Crystal Mangum gives an interview

WTVD reporter Tamara Gibbs interviewed Crystal Mangum. Crystal reveals that she has bought into Sid Harr's fantasy about the autopsy inconsistencies. That's called grasping at straws. Of course she's blaming her lawyer. We knew she'd do that. Every guilty person in prison blames their lawyer, for a while. Rehabilitation is a long process. Fortunately for Crystal, she has at least 12 years of rehabilitation left. Hopefully along the way she will make some changes in her life and start making better choices.


One other point from the interview, Crystal is amazed that the jury didn't believe her. Since at least the spring of 2006 she has had a credibility problem. Mostly brought on by her own words not matching actions that were recorded. Dear readers will recall that her initial story about the lacrosse hoax was less than fully believed by Kim Roberts Pittman who called it a "crock." Crystal herself had an impossible time telling the same story to police twice. To the point that police had to use four different lineups to try and get an identification of some suspects. But, those suspects turned out to have alibis or no match with the DNA. At her murder trial, Crystal is amazed the jury didn't believe her. In her interview, she does not recognize that she contradicted all the other witnesses. Now, it is possible that she told the truth and nine other people lied. But, with no physical evidence to back up her story and a definite interest on her part in telling a story different from what everyone else was saying, it is perfectly reasonable for a jury not to believe her.

The plot thickens!

Over at the NC Democratic Party, chairman Randy Voller is trying to move Ben Chavis in as Executive Director. The question has been why. Well, Thomas Mills at PoliticsNC has the inside information. Turns out Chavis is a partner in a political consulting firm with Michael Carmichael whom Voller brought in to the great objection of Dem insiders. Voller backed down and cut Carmichael's contract. But now, he's trying to bring in the other half of the duo. The Dems are a lot of fun.

Walt-in-Durham

Thoughts from two very smart Democrats

I recently made fun of the Democrats Randy Voller theater. But, just as soon as I did, two very smart and very thoughtful Democrats chimed in. These guys are a big part of the reason the Democrats ran this state and did it relatively well for so long. They are smart and have the best interests of NC at heart. Even when I disagree with them on policy, there is no doubting their patriotism or their commitment to making NC government work. One thing though guys, Thomas Mills is not right about Randy Voller being a GOP plant, he's yours, all yours.

Walt-in-Durham

Voller tries to reorganize the NC Democrats

http://www.wral.com/democrats-back-off-plan-to-hire-chavis-as-director/13382323/

What can I say about this fiasco except to quote Will Rogers: "I'm the member of no organized political party, I'm a Democrat."

Hey, hey, ho, ho Obamacare's got to go!

I don't comment enough on national politics. That needs to change. The Obamacare debacle has been afflicting our nation for too long. Obama is a failed law professor who never got onto tenure track, never published, never rose above entry level instructor. As such, he never had responsibility to lead. We've seen that play out on the national stage. The failed roll out of the Obamacare website. But worse, Obama has done nothing to make sure the next government website roll out works any better. That's the mark of a bad leader.

 The GOP gets a lot of criticism for opposing Obamacare reflexively. I think that is unfair. The GOP has suggested reforms for a long time. In the period where the congress was considering Obamacare, the GOP was shut out completely from the process. No amendments from the GOP were permitted. Now, we have a situation where the flawed law is in operation and even organized labor is feeling the sting as the law's provisions are raising the cost of union sponsored health care plans and forcing lower paid and minimum wage workers off company and union sponsored health plans into high cost, high deductible Obamacare plans. So to quote an editorial in the Las Vegas Review Journal "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Obamacare has got to go."

 Walt-in-Durham

Thousands of marchers?

Bill Barber and the NAACP claim 80,000 to 100,000 folks showed up to protest on Saturday February 8 in downtown Raleigh. The left leaning Politics NC website uses commonly accepted crowd estimating formulas and says 20,000. I wasn't there, but I saw photos and talked to two people who were there. The people who were there spouted the Barber line, so I am not too certain of its validity. They were enthusiastic though. I tend to go with smaller numbers than event organizers use. The organizers have a vested interest in giving bigger numbers to promote their success/importance. Walt-in-Durham

Crystal Mangum legal research.

I was doing a bit of research on murder in the second degree and came across this from the general statutes: NCGS § 14-17(b)(1)The malice necessary to prove second degree murder is based on an inherently dangerous act or omission, done in such a reckless and wanton manner as to manifest a mind utterly without regard for human life and social duty and deliberately bent on mischief. Specifically: "... a mind utterly without regard for human life and social duty and deliberately bent on mischief." I think that phrase well describes Crystal's life up to this point. From stealing taxi cabs, to escorting, to telling lies about the lacrosse team, to setting Milton's clothes alight, to stabbing Reginald Daye, to flirting with the cops after she stabbed him, that is a mind utterly without regard for human life and social duty and deliberately bent on mischief. Walt-in-Durham

UNC academic mess.

WNCT has a story about a NCCU professor who wants to "flip the script" on college athletics.

I am not a "fan" of UNC, nor am I a "fan" of Virginia Tech. However, Va Tech graduates 77% of its football athletes. UNC-CH about 58%. I am not a "fan" of Penn State, but PSU graduates almost 70% of its football athletes. Without question, Penn State and VA Tech have much better football than UNC. So what is the difference? Penn State and VA Tech have hired coaches over the years (Joe Paterno, Bill O'Brien and Frank Beemer) who lived up to the college's expectation that good football could be played and the college's obligation to the players to provide a sound education could be met. It comes down to a set of expectations from the top. The Chancellor, the University President and the Board of Governors have to set an expectation that football will be successful on the field but more importantly, the university must fulfill its promise to the athletes. UNC does not do that. Until they start setting the standard that Penn State and Va Tech do, we will still see the lousy graduation rates of football players at UNC-CH. We will still see the situation improve.

Walt-in-Durham

Obama says government can create more middle class jobs.

According to WTVD, our local ABC affiliate, the President says that government can create more middle class jobs that offer good wages, health care and a retirement plan. Ignoring the economic contradictions of that claim, WRAL, our local CBS affiliate, is reporting that the State Department has raised no environmental objections to the Keystone XL pipeline. The question I have to ask the President is, if you support the idea of more good jobs that pay well and offer retirement and healthcare benefits, why even think about opposing the Keystone XL pipeline? The construction jobs it creates will meet the President's definition of good jobs. The refining and chemical industry jobs it creates and preserves will meet the President's definition of good jobs. Yet Mr. Obama seems to be delaying the approval of this good job creation project, why?

Well, the answer my friends is, environmentalists oppose this pipeline. Why? Well, they say it will create more greenhouse gasses thus warming the earth. JP Morgan says for every proposal there is a good reason and the real reason. First, I don't think environmentalists good reason is all that good. The State Department report debunks that. According to the State Department, the mining that Keystone XL is intended to support will go on with or without the pipeline. Without it, the oil will just be transported by different means to a different refining area. Probably off shore. Thus the harm, if any there may be, will take place and the refining will happen somewhere with fewer environmental protections than we have in the U.S.A.  That leaves us to answer the question, what is the real reason to oppose Keystone XL?

All I can figure is the environmentalists just don't want any sort of further development of the U.S. petro-chemical industry. For them, any development here is the worst thing they can imagine. They still use petro-chemicals, of course. They just don't want the industry in this country. The President's decision will tell us a lot about him and little else. The oil will get mined, it will get transported and it will get refined. The real question is, will that benefit the U.S. or will it harm the U.S. With Obama making the decision, I expect him to harm us rather than help us.

Walt-in-Durham