Dependable Erection

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Friends in high places

Freda Black used to be an Assistant DA in Durham County. She ran against Mike Nifong in the 06 primary and lost. She's running again for the unexpired portion of his term this year.

Here's a screen grab from the "contribute" page of her website:

In case you can't read the text, here it is:
Yes! I want to help Thomas work for Durham! Raising the necessary funds to be competitive is a vital part of any campaign. Your contribution now will mean a great deal to our success. I am looking forward to being a mayor you can be proud of!

Anybody know anyone named Thomas running for mayor?

h/t to reader k

Labels: , ,

posted by Barry at 8:21 PM Digg this

39 Comments:

  • not ready for prime time....

    By Blogger Ellen, at 12:11 AM  

  • Geez, that's like calling out the wrong name during sex.

    By Blogger toastie, at 1:17 AM  

  • personally, i like the fact that the site was created by electyou.com...whose motto is "internet campaign strategy and web design for democrats"

    By Blogger capt. shitknife, at 6:34 AM  

  • Even better; on the front page, there's a great photo of her holding a copy of "Traumatic brain injury: Bioscience and mechanics", complete with the perfect look on her face...

    By Blogger Alex, at 8:57 AM  

  • May we assume you still support Mike Nifong for DA?

    By Blogger Locomotive Breath, at 11:05 AM  

  • LB, I think it's fair to say that a number of us not only wish we could restore Nifong to the DA position, but we go to sleep at night dreaming about what might have been and what could still be for the people of Durham if only we could bring him back. We can't stop ourselves from injecting his name into any and all conversations because we just support him so damn much. In fact, I just ordered the vanity plate NFNG4FR.

    By Blogger toastie, at 12:37 PM  

  • I got a robo call from her campaign a few nights ago.

    By Blogger Natalie, at 2:08 PM  

  • Also, LB, the entire Durham blogging community, spearheaded by Barry of course, is starting a "Get Mike Out of Debt" capital campaign.

    We've got a lofty target--$180 mil--but with enough bake sales and largesse from the idle liberal rich, we think we can get 'er done. Can we put you down for a pledge?

    By Blogger hovercraft, at 2:50 PM  

  • We can't stop ourselves from injecting his name into any and all conversations because we just support him so damn much.

    Because Mike Nifong doesn't belong in any discussion about who is DA in Durham. You can be sure Freda will clean out the Nifong cronies who are still in place.

    By Blogger Locomotive Breath, at 4:16 PM  

  • Okay. This is perfect.

    LB. This is for you--a history lesson!

    Take notes, now...

    The "popular" notion that Nifong "had to" prosecute the LAX boys to "get the black vote" was an inaccurate reading of Durham politics. This meme also conjures up an inaccurate timeline for "what did the voters know and when did they know it".

    Especially coming as it is, from outsiders.

    The fact is, the field against Nifong wasn't very good -- or even competent. And don't forget the fellow who said he wouldn't serve if elected. Cheeky fellow at that.

    As much fun as it was to watch her on Court TV to prove that a crazed owl didn't kill anyone in Forest Hills that sad December night, Freda Black doesn't strike me as an incredibly "good" candidate for DA.

    Her support for Thomas, a neo-con ideologue, kind of backs up my summation.

    See, LB, Nifong --at the time of the election-- was the least of all evils!

    PLUS--hold on to your hats--the other facts about Nifong's handling of the LAX case were not known to the voters!

    PLUS, PLUS, PLUS--the African-American community did little and said less in support of the accuser. Given her line of work and probable history of mental illness, it seems word got out that turning her issues into a civil rights cause would probably not work. In hindsight, a good call.

    So I just love it when these outsiders, you know, people from most holy and highly ethical places like New Jersey, New York, Florida, Chicago--places like that INSIST that "we" "the" "people" in "Durham" purposely elected Mike Nifong BECAUSE we "knew" he was purposely mis-handling the case.

    Bunk.

    You don't think that, do you, LB? I mean you LIVE HERE, right?

    I love democracy, don't you?

    (stage whisper: PS I'm no fan of ambitious, mis-guided public servants like Mike Nifong, but if holding a bake sale to help him with his $180 million debt will help him out--I might buy a red velvet cake just to piss you off.)

    By Blogger Tony, at 11:22 PM  

  • I mean you LIVE HERE, right?

    Asked and answered. About two dozen times. Do try to pay attention.

    Since you missed it, here's a little history lesson for you. Durham is a one-party town (kinda like the old Soviet Union), and the real election was the Dem primary when Nifong ran against Black and Bishop.

    At that point it was quite clear, to anyone who wanted to see it, he was up to no good. Any piss-ant who takes office and then has a little hissy fit and fires his more prominent colleague is not someone you want for your DA. Never mind the fact that he'd been in traffic court for the prior 10 years. Never mind the fact that he was trailing badly in the polls until he jumped on his false rape charge. Never mind the fact that his campaign contributions had dried up to the point that he had to loan his own campaign $30,000. Never mind his "million dollar" PR campaign using the rape charge in violation of the ethics guidelines of the state bar. Never mind that anyone who wanted to pay attention knew the rape charge was false. In the described circumstances, no DNA = no rape.

    Go ahead and keep making the argument that Nifong was the least of all evils. If Black had been elected, Durham could have avoided a world of hurt. Are you really going to make me drag out the election statistics that show overwhelmingly black districts voted overwhelming for Nifong instead of the actual black man Bishop who was endorsed by the black leadership (The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People).

    And I'd save my money if I were you. When it's over, Durham's going to need to have bake sales to pay the judgment against the city.

    I'm sure Barry is going to support Cline who has been caught in a lie about her role in creating the NTO DNA dragnet. In Durham, something like that is a big plus in voting booth. Go ahead, elect Nifong's heir. When the hammer drops, it'll drop on the right person.

    By Blogger Locomotive Breath, at 6:59 AM  

  • Was Tony watching the same injustice and election unfold in 2006? Or could it be that his agenda and ideology always get the best of him?

    LB pointed out the obvious. Upwards of 90% of blacks voted for Nifong. And this is with the racist group The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People endorsing the lone black candidate. Imagine that group endorsing a black guy which had the least experience of any of the candidates. Can anyone say racist?

    Also, lets look back at the mob lynch forum held at NCCU. Imagine the race rolls reversed.
    It was a sickening sight but it did reinforce my belief that blacks seem to be more concerned with race than whites.

    Tony you can choose to revise the history and uneasy truths this case revealed but their are plenty of people who will be willing to correct you.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 8:35 AM  

  • So you (LB and co.) don't deny that the black power structure in Durham wanted nothing to do with the LAX case?

    That's progress!

    Now can someone insert that into the "story"?

    Just for transparency's sake, do either of you stand to benefit from any of the suits filed? I don't.

    By Blogger Tony, at 9:16 AM  

  • If you think the black power structure in Durham supporting a black man over a white man for elective office has something to do with them not supporting the prosecution of the falsely accused Duke students then I have some swampland in Florida I'd like to sell you.

    Both the People's Alliance and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People endorsed Nifong in the general election. Given the choice between an empty chair and an obvious crook, they chose the crook.

    You must have missed Barber and McSurely of the NC NAACP being silent while Nifong sensationalized the case in the press and then demanding a gag order once it started coming out just how bogus were the charges. Google those two and tell me how they didn't support Mike Nifong.

    The NC NAACP and the entire Durham power structure were completely silent as Nifong went after Moezeldin Elmostafa. Normally a white DA falsely accusing a black man would have led to howls of outrage.

    As far as Nifong's pandering to the black community ensuring his election here's an nice little article for you to read

    Cues, Endorsements, and Heresthetic in a High-Profile Election: Racial Polarization in Durham, North Carolina?

    Abstract:
    Did voters in Durham, North Carolina divide along racial lines in the high-profile May 2, 2006 primary election for Durham district attorney? The results of an analysis of the vote by race suggest there were not major racial divisions when examining the primary election for Durham district attorney: winner Mike Nifong received about the same percentage of support from African-American voters as from voters who are not African-American. However, it seems likely that Nifong's high-profile prosecution of the Duke lacrosse rape case may have helped him with African-American voters in what otherwise might have been a low-key, low-information local election. Ironically, Nifong's strategic use of this racially charged rape case caused African-American voters to not follow the more common racial cues underlying local primary elections in Durham. Analyses of the subsequent general election suggest that the electorate was more racially polarized than in the primary, with African-American voters overwhelmingly supporting Nifong and about one-fourth of nonblack voters supporting Nifong. While a very interesting case study in its own right given the extensive media attention, this election answers and raises broader questions regarding the role of race and politics in elections. More broadly, strategic politicians can use heresthetic maneuvers to garner electoral victories when the existing cues used by voters would not lead to a favored result.

    heresthetic
    Noun

    the art of political manipulation, especially by the use of language
    Logic is concerned with the truth-value of sentences. Grammar is concerned with the communications-value of sentences. Rhetoric is concerned with the persuasion-value of sentences. And heresthetic is concerned with the strategy-value of sentences. In each case, the art involves the use of language to accomplish some purpose: to arrive at truth, to communicate, to persuade, and to manipulate. - The Art of Political Manipulation

    By Blogger Locomotive Breath, at 12:23 PM  

  • Financial how can I benefit? I know of no one involved.

    However, being upper middle class and hating racist class haters I will benefit from the bigotry exposed.

    Also, hoping to be in the top 2% of wealth earners in the next few years my son will benefit by being treated based on his character not his parents wealth. However, I still do not think this case will be an eye opener for feminist, racist or class haters. Look at the comments by some haters on this sight.

    If my memory serves me correctly the black candidate was endorsed before the "lets get whitey" rape hoax. After the primary the black power structure did endorse Nifong.
    If there is no black candidate endorse the one that wants to railroad innocent whites. Great character these people have.

    Also, the complete 180 by the NCNAACP in fighting for deffendents rights and total lies posted on their website just shows you how racist a large part of the black community can be.

    But all and all this will cost Durham a large amount of headaches if not a large amount of money. The sad part is that the majority of the money will not be from the racist individuals that fostered this hoax.

    Because only someone ignorant enough to think these young men raped that prostitute most likely is not smart enough to even have a job digging ditches.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 12:40 PM  

  • Congratulations, Barry! Your blog has now surpassed Atrios's claim to having the stupidest trolls on the internet. :-)

    By Blogger MK, at 12:52 PM  

  • In my dreams.

    By Blogger Barry, at 12:57 PM  

  • Hey MK if you think LB and I are wrong all you have to do is provide countering information.

    That is what I thought Einstein.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 3:28 PM  

  • TR...I was addressing Barry. Thanks for proving my point.

    By Blogger MK, at 5:05 PM  

  • In other words you have no information to dispute what has been posted.

    Thanks for at least acknowledging that.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 5:21 PM  

  • I'm no liestoppers groupie, but Tony and TR are spot on. The real race was in the primary, and Freda was a lock given her CourtTV press.

    We Durhamites will be paying the price for a long time, and ironically it will hit the poor the hardest.

    Voting is for suckers. Give to the ACLU.

    By Blogger KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 5:59 PM  

  • Now dcrollins let's not interupt the history revisionist.

    Also, how is it going to hit the poor the hardest? Doesn't everything hit the poor the hardest?

    I mean isn't that why people want to be financially independent so they can weather any storm?

    And do you think it is the fault of wealthy Durhamites that ignorant fools voted for Nifong? I wish there was a way to make only the people who voted for Nifong pay.

    This is what happens when you live in a community with a far left leaning population and a large racist population. Durham deserves what ever punishment comes our way.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 6:23 PM  

  • Gotta say Dave - that is not my recollection of how things were in the weeks before the Duke lacrosse case at all.

    Freda Black did not make a lot of friends in the community with her prosecution of Michael Peterson, and as the incumbent, Nifong was going to win the primary handily had there never been a party at 610 N. Buchanan in March of 2006. The time between when the case first made the headlines and the primary was about 5 weeks, and if anything, Nifong's initial handling of it cost him votes. I just don;t see how the claim that Nifong's prosecution was driven by his re-election campaign holds water.

    None of which has anything to do with whether or not Freda Black, who still hasn't bothered to put her own name on her fundraising webpage, is qualified to be Durham DA either.

    By Blogger Barry, at 1:38 AM  

  • Nifong was ahead in the polls before the LAX case? Barry are you that driven by your guilt/ideology?

    It is well known that Freda, due to her name recognition, was well ahead in the polls before the "lets get whitey" fiasco. Do some research would you please before you make a complete ass of yourself.

    And Mike hurting himself in the polls after his decision to railroad innocent young men, if true (which is completely false), shows you how ignorant this nut case was. I hope he is out some where playing his instrument.

    Hypocrites and the term that comes to mind dealing with you revisionist.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 2:11 AM  

  • I searched for poll results before the lacrosse case broke, but all I could find was this quote from the N&O:
    Before the lacrosse case, the election was to be about gang violence and crowded courtrooms. Black in particular highlighted recent violent crimes on city buses, at a mall and in an upper-middle-class neighborhood.

    Since Nifong barely won the primary, it seems clear to me that he was going to lose before he rocketed to fame and got carried away in the lacrosse hoax. I'd love to see any polling done before the case broke.

    Barry, why would the black community not have been happy with Freda? Because of her persecution of bisexuals?

    This was right when I moved back to Durham, so I missed the whole Peterson trial. I gotta say that the Wikipedia entry on Peterson is fascinating -- I'm going to try to find the Lestrade film on the case.

    For any of you that were here, what was controversial about Peterson's columns in the Herald-Sun?

    By Blogger KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 7:12 AM  

  • I simply don't recall it that way, David, but i think you're right in that there are very few if any pre-primary polls published from March 06.

    You can find detailed election results from the 06 primary here. Kevin is much better at analyzing this stuff than i am, but it appears that Freda Black did very well in the rural parts of the county, Nifong won the older, in-town neighborhoods, and Keith Bishop ran surprisingly well, getting 13% of the total vote, and outpolling Freda Black in a number of precincts.

    My precinct (19) is 58% African American. Vote totals were Nifong-168, Black-150, Bishop-61.

    Precinct 42 (Shephard) is overwhelmingly African American. Vote totals there were Nifong-138, Black-74, Bishop-113.

    Similarly, precinct 41 (White Rock) was Nifong-209, Black-97, Bishop-79.

    Precinct 37 (Cole Mill Rd.,) is about 85% white. Totals there were Nifong-271, Black-512, Bishop-33.

    I simply don't see how you can draw the conclusion that Nifong's prosecution of the Duke lacrosse case helped him win the election from these numbers. I think it probably cost him more votes in north and east Durham than it gained him in central Durham. Especially when you consider how little time, barely 5 weeks, elapsed between the charges being raised and the primary.

    By Blogger Barry, at 9:57 AM  

  • Yeah. It was five weeks.

    I didn't make the point as well as I'd like to, but the field for DA in those days was "still" historically not that great and Nifong already had support BEFORE those boys threw that party.

    Yet several authors, websites and an entire Durham-hating culture has sprouted. All these people needed to vent their already-installed disgust with our town was some "event" to finally "prove" that Durham is a race-mixing den of commie-liberal sinfulness. A place where a decent white person of some means, even wealth, could never get a decent break. -sniff-

    The Durham-haters got their event in the perfect storm of Poor Behavior By Just About Everyone Involved called the LAX case. It was their 9/11.

    I'm not ever going to comment on this idiotic case again. It's like stepping into a manure lagoon.

    But I do agree that starting with Duke--who couldn't keep student animal house parties under control ...going through all the individuals involved...the accuser...the press...Nifong...all the way up to the State of North Carolina declaring the boys "totally innocent" (not a very legal term and intentionally political in this context. In court you're either "guilty" or "not guilty" - that's the genius of our rule of law). I can't say I saw or heard a single voice of reason or even professional behavior.

    Which is why I'm not so crazy about the current field running for DA. I pray to God (see, I'm not a hard-core secularist), that topic becomes a separate thread somewhere...else.

    By Blogger Tony, at 10:31 AM  

  • Freda got some negative press pre-election due to allegations of hanky-panky, legal & otherwise, with a boyfriend. I was hearing all sorts of other rumors that her hands were none too clean.

    Peterson's columns can probably be found with enough digging. Nasty bits of work, just vile. What an unpleasant man.

    By Blogger Ellen, at 11:24 AM  

  • Revisionist is about the only kind word I can think of for people, due to their agenda, who want to rewrite history.

    Basically this case can easily be summed up...All you have to do is ask yourself would the same people railroading 3 innocent individuals done the exact same thing if the race roles were reversed. And would the public acted the same way?

    No one can say yes without be a laughing stock.

    Also, Barry if Nifong was well supported why was he having to loan himself money for his failing campaign? Freda was well ahead of Nifong due mainly because of her name recognition.

    His campaign manager post at Liestoppers and she can easily explain how Nifong was well behind Freda.

    But you know none of you lost souls are interested in the truth. However, the honest young men are and that is why I welcome the lawsuits. If it is about the money I could not care less because that is about the only form of punishment available. If Durham had not been such a politically correct ass no one would find themselves in such a situation.

    The next year or so is going to be entertaining as the racist, sexist class haters get their due.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 12:49 PM  

  • This is going to seem non-sequiturous, but in response to a statement made about 80 comments ago, I'm not convinced that it wasn't a crazed owl. Or a gang of crazed owls. Owls are very sinister, indeed.

    By Blogger Lisa B., at 1:08 PM  

  • Man, I don't pay attention for a couple of days, and I miss this thread!

    TR: Thank you for clearly saying you don't know anyone who stands to benefit financially from one of the cases. I've been pestering Locomotive Breath to give an answer to that for months, and he or she still declines.

    At some point, I really hope I get a chance to go back and mine the Durham mailing lists to really uncover what the dialog was like as the story was breaking. There's plenty there that was less than salutory, but it shows the motivations were very different than those dreamed up in the fevered imaginations of the Liestoppers crowd. I won't deny that race had a role -- that'd be stupid -- but I do deny many of the counterfactuals that TrinityRez has thrown around about what would happen if the races were reversed. There's no way to test the theory, but I'm pretty sure that the three players would have been demonized in the media and on talk radio to an extent that would make what happened to the lacrosse players seem like a good-natured ribbing.

    Honestly, any talk about what the "polls" said has to be ridiculous. I don't recall one way or the other, but the likelihood that the primary for a county DA race would have more than maybe one poll conducted during the course of the election is pretty slim. Also, notions that Black was going to coast to victory because of her appearance on CourtTV is also pretty silly. I mean, really -- what proportion of voters actually WATCH CourtTV?

    A much more telling set of facts remains in the endorsements. As I'll keep telling everyone until I'm blue in the face, Durham has long been and remains an endorsements town. Now, if I have my timelines right, the Democratic DA Primary was the first Tuesday in May, and the case was still very much in a fog at that time. I can't find a copy of it, but I'm pretty certain that the People's Alliance endorsement explicitly stated that they were withholding judgment on the lacrosse case, and were basing their endorsement on Nifong's reputation for fairness. (At the time, I was somewhat surprised that the PA bought into the Freda Black rule nonsense, which I thought was obviously odious.)

    The Independent Weekly, which covers much the same political terrain as the PA, still has theirs online:

    "Nifong, 55, has spent his entire professional career in the Durham D.A.'s office. He took over as district attorney last year when Jim Hardin was appointed to a Superior Court judgeship. Over the years, he has approached his job in a hardworking and professional manner. Colleagues and legal opponents alike laud his sense of fairness and justice. His colleagues also assert that he manages a supportive work environment where attorneys against the death penalty aren't forced to try capital murder cases.

    "Freda Black was an assistant district attorney in Durham for 14 years. Her role in the prosecution and conviction of novelist Michael Peterson catapulted her into celebrity status. But she has been accused of unethical behavior: her boyfriend escaped punishment for domestic violence in 2004, and more recently she has had to answer allegations that Jerry Clayton, Black's current boss and a backer of her campaign, tried to intimidate attorneys in the DA's office."

    Based on the endorsements of the PA and the Indy, and not wanting to prejudge the case, yes, I voted for Nifong in the primary, before reversing and voting for the Lewis Cheek "empty chair" in the general. I thought it was too early in the case to vote based on what was still, to me, a murky situation.

    My point in all of this is that Nifong had substantial institutional support well before the Mangum accusations.

    Finally, while I'd like to get permission from PAC2 members to publish their responses from the archives in April 2006 to show more what I mean, I'll just say that all of the rushes from all sides to read race and class into every corner of the community response to the case is tangential at best. The loudest outcry immediately after the allegations emerged was from wealthy, white, not terribly progressive residents of Trinity Park. The reason, of course, was not because the accused were wealthy and white, but because of the perception that they had long been protected from prosecution by Duke, and that Duke was doing it yet again. (Duke was, at that point, in the middle of rather heated negotiations over the fate of Central Campus, in which the board of my neighborhood association (OWDNA) repeatedly cited examples of Duke administration trying to make deals with the community and then sneak out of them behind closed doors with backroom deals.) Obviously, the Black Panthers wouldn't have shown up had it not been for the race angle, but seeing this all solely through the lenses of race and class is a mistake that commenters on the left and the right repeatedly made and continue to make.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 3:28 PM  

  • Nifong was well on his way to victory in the primary before the Duke case even came about.

    In the one pre-primary poll that I recall coming out before the Lax party, it was Nifong 42, Black 32, with the other 26% going to the other candidate or undecided. 42% and a 10-point margin in a 3-way race is pretty much a sure thing.

    Nifong was endorsed by the PA and the Friends, and Black got none of the major endorsements. Black was toast. Just like I hope she is this time.

    By Blogger Todd, at 11:37 PM  

  • Thanks, Todd. The final results were Nifong 45%, Black 41%, Bishop 13%, give or take.

    Which, assuming your recollection is reasonably accurate, i think supports the suggestion that the lacrosse case had little net positive effect on Nifong's results in the 06 primary. Certainly it had a negative effect on his results in the general election.

    Of course, for people who choose to create their own reality, that won't matter at all.

    By Blogger Barry, at 12:51 AM  

  • Thanks, Todd. Do you remember where this poll came from (or even better, have a link)? My perception was that Freda was leading in the primary, but I don't have any evidence other than what I recall hearing on WUNC. She was making a big stink about the Northgate shooting, which was what grabbed my attention.

    Endorsements are important in Durham, as Michael pointed out. However, she got a lot more exposure than just CourtTV -- the Peterson case was covered extensively by local newspapers and "teevee".

    One bone I have to pick is with the notion that five weeks was not enough for Nifong to get a bump in the polls. The lax party was on a weekday during Spring Break, the arrests got a one-line mention in the H-S crime briefs the following day, and the next thing you know the potbangers were marching through my 'hood. Then suddenly Nifong was everywhere -- elapsed time of two weeks or less from the frameup.

    Maybe LB or one of the other commenters from liestoppers can verify the timeline.

    By Blogger KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 3:01 PM  

  • The first email i can find on the Duke Park listserv archives is dated 3/25/06, and reprints an article from the N&O. It was forwarded from the Trinity Park listserv. The N&O link is no longer valid.

    There is a call for a "silent protest" at the Duke LAX game which was to be played that day at 1pm as well.

    There are no emails in the archives on the DPNA list about "potbanging" events at all.

    I have a personal email dated the 25th (Saturday)inviting me to attend a cacerolazo (potbanging) on Sunday the 26th, at 9am.

    I have a personal email dated 3/29/06 inviting me to attend a performance of The Vagina Monologues at NCSU on the 29th which references the lacrosse case.

    The original incident took place on the 14th of March, which was a Tuesday. My recollection is it was not until the following Thursday or Friday that the first newspaper articles appeared discussing the case in any depth. It's a mistake, i think, to say that "the next thing you know the potbangers were marching through my 'hood." Unless you consider 12 days to be "the next thing you know."

    Yes, from that point through at least the first three weeks in April, Nifong was in the paper and on the TV discussing the case. A lot.

    And he was roundly criticized for it. So much so that he pretty much did a complete 180 and stopped talking to the media about the case.

    It's a great story that Nifong won election because of the Duke lacrosse case. Unfortunately, the facts don't support it.

    But please. Don't let that stop you from continuing to tell it.

    By Blogger Barry, at 7:44 PM  

  • Sorry, but I don't have a link to the poll that I remember seeing. I'm sure it was either the N&O or Herald-Sun, though. Polling for a Dem primary for DA anywhere is not exactly common, so it seemed unusual at the time.

    The bottom line at the time was that there was not a real good reason to dump Nifong. He was good enough for Jim Hardin's recommendation, and what had changed? Freda was whining about losing her underground parking space, and neither she or Bishop seemed to be any more qualified for the job than any other attorney in Durham.

    Would it have saved Durham anything if we had voted out Nifong in the primary, or for that matter, in November? Not really, since he still would have served until after the November election.

    I just hope that in this year's DA election, the various candidates can give us a good reason to vote for them other than "I'm not Nifong". Freda and company need to run on their merits and not run against Nifong.

    By Blogger Todd, at 1:32 AM  

  • Nifong was "roundly criticised" for his comments? By whom -- the defense attorneys? :-) The rest of Durham was ready to lynch those boys. At least we agree that a lot happened in the first five weeks before the primary.

    I'll be happy to concede the point that he didn't use this case to win the primary provided I see some evidence. Perhaps someone who has read KC Johnson's book can weigh in on the issue. (To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, I don't read many books because the book reviews are always so much better.)

    In somewhat related news, the lacrosse team dominated #3 Maryland on Saturday. Unfortunately I was courtside at the RBC Center for K's 800th win. Go Duke!

    By Blogger KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 6:03 AM  

  • Barry the facts do support it. It was well known that Freda was ahead in the polls and Nifongs failing campaign was in the dumps financially and voter wise.

    Also, did you realize that the first article or articles did not reference race? Once the pot bangers found out race and that the boys were not talking, which is a complete lie, it blew up like....well like mob justice.

    And whoever thinks that race wasn't the most driving force can easily prove me wrong by providing a case in the last 15 years that gained this much hatred toward the accused in such a public way where the race roles are reversed.

    It is funny how you consider Mikes stopping all interviews due to peoples outrage is truthful. Mike stopped interviews, according to him, due to someone being arrested. However, that was proven wrong at the bar hearing and they did not buy his load of crap.

    He stopped running his mouth due to the overwhelming amount of exculpatory evidence becoming public.

    I will let you continue to rewrite history if you like but I will suggest reading KC Johnson's book. You may not like the outcome but it is a well researched and factual read.

    Also, the TP list server was a great place to see the mob mentality at work. There were a few posters that tried to inject rationale into the debate but it was not without being ridiculed or feeling like you were being threatened.

    By Blogger TrinityRez, at 1:49 PM  

  • It was well known that Freda was ahead in the polls and Nifongs failing campaign was in the dumps financially and voter wise.

    Your evidence for this?

    By Blogger Barry, at 2:01 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home