Bill Cosby

[MachineGhost]

What a shame another paragon of decency turns out to be nothing but a serial rapist and an overt sexual predator. The truth can be suppressed for only so long before it bubbles up all at once.  I just hope he kept himself off the children.

http://time.com/3598849/bill-cosby-lawy ... serignese/

[Libertarian666]

What a shame another paragon of decency turns out to be nothing but a serial rapist and an overt sexual predator. The truth can be suppressed for only so long before it bubbles up all at once.  I just hope he kept himself off the children.

http://time.com/3598849/bill-cosby-lawy ... serignese/

As soon as there is any proof of these allegations, I'll be on the same page as you.
So far all we know is that a man with $400 million has been accused of misconduct.

[MachineGhost]

As soon as there is any proof of these allegations, I'll be on the same page as you.
So far all we know is that a man with $400 million has been accused of misconduct.

The problem is we're talking about at least 20 women here.  This is a systemic problem.  And he's settled with a few already.  Why settle if you're not guilty?  Especially with $400 million.

[dualstow]

  Why settle if you're not guilty?  Especially with $400 million.

Celebs settle all the time because they don't want to be dragged through the court proceedings.

I do think Mr Cosby is guilty, though, because many of the women are not seeking money. (He was extorted by a woman in the past, but that was a paternity suit. This is different). But yes, innocent until proven guilty. Absolutely.

It really is sad, because he's such an icon. On the other hand, I never really thought he was funny. My brother and I used to laugh to 'Fat Albert', but we were laughing at it.

[Kriegsspiel]

I'm betting more than a couple of these women are lying. I just got a feeling.

[Tortoise]

First it was the child molestation mess with Stephen Collins (the dad from the TV show 7th Heaven), now it's this sexual assault mess with Bill Cosby. Great.

Kind of reminds me of the disappointment I felt when I first discovered that Bob Saget from the TV shows Full House and America's Funniest Home Videos is about as vulgar and foul-mouthed as they come when he does his stand-up comedy.

One of the really sad aspects of this Bill Cosby mess is that he was one of the few well-known black celebrities who wasn't afraid to openly critique black culture and hold it to a higher standard instead of just cracking jokes about it or blaming its problems on external forces. Such a shame.

[dualstow]

One of the really sad aspects of this Bill Cosby mess is that he was one of the few well-known black celebrities who wasn't afraid to openly critique black culture and hold it to a higher standard instead of just cracking jokes about it or blaming its problems on external forces. Such a shame.

Yes, if he's guilty, this would make him an incredible hypocrite. And of course, this is how his alleged acts have resurfaced in the media: comedian Hannibal Buress basically said, you can't tell us to clean up our acts and avoid cursing just because you had a popular sitcom...you rape women, so....

When that bit went viral, more women had the courage to come out of the woodwork and accuse or re-accuse.

Bob Saget, on the other hand, may have a foul mouth, but as far as I know he's an upstanding citizen. Kind of like Howard Stern. He's got a bad reputation on the street (Howard), but he's faithful, charitable, educated, and very unlike the persona he projects on the radio.

[Benko]

One of the really sad aspects of this Bill Cosby mess is that he was one of the few well-known black celebrities who wasn't afraid to openly critique black culture and hold it to a higher standard instead of just cracking jokes about it or blaming its problems on external forces. Such a shame.

NOT saying anything about the truth of lack of of the allegations against Cosby, since there is no way I can know, but perhaps this is why the media plays up his story, while Woody Allen molests children and it gets downplayed, while [current news] sexual abuse of children in Hollywood is apparently rampant. 

[dualstow]

while Woody Allen molests children and it gets downplayed

I don't know that he did molest children, did he? I think the creep factor from his marrying his 19-year-old almost-stepdaughter set the stage for some accusations, but like with Mr Cosby, I don't think there has been proof of guilt.

[Benko]

while Woody Allen molests children and it gets downplayed

I don't know that he did molest children, did he? I think the creep factor from his marrying his 19-year-old almost-stepdaughter set the stage for some accusations, but like with Mr Cosby, I don't think there has been proof of guilt.

10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/ ... e-10-facts

[Ad Orientem]

Thoughts on Cosby...
* The accusations are from close to a score of women. We are not talking about one or two.
* The statute of limitations has expired. None of these women can seek criminal charges or civil damages. This raises serious questions about motive. Why would so many lie?
* Cosby has certainly suffered grievous injury to his good name. Unlike the women, he DOES have legal recourse. If the charges are false why has he not sued?
* To the best of my knowledge Cosby has not even denied the accusations, something I find inconceivable if there is no truth to them.
* His lawyer has issued several strongly worded statements, that when read carefully also avoid any actual denial of the accusations.

I honestly don't know with certainty if Cosby is the creep he is being made out to be. But the evidence, both hard in the form of the many direct accusations, and circumstantial, is devastating. With great pain, I am inclined to think there is at least some truth to the allegations. 

For Bill's sake, I hope I am wrong.

[Reub]

He performed today in Florida and received a standing ovation.  Sickening!

[Ad Orientem]

He performed today in Florida and received a standing ovation.  Sickening!

I saw that and I agree. It's pretty disturbing.

[dualstow]

10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/ ... e-10-facts

Whoa! That is definitely an eye-opener. The doctor involved in the investigation said no - http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/04/nyreg ... ments.html
But since that was based on inconsistencies in Dylan's story, I am definitely swayed by the Vanity Fair article. Especially point #2. As with Cosby, that's ... not looking good.

[MachineGhost]

Kind of reminds me of the disappointment I felt when I first discovered that Bob Saget from the TV shows Full House and America's Funniest Home Videos is about as vulgar and foul-mouthed as they come when he does his stand-up comedy.

I had the same feeling about Robin Williams who I used to hate (mainly due to Mork and Mindy which I was too young to understand but not too young to dislike "gayness") but then learned to respect him as a serious movie actor, then found out he had a potty mouth in his standup comedy.  Ught.

A real shame about his suicide, though perfectly understandable (he had Parkison's).

The whole Cosby SNAFU is just ... depressing.

[Lowe]

The second article is from Ta-Neihisi Coates:

The Cosby Show

This is mostly about Coates now questioning himself for being afraid to discuss his own opinions about the Cosby rape accusations back in 2007 (when there were only 13).  However, I particularly liked this paragraph:

The heart of the matter is this: A defender of Bill Cosby must, effectively, conjure a vast conspiracy, created to bring down one man, seemingly just out of spite. And people will do this work of conjuration, because it is hard to accept that people we love in one arena can commit great evil in another. It is hard to believe that Bill Cosby is a serial rapist because the belief doesn't just indict Cosby, it indicts us. It damns us for drawing intimate conclusions about people based on pudding-pop commercials and popular TV shows. It destroys our ability to lean on icons for our morality. And it forces us back into a world where seemingly good men do unspeakably evil things, and this is just the chaos of human history.

I know next to nothing about this case, but I do think TNC is wrong about this.  One doesn't have to imagine a conspiracy.  One only has to imagine Cosby slept with a lot of women, probably hundreds, that many of them were drunk when they consented, and that many of them regretted it.

Having been drunk at the time, these women were uncertain if Cosby drugged their drinks.  It's hard to remember... until years later when they hear some others claiming the same thing.  Then the regret can finally be pinned on someone other than themselves.  I am not saying that is what happened, but  it is much easier to imagine than a conspiracy.

[Libertarian666]

The second article is from Ta-Neihisi Coates:

The Cosby Show

This is mostly about Coates now questioning himself for being afraid to discuss his own opinions about the Cosby rape accusations back in 2007 (when there were only 13).  However, I particularly liked this paragraph:

The heart of the matter is this: A defender of Bill Cosby must, effectively, conjure a vast conspiracy, created to bring down one man, seemingly just out of spite. And people will do this work of conjuration, because it is hard to accept that people we love in one arena can commit great evil in another. It is hard to believe that Bill Cosby is a serial rapist because the belief doesn't just indict Cosby, it indicts us. It damns us for drawing intimate conclusions about people based on pudding-pop commercials and popular TV shows. It destroys our ability to lean on icons for our morality. And it forces us back into a world where seemingly good men do unspeakably evil things, and this is just the chaos of human history.

I know next to nothing about this case, but I do think TNC is wrong about this.  One doesn't have to imagine a conspiracy.  One only has to imagine Cosby slept with a lot of women, probably hundreds, that many of them were drunk when they consented, and that many of them regretted it.

Having been drunk at the time, these women were uncertain if Cosby drugged their drinks.  It's hard to remember... until years later when they hear some others claiming the same thing.  Then the regret can finally be pinned on someone other than themselves.  I am not saying that is what happened, but  it is much easier to imagine than a conspiracy.

+1

[MachineGhost]

I know next to nothing about this case, but I do think TNC is wrong about this.  One doesn't have to imagine a conspiracy.  One only has to imagine Cosby slept with a lot of women, probably hundreds, that many of them were drunk when they consented, and that many of them regretted it.

Having been drunk at the time, these women were uncertain if Cosby drugged their drinks.  It's hard to remember... until years later when they hear some others claiming the same thing.  Then the regret can finally be pinned on someone other than themselves.  I am not saying that is what happened, but  it is much easier to imagine than a conspiracy.

Is that like the Satanic Ritual Abuse hysteria of the late 80's and early 90's from religious conservatives that turned out to be complete B.S.?

So its a bit of a stretch to claim you were drunk and can't remember when Cosby was literally offering you roofers and not telling you what it is.

[MachineGhost]

With all the victims seemingly to be white and he's married to a black woman, I'm starting to suspect some kind of reverse racism revenge was part of his perverted motivation.