Letters to the Editor
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A difference
Hey Elephantman, there's a difference here...
WIth the Duke case, there were and are lot of unknowns. There was a crime allegation at issue, one in which, historically, women have been tarred when they report it. There was an issue of fact as to whether that team did something wrong (and in the case of hiring strippers, some moralists would say they did). They were not clearly innocent, and, except for in a court of law, no one had to treat them as such.
Here, we know exactly what the Rutgers women did (succeed athletically) and what Imus did (trash them on the air, there's a recording and everything). There is no question as to whether or not they behaved legally or honorably or whether they might have actually done something very wrong. They didn't. All the facts are before us. Conclusions based on them are justified. The two cases are not analagous. Come back when the Rutgers basketball team is accused of appearing on Girls Gone Wild or something and then we'll talk.