When the Bill Cosby sex scandal stories began to emerge, I ignored them. I have more pressing issues to discuss and write about than the empty threats of a small group of women against a beloved comedian that built his entertainment empire around a wholesome image. From Fat Albert to his role as Cliff Huxtable, and including his stand-up comedian routines that were funny, fun, and profanity-free, Bill Cosby is such a good guy that any thought of him being a sex pervert that acted it out against women who did not welcome his advances seemed, in a word, preposterous.
I packed away my few books by Bill Cosby, the other day, not because of any scandal, but simply because I am trying to make space in my office for current and active irons I have in the fire, and as I dropped Cosby's books on fatherhood, and life in general, into the box, I wondered, "Could Mr. Cosby be the monster that the women accusing him are portraying him as?"
Accusations are hardly confirmation that somebody is a bad person. When I was running for city council in 2010, it was amazing how many horrible things I had allegedly done, and was planning to do, according to my detractors, that even I didn't know about. Successful people, especially those in show business, are attacked constantly. This is just a miserable fact of life for those that stand in the limelight. But a couple allegations is one thing. In Bill Cosby's case, the women that are coming forward accusing him of wrong doing are increasing in number rapidly, stacking up higher than a Dagwood Sandwich that even Fat Albert would have to think twice about, before taking a bite. The current count is at 15.
According to former model Jewel Allison, Bill Cosby knew he wielded the image as America's Dad, and he utilized it to take advantage of young women. Many of Cosby's supporters still maintain that the accusations against the beloved comedian are false, and add up to an unwarranted attack on a man that is a "class act" undeserving of this kind of attention.
We can try to justify Bill Cosby's alleged womanizing actions, saying that he's a man, and guys have a different angle regarding their sexual urges, than women. We can say it was just a matter of misunderstandings, or missteps by a man that was expected to be Cliff Huxtable at all times. Or, we can take these accusations seriously, and consider that just perhaps the Bill Cosby we saw on television, the Bill Cosby we saw on stage, and the author that we read the books by, was not the same man as the one that hid behind the shadows, and in the dark crevices, of his life where, guilty of sexual lust, he hid behind the images of virtue and morality that he had created in the public eye while victimizing women to satisfy is own sexual desires.
In the court of law, Bill Cosby is innocent until proven guilty; but, unfortunately for Mr. Cosby, in the court of public opinion, a guilty verdict seems to be rising up as the majority opinion.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Ex-model says Cosby hid behind image of Cliff Huxtable - Fox News
Jon Jones doesn't think 'class act' Bill Cosby is guilty of allegations - MMA News
Court of Public Opinion Sentences Bill Cosby - The State Press, Arizona State University
1 comment:
One of the things that I find interesting/reassuring is how much people want that good guy image - even in these days of moral relativity. People want to see clean and honest living, and to have someone out there showing us that the world contains those who are trustworthy. It is a confirmation of the value of having an absolute moral standard by which to judge that we want there to be such people as the character of Cliff Huxtable or Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies or Lucas McCain in The Rifleman series. We recognize, at the heart of our being, that we want there to be such people in the world, that being such a person is worth striving for and that when we fail to find them it is a blow to our own efforts to reach that standard.
And that is a comforting thing, because it tells us that, despite an ever more corrupt media and government, Christian values remain the heart of America in general.
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