End of the year thoughts

Okay, originally I had planned to make a post just about Duke then I was going to make a post about having had family visit and then I was going to make yet another post about something else. Then it occurred to me that why the heck bother since I might as well just write one long one abiut everything and get it over with.

Unless you have been living under a rock or don't live near Durham NC then you have heard about the rape accusations levied against three Duke University lacrosse players. In a nutshell these young men were accused by an exotic dancer of having taken her into a bathroom and raped her. I have thought and said from the start that this case smelled worse than a three day old pair of socks. Throughout the entire scandal the "accuser" has changed her story more times that I have changed my ideas about being a primate and even the other dancer who was with her on that night has said that the whole thing is a "crock". To top things off, another acquaintance of the accuser has stated that she told him that she was after money because she thought Duke university would just pay up to make the accusations go away. Not so fast there Skippy. Enter the law and a certain DA named Nifong who saw a golden opportunity for some social justice, confidently getting in front of cameras and making promises that in the event he has largely been unable to keep. So here we are staring at a case that should have never been even brought to a grand jury. From the beginning I have had the sensation of seeing yet another Tawana Brawley in front of my eyes.

Well, the entire case has gone to gone to hell and there is no way to go but foreword for Mr. Nifong. He HAS to push this case forward because to do anything else would be impossible. He was re-elected on the promise that he would pursue the case for the his Black voters as a case of social justice for them. He is doing a grave injustice to the rest of society and the rest of us who have come to see this entire thing as a waste of time and taxpayer money and also as an example of leftist ideology run amok. Only yesterday (12-22-06) did Nifong finally dismiss the rape charges only to keep the kidnapping and sexual assault charges as he cannot but do in order to keep with his election promises and leftist myopia.

Already these accusations have cost the accused dearly in the public eye. One has even had a to turn down a job offer at a prestigious firm because of it. The firm still wanted to hire him but he did want to inflict the possibility of him being convicted to cause harm to the firm. But what about the rest of these guys lives? How are they to get their reputations back after having had their lives utterly ruined by all this even if it comes out that they are indeed innocent of all charges except perhaps being young and foolish? Every last one of us has done things in our younger days that make us look back in utter astonishment and disbelief that we actually survived our escapades, at least I know that I do more than I have ever really done. But never have I had to face what these young men are facing. They may never make good what they have lost.

The accuser herself has done irreparable harm of all potential rape victims who may want to come forward in later cases because the system may not want to bother with the case because of this one. It is possible however unlikely that one day one of these young men might actually commit another similar crime of this nature somewhere else and the accuser might have him dead to rights with all the DNA and the forensics. But the defense has but to check with Durham to see a previous accusation was dropped and can create reasonable doubt in a jury's eyes. She has also made a mockery of our system, has made a mockery of the very principle that we are all innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Personally this year was a little rough with the loss of my last grandparent Grace Scott. But within that loss has been the seeds of a new era for my estranged father and I. One of my greatest heroes has been Gaius Julius Caesar. I was delighted to read that he actually forgave one of his closest friend Labienus for going over to Pompey's side. That has caused me to allow some healing to take place between my Father and I something that I should have done BEFORE my Gran's passing but cowardice kept me from doing so and for that I apologise to him. I have also learned some parenting lessons after caring for my Elito, a soon to be 3 year old human hurricane who knows no fear but gives me heart attacks whenever he gets anywhere near anything high or with corners. His mother Maria and I have managed a complex relationship over this past year with not a few bumps along the way. But we manage.

The war continues to affect my life directly with so many of my friends in harm's way. I hope for their eventual return in good health and many more muj getting their tickets punched for an afterlife that they just might find disappointing. This war is about Islam versus the notion of freedom and democracy and not just a war on "terror". We in the west need to understand Sun Tzu's admonition to know our enemy so as better to defeat him. The enemy is a bully and a coward who will push us around unitl we push back. Like the fellow in Teas who recently got an apology from Muzzies and will still run his pig races, not all the battles are with bombs and bullets. We have to fight these jerks with ideas and the very things that we beat the Nazis with. The idea that personal freedom comes with personal responsibility and that there is such a thing as right and wrong. These Muslims want nothing less that our abject acceptance of our status as second class citizens. We need to heed the lesson of Rome and her barbarian neighbours in that Rome treated them with disrespect and ended up being sacked by them. We can and will win this war but we must not allow the Muzzies to use our very system against us or will will end up being enslaved.

I will end here because I am off to celebrate with some friends this New Year's Eve. I hope all of you have a safe celebration, that you either hail a cab home or designate a driver.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!