And WOMEN lie.
Is anyone surprised?
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