I grew up loving Bill Cosby also. I would listen to his comedy albums late at night on am radio. BTW, Fat Albert was a 1967 comedy album character described as playing "Buck Buck" with Cosby as a child. The Album was "Revenge" but the character showed up on later albums also. His comedy went back even farther.

please understand, I originally responded to someone mentioning the charge of rape, for which the statute of limitations is LONG PAST (if there was a rape)

he cant go to court to clear his name as the damage is already done, those who choose to believe it will as those who choose not to wont,, there is no way this late in the game to prove or disprove it,,,,,

and yes, some people who only know him through 'family' type things may want to know what he WAS doing decades ago,,


those of us who watched him beside Richard Pryor haven't pigeonholed him in such a way,, saw him as a grown man who probably had a grown mans life,,,,,and still had certain VALUES when it came to CHILDREN


those of us who are fans of his comedy and his work,, are probably not phased by this to change our mind about his comedy and his work


and those who will allow the accusations to prove guilt of 'rape' as opposed to a lifestyle of partying adults sleeping around,, will believe that too

NONE OF US WILL KNOW FOR ABSOLUTE SURE IF ITS TRUE OR NOT,, but we will CHOOSE to believe what we choose to believe

no amount of court dates will change most peoples minds about such an unprovable charge ,, it would be a waste of money and energy in my opinion,,,, and he no longer needs it as I am SURE he has more than enough to survive on moving ahead from this point in life,,,,

the bell will never be unrung anymore than it could be with MJS accusers,,,,,,,,

so whats the point?

cheers to the cosby fans!

i see someone is still up!

nice to see ya Ms Harmony...

as you can see, i've been as busy as johnny appleseed...

smiles

likewise,,,happy holiday season

I don't know what Cosby may or may not have done.

I do know that I've read a lot of hatred towards him, and a lot of the haters seem to *believe* that they have good cause for concluding that he is a rapist.

But when it really comes down to it, all they actually have are claims being made by others about events that happened a very long time ago.

It seems to me to be yet another mob attack by people who don't care to practice any degree of skepticism.

this is not the original opening statement and this thread should have been removed if there were legal issues???

Like all rational people, I despise the court of public opinion...Like many, I am following the latest Cosby scandal...After listening to media carry on for days and reading a chit load of articles, THIS article, written by black journalist Ricardo Hazell, is a winner!...He puts it into perspective using logic and facts...It's a long article, but if you're a critical thinker who values reason, you will love this man's take...

Some major points include...

A timeline of events:

On January 28, 2000 actress Lachelle Covington alleged in a police report filed on February 1st that Cosby groped her in his apartment. No charges were filed. January 2004, former Arizona University women's basketball player and Temple University assistant basketball coach Andrea Constand brought accusations against Cosby but authorities refused to file charges based on "��insufficient credible and inadmissible evidence." The alleged victim then filed a civil claim in March 2005 and thirteen other women came forward with similar allegations and offered to testify as witnesses on her behalf when the case went to court. But they never had their chance as Cosby and Constand would eventually settle out of court in November 2006. One cannot help but wonder what type of hell would have ensued for Cosby had these women been allowed to tell their stories before a judge. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that he paid this woman off to prevent that. California attorney Tamara Lucier Green then came forward with allegations that Cosby drugged and raped her in back in 1969. Green came forward in 2005 following the realization that prosecutors were unlikely to pursue charges against the comedian. As expected, Cosby'��s lawyers denied the accusation and said he doesn'��t even know this woman. Later that same year, Beth Ferrier alleged that Cosby drugged her coffee and took advantage of her in 1984 during a 2005 interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Since that time four other women have come forward claiming that he did similar things to them over the years. The modus operandi is always the same; drugs are slipped into drinks and the victims then wake up, their clothing disheveled, feeling violated. Artist Barbara Bowman, Therese Serginese of Boca Raton, Florida, former model Janice Dickerson (who initially made these claims in an interview back in 2002) and writer Joan Tarshis all made statements against Cosby. And now Carla Ferrigno, wife of one-time actor and body builder Lou Ferrigno, claims Cosby tried to force himself on her at a party back in the day.

And these concluding remarks:

As a man in America, I know that we all make mistakes. As a Black man in America I know that often times there are unseen forces operating behind the scenes to exploit certain situations. Black men are targets, yes. But not this Black man. Not the man who made NBC the place to be on Thursday nights in the 80s and 90s.

But critical thinking and reasoning appear to be the last thing on the minds of Cosby apologists.

The hurried manner in which some wish to dismiss these women as money-grubbing opportunists with their eyes on Bill Cosby's wealth is a slap in the face to women everywhere. There may be a few in this lot who are lying, but to say they'��re all lying on Bill is misogyny personified. And what about his standup act back in 1969 in which he spoke of slipping women mickeys? While not incriminating in and of itself, it does create pause for cause. At least in my mind.

For those who are stating "Why is all of this coming out now?", you have not been paying attention at all. These allegations have been a part of the public record in some way, shape or form for almost 20 years. Instead of asking why the allegations are being made now perhaps you should be asking yourself why you so readily forgot them in the first place. The conspiracy theories being brandished by Cosby apologists run the gamut from comically irrelevant to mindlessly inconsequential to just plain ol'�� stupid.

Reminds me of when Black people were so quick to defend O.J. Simpson during his infamous trial only to fall silent regarding his weird behavior, such as releasing a book titled "��If I Did It"�� regarding the death of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. Creeeeeepy!

http://www.theshadowleague.com/articles/dear-bill-cosby-supporters

Good article Leigh. One does not have to look far around here to see who the apologists are.

Unless individuals' have first hand knowledge of facts that relate to any person involved they should come forward and assit in resolving the case issue.

The public carry on discussions like this one without first hand knowledge that is directly related to either the accused or a possible victim. When the public opinion is damaging peoples lives than people pay a suspected victim (s) to resolve the problem.

I am not say if one is, or is not guilt of any offence, but the media broad casts are for people who may have important information that can help resolve the problem, not to create a topic of discussion with people who are not involved in the case.

It is not whether the public chooses to agree, but "justice" for those immediately involved.

I have been directly involved in helping in a case. Trying to bring justice to the people and prevent further victims. It is frustrating when people protect the guilty party to cover up previous poor social behaviour they were immediately involved in.

I also seen people trying to con there way to help; who should have been brought before the justice system. Are these people not guilty of miscarriage of justice?

Our perception and discussion on these types of issues do not help the justice system to correct the problems.

there is no longer IMMEDIATE involvement, this man is now in his seventies and these events have been alleged to have happened in his thirties,,,,,,


accusation is not guilt

and I have BEEN the 'victim' of such an event myself(not with anyone famous though)

It was dealt with, and whatever the outcome would have been, I would find no reason decades later to believe anything could be done about it let alone be proven,, its a futile effort other than knowing you will be 'recognized' in association with someone famous


it serves NO PURPOSE unless one truly believes this 70 odd old man is still 'victimizing' people


as a 'victim' I would never defend someone that I KNEW did something,, my issue is its too late to know now, the ability to defend himself or for them to prove themselves is DONE....


how is accusation forty years later helping ?


I don't see how one can be the victim of 'rape' and voluntarily continue to have a relationship with their rapist for years after,,,,


, I mean, I know that Robin Thicke got a lot of slack about the message behind 'blurred lines',, but this is clearly a case of it wouldn't you say?

My opening statement on page one agrees with your opinion about 40 years later.

There are circumstances, where it may take a victim to come forth forty years later, but this is not an issue to discuss in this specific topic. I am not posting to provide an opinion, which mean nothing in the court of law ""opinions do not count"".

I also am not willing to state something about any individual involved in the actual case that I have no direct knowledge of.

how is closure gonna happen when no conviction is possible under statute of limitations

telling you from the standpoint of a two time victim of sexual assault, who had one person incarcerated but not the other

it has been about twenty years for me, and the 'closure' had to happen within myself,, neither the incarceration of the one gave me that and the fact that the other wasn't incarcerated didn't stop me from finding that closure

ever here the saying about time healing wounds,, I think thirty years is nearly a lifetime,,,,

I liked his brother better, Bing Cosby.

lol, I love most but not all of his work. Cosby that is

I was really raised with values that mirrored what he expressed MOST of the time,,,,so his comedy was hilariously relatable

and it requires saying 'it happened' on a national stage only?

working that out with a therapist, or family, or friends wouldn't provide that 'closure'.......?

IF they were assaulted I would 'want' them to address it within a time that the assailant could be stopped from going on to continue doing it,,,,,

NOT to continue partying with, being paid by, etc,, that person for years before making such a claim of such a crime,,,,


and NOT to allow decades (of potential other victimization) to pass, after the man has aged and is unlikely to be still victimizing anyone, before making the CLAIM on the NATIONAL STAGE,,,,

keeping something a secret is a different standard than getting on national television to share with the WORLD,,,,

there is quite a bit of DISTANCE between those two extremes

if you can call the media , you can call a doctor, or a friend, or family,,,,