Why would a seasoned prosecutor like Mike Nifong flout the rules in so many ways in the Duke case? Why would he publicly describe the four lacrosse players as "rapists" before that had been established in a court of law? Why would he suppress DNA evidence that the defense was entitled to see? Why, in short, did he go so far before the facts were in?
One of Nifong's public comments provides a clue. He says he wanted to protect the town of Durham from the reputation of being a place featuring "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl." From this we see that Nifong suffers from delusions of grandeur. He sees himself as the Custodian of Durham's Reputation. He views his job as the White Protector of the Black Race. If he simply saw himself as a prosecutor doing his job in a difficult situation--with competing claims and counterclaims--he wouldn't have made such an ass of himself.
Nifong seems to be suffering from Recovering Southerner Syndrome. This is the ailment, first named on this blog, in which Southerners feel so guilty about slavery and segregation that they perform undignified backward somersaults to prove that they are "not really Southern." When they encounter something Southern--like white Southern frat boys at a party--their mind immediately conjures up images of segregated water fountains and they draw their swords and go into Crusader Against Racism mode. Viewed in this way, Nifong saw himself as a kind of white knight slaying the dragons of Southern bigotry. Nifong was not alone in this: dozens of Duke professors reacted to the incident in exactly the same way.
The only problem was that the facts didn't bear them out. The Duke players apparently weren't planning a rape or a lynching; they were merely misbehaving in the manner of "boys gone wild." So the world is different now and the old models don't necessarily apply. I suspect that MIke Nifong is not the only fellow who is going to learn this lesson the hard way.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 3)
31. I THINK THAT PRESIDENT BUSH SURELY ADMIRES THE MAN'S TENACITY. HIS ABILITY TO FORCE FEED HIS PROJECTED FEELINGS OF SAFEGUARDING THE PEOPLE BY CONDEMNING LAW ABIDING CITIZENS IS VERY UNCANNY. THE PRESIDENT SHOULD HAVE NO DIFFICULTY GRANTING A PARDON TO NIFONG, SHOULD HE FACE ANY CRIMINAL CHARGES. THESE ARE THE KINDS OF PARDONS RESERVED ONLY FOR THE TRUELY GUILTY, WHICH ARE THE ONLY TRUELY NEEDY.
SCOOTER WILL HAVE TO ROT. HE SHOULD HAVE STUFFED TOP SECRET DOCUMENTS DOWN HIS PANTS BY MISTAKE!
Cdalealden at 3:44AM on Jun 17th 2007
32. Just too eager to get another gold star behind his name in his profession. Anybody who has any dealing with the court will know it is not about justice but about taking an another step up that ladder of success.
Sitara at 4:34AM on Jun 17th 2007
33. Once again we are subjected to the grotesque spectacle of the openly racist Dinesh D'Souza -- who thinks American slavery wasn't racist and that slaves were treated "pretty good" -- commenting on issues of race. Would AOL give a platform to a Holocaust denier? Apparently so -- they already have.
richter at 4:10PM on Jun 17th 2007
34. I think old Nyfong was and is just one more corrupt - and coincidentally Southern - small time politician. And these type of guys are not confined to the South.
They are petty little men with small, tedious minds, and delusions of granduer.
It seems Nifong wanted to win re-election at all cost. Most likely he saw the local black population as a substantial voting block, and so he used this case to woo black voters and won his petty election.
Pathetic.
Ken Berg at 10:51AM on Jun 18th 2007
35. I think Ann Coulter put quite well:
"This investigation wasn't a mistake — it was malice.
The media love to drone on about the explosive combination of "race and sex" — and they'll wait forever for a single non-hoax case to prove it! In fact, the truly explosive combination is "liberal" and "mediocrity."
Half-bright liberals think Hollywood fantasies are real life. And in Hollywood, conservatives like Rush Limbaugh are never fabulously rich and successful. Conservative Christians like Tom DeLay are never savvy, influential congressmen. And handsome boys from good families are never nice.
Nifong was supposed to look like Gregory Peck — not like Bob Wexler! But it's the lacrosse players who look like Gregory Peck.
Second-rate liberals who went to mediocre schools and married mediocre women are burning with jealousy from their nondescript, mediocre jobs. So they use their government jobs to attack their betters and sneer about the players' "daddies."
Like so much injustice in America, this whole sick spectacle was the revenge of the mediocre against the successful. Stupid and envious is a bad combo platter."
COPYRIGHT 2007 ANN COULTER
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Ken Berg at 2:58PM on Jun 22nd 2007
36. While normally I frown on spamming (this post appears verbatim on another Nifong thread), I think Ken is providing a public service by printing Ann Coulter's kind words for Tom Delay. Delay is the man most responsible for turning the the Republican controlled House into a whore house -- but this is apparently okay by Coulter, no stranger to servicing conservatives her(?)self.
Delay and his fans gave the Democrats Congress last year and will give them the White House next year. So thanks, Ann -- and you too, Ken!
richter at 4:03PM on Jun 22nd 2007