All About Me

I love Bill Cosby's comedy. I think "Himself" is a snapshot of parenting and of a perspective I find very funny. His words paint a picture of what it is like to be a drunk, at the dentist, at the delivery room table, and then at their household after leaving the delivery room. I also totally enjoyed "The Cosby Show" for the majority of the episodes. The episodes about Vanessa going to a concert (The Wretched) and lying to her parents as well as when Vanessa got drunk and played the alphabet game with her friends (first) and then, when hung over, playing it with her parents, are some of the greatest scenes in the American television shows I've watched - not of all television ever, but just of the shows I have watched.

As difficult as it is to do so, I have to separate his comedy from his personal life. It's not an easy challenge to undertake. I only mention this when I read the article about how Cosby's lawyers are now stating that "Bill Cosby is the victim" and the subject of "racial bias."

My initial reaction was to recall how back during the OJ Simpson trial, that is the defense Johnny Cochran used - to make the trial not about inconvenient facts or about Simpson's actions, but to shape the narrative. My second reaction was to wonder if all of the tirades Cosby has made about the African-American community was just an act as I recalled the times I read accounts about his words regarding - in general - African-American males needing to take responsibility for their actions. My third reaction was to wonder why this statement from the prosecutor is aligned with how I view the case and why I am struggling to keep Bill Cosby schizophrenic instead of the single great comedian I find hilarious:

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"He complains about racial bias but what about the African American women whom I represent who accuse him of sexual assault or rape and who refuse to remain silent about what they say they have suffered?" Allred said in a statement issued Tuesday evening.

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Read the entire article here.