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I have posted pictures from our trip to Houston to interview Mrs. Bush about her literacy campaign (which holds its big event tonight in Houston. If you live in Houston you should try and go. If you don't live in Houston, maybe you should go to Mrs. Bush's Web site, which I have given below.) A few notes about the pictures I have posted (in truth, I e-mail them to someone in New York who does the actual posting....)
The first two pictures are of President Bush's Houston office door and nameplate on the exterior office. This is where we conducted the interview. The reason I took the pictures of the door and the nameplate is to show you how plain it is. I was surprised how simple and plain the entrance to his office is. President Bush is a very modest man and is not the least bit grandiose. His door nameplate doesn't mention the fact that he was president of the United States. If you met the former president, you would wonder if you had known him for a million years. He makes you feel very comfortable.
I also added a picture that I took of a painting that hangs in the president's office. Yes, that is behind the scenes, since it is unlikely you would get to see this painting unless you read this blog! I took this picture because I really liked the painting.
The balance of the pictures take you behind the scenes of our interview with Mrs. Bush. Mrs. Bush is fascinating and very, very witty! She is determined to help people learn to read. She does not often give interviews, but she wanted to make sure she gets the word out about how important it is to read. It is easy for those who read to take that skill for granted, since it seems so routine. But Mrs. Bush said more than once to me, "If you can't read, you can't fill out a job application form." She is so right about this.
Mrs. Bush formed her Literacy Foundation in 1989 and it has a Web site. Check it out: www.barbarabushfoundation.com
What amazes me about former President Bush and Mrs. Bush (and also former President Clinton) is their one-dimensional thinking: help! They want to help. They want to make the world better: better for others, not for themselves. They know they can do much for others and they do it. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you must admire them for this drive to help. I do. In fact, they inspire me.
Finally, there is a picture of Sadie, their Springer Spaniel. You might remember Millie and Ranger from their White House days. This is their newest Springer, but she is an older girl. She is very sweet.
If you are a regular reader of GretaWire, chances are you know I have been working with several colleagues on a special called "Crime Scene." (Actually, my colleagues are doing all the "heavy lifting" on the special. I have found that specials are much more demanding on the producers than the hosts for many reasons.) We have finally finished the special and it airs this Saturday, at 10 p.m. ET. I hope you watch and e-mail me what you think about it and whether we should do more of these.
I have posted some articles at the end of the e-mails. One is an update on a case we have followed.
Now for some of your e-mails:
E-mail No. 1
Why is it, when Kobe Bryant was accused of raping a white woman, with no evidence of rape found by any doctors, everyone at FOX News kept saying he was guilty? Now that a black woman is accusing white men of raping her, with doctors saying her examination was consistent with rape, everyone at FOX News are saying the white men are innocent. That's really fair and balanced for you.
Jackie Dixon
Vallejo, CA
E-mail No. 2
I wish the woman who claims to have been raped by the Duke lacrosse players would hire Gloria Allred so the media would stop trashing her so much! No one mentions she served in the military or that she also is a college student. They trash her for being a dancer/stripper and, as big a fan as I am of FNC, some of the men there have been the worst! Shameful.
Patty Mathews
Claremore, OK
E-mail No. 3
Here's my theory (twisted thinking the result of 25 years of being a prosecutor):
Why didn't he give up his ATM, cab, etc., evidence earlier?
What if the guys on the team knew (or believed) that no crime occurred? What if they thought the victim was trying, for whatever reason, to pull a scam? How would they be able to expose her?
One way: say nothing. Don't say who was there, who left, who had an alibi, who didn't, etc. Make her do her IDs based on her memory or whatever. IF she's not being honest, why tip her off to who was there and who wasn't? Maybe if she is making it up, she'll finger somebody who wasn't even there, and that will expose her.
So she picked out somebody who appears to have at least a partial alibi. If that was their strategy, it worked.
I don't think it "proves" that her story is false, but it seems to work to the benefit of the defense at least for now.
Mark Koldys
E-mail No. 4
Greta,
I agree with your panel that if Joran did not know he was being taped, then his statements seem to support those in your interview with him. However, am I to assume that Paulus — judge in training, familiar with the system — never mentioned to Joran to be careful what he said at all times, that he might be recorded? I'm not sure I could make that assumption with 100 percent confidence. Your thoughts?
BTW, I bet you had a blast at the Astros game!
Anna
AL
ANSWER: Yes, I did have a blast.
E-mail No. 5
Greta,
What if those boys knew that they were being taped/recorded and used that to their advantage to throw authorities off? Maybe Paul van der Sloot gave them a heads up that this is common practice in Aruba. Just like he told them: no body, no crime.
R.R.
E-mail No. 6
Dear Greta,
I am a retired sexual battery detective from the City of Miami Police Department and I have some comments regarding this [the Duke lacrosse] case.
There have been a lot of comments made regarding the DA pushing this case for votes from the black community as he is running for reelection. In my opinion, if the DA was trying to win reelection he would be more concerned with the reaction of the boys' parents, as they are the ones with money and that is what gets someone elected!
I can tell you from experience that if a police detective has the slightest doubt as to the validity of a complaint, they will spend days checking out the victim and her story before presenting it to a DA for filing charges. I have to believe that the DA has some bombshell evidence that will prove the facts of this case. Possibly blood results from the victim showing she was given a date rate drug or a witness no one knows about yet.
I find it very odd that all the boys left the party at the same time. That doesn't ring true. I also think it is possible that the boy with the "iron clad alibi" may have left immediately after the assault for the purpose of establishing an alibi. These aren't dumb guys!
This girl had to know if she lied about a rape and it wasn't true that all these boys could contradict her report? Are we to believe she is that stupid?
At this point, I have heard nothing to convince me that she is lying. I have found that the public is quick to dismiss a rape charge unless the woman is raped in her home by an unknown intruder!
It really is hard to know the truth when there are so many unanswered questions about this story. I am watching it with great interest.
Mary Ellen Fernandez
P.S. I still believe one of the Kalpoe brothers knows where Natalee's body is!
E-mail No. 7
Hi Greta,
I did some reading online and it looks like most rapes are of very short duration on the order of minutes.
Regarding the alibi: I would be interested in determining when the cab was ordered and what time it was do to arrive. A period of 15 minutes would be enough time to rape a woman — if she was impaired, maybe even less.
Also, the timestamp on the camera might be off if the time was not set accurately via computer.
One last thing, the time frame for the alleged crime is being determined by the time stamp of the camera and the time at which the cab picked the guy up.
If the camera time was fast and the cab time was slow, we could be looking at several more minutes.
The time alibi is not a fixed way to determine the window of opportunity and the window of innocence.
Bill Boltinghouse
We have been following the Perry March trial in Tennessee. He is charged with murdering his wife — her body has not been found. This article is an update:
• Former Nashville lawyer convicted in theft
This article also caught my attention:
• Major League Baseball fines Bonds over uniform infraction
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