So now that the three Duke Lacrosse players have been vindicated, where do they go to get their reputations back?
Of course, expect crows of triumph from Coulter and the rest who smelled a rat from the start. But just because they were right doesn’t mean they were right. There’s a huge difference being right about something because you’re smart and perceptive and being right about something out of sheer dumb luck. If you opine enough and throw out enough opinions, you will occasionally be right about something — as sportscasters demonstrate every day. They were basing their defense of these men more on reflex (and the background of the accuser) than fact. It was a snap judgement — it just happened to be right.
The same, of course, goes for those who instantly pronounced these men guilty based on their gender, class, race and geography. They immediately bought that priveleged white men in the south would do such a dispicable thing — facts be damned.
No one in the political circles really cared about the facts of the case or the wheels of justice (or the woman, for that matter). They were far more interested in their partisan political take on it. Fortunately, someone in the DA’s office was being more concientious that either group of political cretins.