A Question Of Ethics

A question of ethics it seems, D.A., Bloggers, and Media alike.

I feel a certain priveledge, and yes a bit of a rush to have this wonderful podium from which to shout and wave my sword at windmills, indeed I think we all do. Bloggers are a wonderful lot in that they have helped point out injustice, expose the frauds, champion the defenseless, and yes hang the accused in the web, sometimes even before the truth is exposed?

Who then will police this 'police state of writers', this web of spin artists, even this group of self servers? I remember, even right here on this very site, the outrage spun out of control last spring when those "hooligans and thugs" of Duke stood exposed, accused, and all but convicted of rape, sodomy, and cold blooded womanizing! How dare these imputent sons of the rich defile such a virtuous Black Woman in her prime! Even good friends and colleagues of mine, right here, had vile and dispariging comments for these 'guilty' young men.

The bar cited 41 quotations and eight paraphrased statements made to newspaper and TV reporters, saying many of them amounted to "improper commentary about the character, credibility and reputation of the accused" or their alleged unwillingness to cooperate. Most of the comments were in March and April.
Among them:
_ Nifong referred to the lacrosse players as "a bunch of hooligans."
_ He declared: "I am convinced there was a rape, yes, sir."
_ He told ESPN: "One would wonder why one needs an attorney if one was not charged and had not done anything wrong."
_ He told The New York Times: "I'm disappointed that no one has been enough of a man to come forward. And if they would have spoken up at the time, this may never have happened."
Nifong was also charged with breaking a rule against "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation." The bar said that when DNA testing failed to find any evidence a lacrosse player raped the accuser, Nifong told a reporter the players might have used a condom.
According to the bar, Nifong knew that assertion was misleading, because he had received a report from an emergency room nurse in which the accuser said her attackers did not use a condom.

D.A. Nifong himself withdrew rape charges last week after nearly a year of statements that all but had these young men doing time in Attica, and where were the "bloggers" then? As of Thursday evening the North Carolina Bar Association has filed charges against Nifong, the D.A. who brought the case against these young men for violating 4 seperate rules in his zeal to manipulate the media and blogsites into anointing him in his next political conquest of political adventure, and we sit on our hands and say nothing to defend or deny our previous posts?

I, as always, strive to use my "pulpit" with revere and responsibility, I do not condemn my colleagues for their zest in rushing to the hot story last spring, merely I call to them to condemn, amend, or append their earlier stance.

The silence is deafening.