Duke 3 Win Political Incorrectness Award

The American Daily blog is dedicated to exposing the stupidities and injustices of political correctness.

It gives an annual award, The Political Incorrectness Award, to a person or persons who did the most during the year to expose PC stupidities and injustices.

American Daily’s just announced David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann are its 2007 Political Incorrectness Award winners.

After first castigating mainstream news organizations for neglecting “their duty to provide balanced and factual coverage of the case [and allowing themselves to become] the public relations arm of a sleazy prosecutor named Michael Nifong,” American Daily explained why it was recognizing Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann :

Extraordinary pressure was placed on the young men to admit to the misdeed.

At an early interview a policeman warned Dave Evans, “Tell us the truth or you’re going to jail for the rest of your life.”

Local feminists organized a rally with signs saying, “Time to Confess.”

On March 29 a “Please Come Forward” poster with mug shots of the players was posted on campus.

During [a Roman Catholic] mass [a Duke chaplain,] Father Joe Vetter[,] broadly condemned the players. When one of the player’s fathers confronted the priest over his unsaintly remarks, the Man of the Cloth shot back, “Tell them to confess first.”

At one point Michael Nifong issued this threat to the players’ defense attorney: “You tell all of your clients I will remember their lack of cooperation at sentencing. I hope you know if they didn’t do it, they are all aiders and abettors, and that carries the same punishment as rape.” . . .

After criticizing the players for the party, American Daily goes on to say:

[Admiration] must go to the Duke lacrosse team and to the three players falsely accused of rape -- men who, with dignity and grace, endured a self-possessed media spectacle for over a year.

Throughout the episode the Duke lacrosse team hung together, cooperated with the police investigation, answered their questions honestly, volunteered to undergo DNA tests, and above all, refused to stoop to the antics of the Nifong prosecution team and his media enablers.

On May 15, 2006 team captain Dave Evans stood in front of the Durham County magistrate’s office and declared, “These allegations are lies, fabricated – fabricated, and they will be proven wrong … You have all been told some fantastic lies.”

This past April attorney general Roy Cooper vindicated Evans’ claim when he famously announced, “we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges.”

So the 2007 Award for Political Incorrectness goes to Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann, and Collin Finnerty, three young men who refused to go quietly into the night.

The American Daily’s entire announcement is here. It’s a very good read.

And heartiest congratulations to the winners.