…this whole Duke lacrosse team thing. Why is this rape national news? Rape is always horrible, always a crime, always a tragedy. I feel violated when I get burgled, I can only imagine how terrible a sex crime must be. So yes, the Duke lacrosse rape is a Very Bad Thing.

But what makes this particular rape so newsworthy? It's not like a bunch of jock frat boys behaving like assholes is a unique event. I would hazard a guess that out of all rapes at least several percentage points can be traced to collegiate cads.

So is it the victim then? I can't image a stripper being assaulted is that unusual either. Which is not to say that the victim "had it coming" because she's a stripper. But one must admit that it's probable that women who consistently objectify themselves are more often victimized. Don't psychiatrists and criminal profilers often say that objectification is one of the key elements in violent crime? The criminal stops thinking of the victim as a person, but as an object.

So if frat boys committing sex crimes isn't so out of the ordinary, and strippers being assaulted isn't so out of the ordinary, then what makes the Duke lacrosse case out of the ordinary? The FBI says that in 2004 (the most recent year for which complete statistics are available) 94,635 women were raped in the United States.

Ninety-four thousand six hundred thirty-five.

That's one rape every five minutes and thirty-three seconds. Why the hell aren't we talking about that? I don't get it. What the hell is so special about the Duke case that makes it more important than the rape that occurred while you were reading this?