Let me tell you something , bucko. My sister was sexually harassed. She reported it to her bosses immediately, the guy was Black so they promoted him, she went through counseling, and she has moved on. That was probably ten years ago. If she brought up this stuff all over again knowing there would be no evidence to support her claims, I would STILL say you can’t hang a man over charges he has no way to defend himself against, and without evidence.
And that’s what this is about. If evidence is not needed, then ANYBODY is vulnerable. Only an idiot would fail to realize that.
If there was such a forest fire, as you say, why did NONE OF THEM say or do anything about it until 2005? Why did none of them take the responsible steps of having themselves examined and the evidence collected while it could be?
As to whether this is related to Cosby’s earlier criticism about Black culture, ask the supposed “comedian” who interrupted a comedy routine with an un-funny tirade about Bill Cosby not beinq able to tell Blacks to pull their pants up because he’s a rapist. Sounds to me like he made it crystal clear what the rape claims surfacing right now are supposed to do - discredit Cosby so he can’t comment on Black culture (right when we were about to see Blacks rob and kill on our TV’s). That’s not me bringing up the potential political motivations; that’s the source for all this coming up now, saying it straight-out in the non-comedy routine that the media propelled to national prominence immediately.
But for me this isn’t about Bill Cosby at all. I have no idea whether he’s a good guy or a jerk, or whether he’s a criminal. (I do know that at least 2 of these women have been caught in fraud.) This is really about “innocent until proven guilty” and the need for evidence. It’s also about the potential for false accusations. Think of Duke lacrosse, Tawana Brawley, the U Va frat rape allegation, and Lena Dunham, to just name a few visible hoaxes recently - all of them by women with a political agenda who were only found out as liars because their claims were for recent enough alleged events that the specifics could be checked out and found inaccurate.
Only one of these Cosby accusers filed a claim soon enouqh that any particulars could be checked out, and she reported the claim in a different country and in a different year than the alleged event. And the DA who checked it out didn’t press charges because there was no evidence.
You make an emotional argument about me “giving a free pass” to a rapist. I have no idea what Cosby is or isn’t, and it doesn’t really even matter to me. If you think he’s a rapist, then why don’t you report him to the cops and have them prosecute him and find him guilty? That’s the way we do it in this country. Or at least it USED to be how we did it.
from: "bucko"
My apologies for the mistaken observation that your posts give the impression of someone who is primarily interested in defending Cosby.
Perhaps you could clarify something: one would think that a woman would naturally sympathize with women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted. Surely you understand better than most men the complex emotional dilemma that a young woman would face especially in an age when sexual-assault victims had a much more difficult time making their case. It was a time when victims faced the humility of being examined by male officers, and whose testimony was often not taken seriously.
Cosby was at the height of his career, and was viewed as virtually unchallengeable. Who would dare make such an accusation against Dr. Huxtable?
Surely you understand (better than us men) the tremendous emotional barriers to "going public" and facing the inevitable public ridicule, even after having suffered in silence all these years. For as you know, time does not heal all wounds.
It is by no means true that Cosby is left with no way to combat the accusations. If he was seriously interested in clearing his name, he could waive the statute of limitations and go to court to rebut the allegations. If I were him (and I am not), I would spare no cost - of my $400 million fortune - to clear my name. What is a few million in lawyer's fees to a man like Cosby?
I certainly agree that "Only the Lord knows" the full truth, but we are also instructed to use our God-given spiritual gift of discernment. And what is your discernment regarding the now more than twenty women of varying walks in life who are accusing Cosby of rape?