regardless

The news that the rape charges against the Duke lacrosse players had been dropped did not come as a surprise. Whatever actually happened that night, the dancer's story had changed so many times that it seemed rather unlikely that the District Attorney would be able to prosecute. I had begun to doubt their guilt myself after seeing Ed Bradley cover the story on 60 Minutes (in what turned out to be his last segment on the show).

But what DID come as a surprise was reading in The Washington Post this morning that one of the specific reasons that the charges were dropped was due to the fact that state law in North Carolina says "penetration with anything other than a penis is not rape."

Are you kidding me? Having something put inside your vagina -- regardless of what it is -- without your permission is rape.

Outrageous.