Can we talk the shades of conflict with Bill Cosby for a moment?

[Paradox]

Razor Tiara goes with specious:

I read that explanation, I just don't accept it. They didn't want to be in the media then, but now a press conference is okay? Nope, that doesn't sound right.

It's VERY different times now, and they have some back-up in others coming forth. This is common in sexual harassment, where women keep quiet until the find out several other people had the same experience. Then they can stop blaming themselves and put the blame where it really belongs because they have back-up.

Like I said before, where's the evidence? Any evidence. There has to be more proof than your word, decades later.

Decades later, there isn't any "evidence". It's a "She said/he refuses to say a word" situation.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I read that explanation, I just don't accept it. They didn't want to be in the media then, but now a press conference is okay? Nope, that doesn't sound right.

Like I said before, where's the evidence? Any evidence. There has to be more proof than your word, decades later.

It's VERY different times now, and they have some back-up in others coming forth. This is common in sexual harassment, where women keep quiet until the find out several other people had the same experience. Then they can stop blaming themselves and put the blame where it really belongs because they have back-up.



Decades later, there isn't any "evidence". It's a "She said/he refuses to say a word" situation.

As Paradox posted , its been decades. Cosby's victims are decades ago and in some cases some still likely won't come forward. Trust me , I doubt the idea was schemed up by a good number of women to wait 30-40 years and try to sink an 80 year old Bill Cosby.

[Razor Tiara]

It's VERY different times now, and they have some back-up in others coming forth. This is common in sexual harassment, where women keep quiet until the find out several other people had the same experience. Then they can stop blaming themselves and put the blame where it really belongs because they have back-up.



Decades later, there isn't any "evidence". It's a "She said/he refuses to say a word" situation.

That's not enough. You can't ruin a fifty year career based solely on hearsay.

[Paradox]

It's not hearsay. Hearsay is when you testify to something someone else said about something ("I heard them say...").

These are all women saying what directly happened to them. What it is is testimony (or, would be in court). What hard evidence could there possibly be after all this time that would be convincing? In these types of cases, it's the volume of credible complaints that carries the issue.

[Razor Tiara]

It's not hearsay. Hearsay is when you testify to something someone else said about something ("I heard them say...").

These are all women saying what directly happened to them. What it is is testimony (or, would be in court). What hard evidence could there possibly be after all this time that would be convincing? In these types of cases, it's the volume of credible complaints that carries the issue.

What could Bill Cosby possibly say to convince you of his innocence? If these women had actually gone to court in a timely fashion their words would have more credibility. As it stands it's just talk.

hear·say
ˈhirˌsā/
noun
noun: hearsay

information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate; rumor.

[Spike-X]

What could Bill Cosby possibly say to convince you of his innocence?

You're talking like you know for a fact he's innocent.

[Razor Tiara]

You're talking like you know for a fact he's innocent.

No, it's a serious question. Much has been made of his silence. What could he say to convince you?

[Spike-X]

"I didn't do it" would be a start.

[Paradox]

I am not "convinced" one way or another. I did mention earlier that Bill's adamant silence makes him LOOK guilty, but that doesn't mean he is. And the women making these claims are PROBABLY telling the truth, given the amount of them (as I noted, that's usually a determiner in these sort of things), but that doesn't mean they ARE.

And your definition is weak in that it doesn't indicate the more detailed legal definition. A person saying something about what happened to THEM is not hearsay. Unsubstantiated information FROM OTHER PEOPLE (meaning people not involved in the situation) is the key point. ""Eyewitness testimony" is not hearsay.

[Shawn Hopkins]

So the argument being presented is that if a woman doesn't go get a rape kit done immediately after the incident, she can never prove that she was raped? Guess what, a lot of these alleged rapes take place before the rape kit was invented by Louis R. Vitullo in the early 70s, and most of them before it was widely used. Also rape kits are so backlogged in most justice systems they often don't get tested to use in trials. California had in 2009 about 13,000 untested rape kits on hand.

It's not a magic bullet, and if that was the standard rape would be an almost unpunishable crime.

[Brian Cronin]

Thinking more on it, there really aren't any "shades of conflict" here. It is a pretty simple "they said/he said," with the "they" getting bigger and bigger ever day. And since this is clearly not going to be able to be discussed here without victim-blaming, it doesn't get its own thread. If you want to discuss the basic facts of the situation as it unfolds, you can do so in the general news thread.

[Jonah Weiland]

Thinking more on it, there really aren't any "shades of conflict" here. It is a pretty simple "they said/he said," with the "they" getting bigger and bigger ever day. And since this is clearly not going to be able to be discussed here without victim-blaming, it doesn't get its own thread. If you want to discuss the basic facts of the situation as it unfolds, you can do so in the general news thread.

Thank you for shutting down this thread, Brian.

I'm happy to see the majority of those posting in this thread did so without victim blaming, but there are a few posters in this thread whom, I'm afraid, just don't work in this community.

Whether you want to believe the allegations or not, this is a serious subject that deserves careful examination, not defensive responses or blaming just the victims. That doesn't fly here, ever. I'll bring up with the moderation staff the possibility of more bannings after careful examination of this thread.