In the last two weeks, there have been a series of claims made by multiple women that they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby 20 to 40 years ago. Supposedly, that make Cosby a rapist. Well that's just not right. I don't know if Cosby is a rapist or if he ever had non-consensual relations with any of these women. More important, none of the self-righteous idiots who are denouncing Cosby know the truth either. No one knows other than Cosby and the women making the charges.
Look, in the USA, you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Cosby has never been proven guilty. In fact, Cosby has never been charged with a sex crime or arrested. Indeed, it seems that the women involved did not even complain to the police for the most part. (It is less than clear if any of them filed complaints.) Why did they wait for 20, 30 or even 40 years before coming forward with the public allegations now? Again, only they know the answer to that question, but it certainly puts a cloud over their allegations.
Rape is serious business. It is not something to ignore or minimize. By the same token, false allegations of rape a also heinous. Look at the damage to Cosby's reputation from these allegations of long ago events. If the claims are false, think about what has been done to Cosby.
There is a problem in America these days in which the media and many of the people just jump to conclusions about what happened in an event about which there is no information. Think about all the people who absolutely knew for certain what happened between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. And how about all the people who just know what went down in Ferguson last summer. The truth is that we still don't know what happened there. And we also don't know what happened many decades ago with Bill Cosby.
Another example of this sort of precipitous behavior happened over the weekend at the University of Virginia. The president of the university responded to an article in Rolling Stone detailing a supposed rape which took place in 2012 at the university by suspending all fraternities on the campus of that school. Remember, half of the undergraduates at U VA were not even on campus at the time of the alleged rape, but their fraternities have now been suspended as a result. What has actually happened is an hysterical overreaction by the university administration to an article in the media. This was not an adjudication of wrongdoing by a court or a jury which heard the evidence. This was a highly opinionated piece in a magazine. It would have been fine for the university administration to investigate what happened in 2012. If there was an real evidence discovered of a rape at a fraternity party in that year, it would also be appropriate for the school to take action by referring the proof to the local prosecutor. If there were real evidence to support a claim that a particular fraternity promoted rape at its parties, the school might even hold some sort of hearing to determine if action against that fraternity was appropriate. But to suspend every fraternity on the campus is ridiculous.
Think of it this way. Suppose a convenience store on the campus of the university were robbed by an Asian American. Would the university president ban all Asian Americans from the campus? Of course not. Indeed, if we did not already have some crazy groups that denounce fraternities as part of a male dominated system that represses women, is there even the most remote chance that the fraternities would have been suspended? No is the simple answer. But since the magazine article makes allegations against a fraternity that fits nicely into one of those liberal social narratives to which the university administrators subscribe, all of the fraternities are now suspended.
We will have to wait to see what actually happens with U VA as well as with Cosby. Those who are so quick to react and condemn might be reminded, however, of the Duke lacrosse team rape case. The players who allegedly raped the woman in that case were persecuted by the liberal establishment on their campus, by the local authorities and by the media. Then it turned out that the allegations against the players were false. These students did not get their lives back as before. The fools who jumped to conclusions suffered no ill consequences. But what suffered the greatest blow was our civil society.
Won't we ever learn?
Look, in the USA, you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Cosby has never been proven guilty. In fact, Cosby has never been charged with a sex crime or arrested. Indeed, it seems that the women involved did not even complain to the police for the most part. (It is less than clear if any of them filed complaints.) Why did they wait for 20, 30 or even 40 years before coming forward with the public allegations now? Again, only they know the answer to that question, but it certainly puts a cloud over their allegations.
Rape is serious business. It is not something to ignore or minimize. By the same token, false allegations of rape a also heinous. Look at the damage to Cosby's reputation from these allegations of long ago events. If the claims are false, think about what has been done to Cosby.
There is a problem in America these days in which the media and many of the people just jump to conclusions about what happened in an event about which there is no information. Think about all the people who absolutely knew for certain what happened between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. And how about all the people who just know what went down in Ferguson last summer. The truth is that we still don't know what happened there. And we also don't know what happened many decades ago with Bill Cosby.
Another example of this sort of precipitous behavior happened over the weekend at the University of Virginia. The president of the university responded to an article in Rolling Stone detailing a supposed rape which took place in 2012 at the university by suspending all fraternities on the campus of that school. Remember, half of the undergraduates at U VA were not even on campus at the time of the alleged rape, but their fraternities have now been suspended as a result. What has actually happened is an hysterical overreaction by the university administration to an article in the media. This was not an adjudication of wrongdoing by a court or a jury which heard the evidence. This was a highly opinionated piece in a magazine. It would have been fine for the university administration to investigate what happened in 2012. If there was an real evidence discovered of a rape at a fraternity party in that year, it would also be appropriate for the school to take action by referring the proof to the local prosecutor. If there were real evidence to support a claim that a particular fraternity promoted rape at its parties, the school might even hold some sort of hearing to determine if action against that fraternity was appropriate. But to suspend every fraternity on the campus is ridiculous.
Think of it this way. Suppose a convenience store on the campus of the university were robbed by an Asian American. Would the university president ban all Asian Americans from the campus? Of course not. Indeed, if we did not already have some crazy groups that denounce fraternities as part of a male dominated system that represses women, is there even the most remote chance that the fraternities would have been suspended? No is the simple answer. But since the magazine article makes allegations against a fraternity that fits nicely into one of those liberal social narratives to which the university administrators subscribe, all of the fraternities are now suspended.
We will have to wait to see what actually happens with U VA as well as with Cosby. Those who are so quick to react and condemn might be reminded, however, of the Duke lacrosse team rape case. The players who allegedly raped the woman in that case were persecuted by the liberal establishment on their campus, by the local authorities and by the media. Then it turned out that the allegations against the players were false. These students did not get their lives back as before. The fools who jumped to conclusions suffered no ill consequences. But what suffered the greatest blow was our civil society.
Won't we ever learn?
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