Many of you in the U.S. and possible others around the world have heard about
the sexual assault charges at Duke University. Nothing about a rape is funny,
but this particular case is significantly more tragic because of the way it is
being handled. Here are the top five offenders:

#5) Rush Limbaugh
This American strongly conservative/Republican radio host announced on his
show that the Duke team "supposedly, you know, raped some, uh, hos" going a
long way to proving how insensitive he is along class, gender, and racial
lines, as well as being unable to count to one.
#4) Geraldo Rivera
Pointing out Geraldo's lack of investigative integrity is like shooting a fish
in a barrel with a lava storm. However, you don't go on CNN and say "It's not
always the nuns that get raped. Sometimes it's the strippers that get raped."
#3) The Daily Show
For using Geraldo's line on the subject as a joke.
#2) The Prosecuting Attorney
I know the District Attorneys and their crew have a certain job to do, and
that is to get a conviction in a crime. However, let's look at the case
against one of the accused, Reade Seligmann. According to photographic
evidence that neither side in the case is disputing, the victim arrived at the
party at 11:45 and broke up at 12:03. Seligmann's phone records put him on the
phone from 12:05 to 12:24. He is on record as being in a taxi at 12:19 leaving
the party, swiping his ATM card and his dorm card (with electronic timelines)
across town for the next half hour. The DA's office has admitted they did not
match Seligmann's DNA to the victim, and have not picked Seligmann out of a
police lineup. The only reason the case against Seligmann (I say nothing about
any other suspects) has not yet been dropped is because the DA is trying to
make his case in the court of public opinion, and possibly that he's up for
re-election.
#1) The Witness
The other woman at the party is currently the prosecution's lead, and only,
witness. It therefore hurts the prosecution's case, and her credibility, when
she emailed the following to SW Public Relations (who turned it over to the
press immediately, not wanting this heat):

"Hi! My name is Kim [note: not he real name] and I am involved in the Duke
Lacrosse scandal...Although I am no celebrity and just an average citizen,
I've found myself at the center of one of the biggest stories in the country.
I'm worried about letting this opportunity pass me by without making the best
of it and was wondering if you had any advice as to how to spin this to my
advantage."

This was bad enough, but when she was interviewed later by the Associated
Press, she said, and I wish I was making this up, "Why shouldn't I profit from
it?" Since the victim has no other witnesses and was either drunk or drugged
during the event, the witness's horribly self-serving actions will most likely
destroy the prosecution's case.

Shinarae Lluminus