# Enough from the defenders of rapists already **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 23, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392 "2014-11-23T05:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/41 "2014-11-23T15:34:24Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > That you don’t know the difference between drugging and raping someone and having a consensual affair is ample demonstration of your lack of intellectual honesty and ability. One is a serial rapist, the other a philanderer. An intellectual would know not to compare a felony to something that doesn’t rise to the level of an infraction. Ken Starr didn’t know the difference either, but his goal wasn’t fighting ignorance, it was abusing his office for political advantage. Bull fucking shit. There are multiple rape allegations against Bill Clinton. They are every bit as credible as the ones made against Cosby. Both men are probably rapists. Both men are probably high functioning sociopaths of the type that do well in show business, politics, and the corporate suite. > **[Why (Some) Psychopaths Make Great CEOs](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2011/06/14/why-some-psychopaths-make-great-ceos/)** > > British journalist Jon Ronson immersed himself in the world of mental health diagnosis and criminal profiling to understand what makes some people psychopaths -- dangerous predators who lack the behavioral controls and tender feelings the rest of us... > **[Psychopathy and the CEO: Top executives have four times the incidence of...](https://www.thestar.com/business/psychopathy-and-the-ceo-top-executives-have-four-times-the-incidence-of-psychopathy-as-the/article_a589558c-3e37-5aa8-8fda-8c2e4a13eb45.html)** > > Psychopathic tendencies can lead to success in the corner office, research shows. Clinton’s defenders were willing to overlook the rape allegations because they needed his political skills. His energy, charisma, intelligence, ability to manipulate people. People were/are willing to overlook Cosby’s abusive and unethical behavior because they needed his brilliance as an entertainer and a money maker. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/42 "2014-11-23T16:00:42Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > The various people around here who are either directly or indirectly defending Bill Cosby from rape allegations are venal scum. They decline to accept the accusatory statements of women against this serial rapist, on nothing more substantial than that they are women, and as such, their statements cannot carry any, much less sufficient weight. > > That sort deep hatred for women has for thousands of years enabled rapists and you assholes who are doing it, and those defending them, directly and indirectly, lack logic, intelligence, dignity and morals. The only suitable comeuppance for you jerks would be repeated reincarnation as a woman for every time in your life you have blithely dismissed the dignity of a woman or girl without a thought. > > If you bastards were pieces of shit, at least your remains could be beneficial as fertilizer. As it is, you make the inventors and users of mortgage debt swap derivatives look creative and contributory to humankind by comparison. Jesus christ, what a flaming moron you are. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/43 "2014-11-23T16:17:01Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Jesus christ, what a flaming moron you are. It’s like the second coming of **Dio**. Although, as irritating as **Dio** could be at times, I didn’t really dislike the guy, and would prefer he had not gotten himself banned. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/44 "2014-11-23T16:36:59Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > Bull fucking shit. > > There are multiple rape allegations against Bill Clinton. They are every bit as credible as the ones made against Cosby. Where can I learn more about that? I’m only finding one rape allegation, from Juanita Broaddrick ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/45 "2014-11-23T17:09:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s also entirely irrelevant. It’s a shitty move that some posters pull up when they don’t actually have a counterargument. > > You did claim that the allegations from the possible rape victims were just hot air. You care about Cosby, but not them. You deserve to be Pitted. You and Frylock are both jackasses. I am not “very likely a bad person,” “very likely a rapist,” nor am I “defending Cosby”. I am, as I said in the other thread, defending a particular idea of not accusing anyone without substantiation. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/46 "2014-11-23T17:14:27Z")
I guess I’m a misogynist if I believe in due process. Has any of these women gone to the police yet ? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/47 "2014-11-23T17:15:30Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You and Frylock are both jackasses. I am not “very likely a bad person,” “very likely a rapist,” nor am I “defending Cosby”. I am, as I said in the other thread, defending a particular idea of not accusing anyone without substantiation. I don’t know if I’m talking about you or not. By “defending Cosby” I mean arguing that there is not enough information out there right now to be reasonably certain Cosby is a rapist. Do you not think there is enough information out there right now to be reasonably certain Cosby is a rapist? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/48 "2014-11-23T17:19:33Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > I guess I’m a misogynist if I believe in due process. Did you read the thread? “Due process” is a legal term. We are not engaged in a legal proceeding. > [@](#): > > Has any of these women gone to the police yet ? There is very likely not the kind of evidence needed to convict Cosby of a crime, as far as I know. This does not make it any less clear that he’s a rapist. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/49 "2014-11-23T17:21:20Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > There is very likely not the kind of evidence needed to convict Cosby of a crime, as far as I know. This does not make it any less clear that he’s a rapist. Very likely? I think we can say certainly. Are any of these allegations within the statute of limitations? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/50 "2014-11-23T17:27:38Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Very likely? I think we can say certainly. Are any of these allegations within the statute of limitations? I don’t know enough about the legalities to speak with certainty, but you may well be right. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/51 "2014-11-23T17:38:14Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > In the public arena when it comes to rape cases, it’s very difficult to balance “innocent until proven guilty” with “way way WAY too often, for hundreds of years, rape victims have been dismissed, shouted down, and discouraged from telling anyone of their assault”. It’s a similar thing with many crimes against children: the victims were ignored for so long that it’s hard not to lurch in the other direction. Worse (at least when it comes to rape), statistics show that the number of false accusations is pretty small compared to the number that never even get reported in the first place. > > I can’t say I know what to suggest. To what extent should these matters be in the public arena in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/52 "2014-11-23T17:46:19Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I don’t know if I’m talking about you or not. By “defending Cosby” I mean arguing that there is not enough information out there right now to be reasonably certain Cosby is a rapist. > > Do you not think there is enough information out there right now to be reasonably certain Cosby is a rapist? I don’t think there is any evidence at all that Cosby is a rapist, accusations are not evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/53 "2014-11-23T17:51:37Z")
If nothing else, this is a classic case of someone being convicted solely in the court of public opinion. I am not saying Cosby did not rape any of these women, but accusations, regardless of quantity, don’t automatically equate to guilt. Let the man be brought to court and then, if found guilty, let the appropriate justice be meted. I am another who raised an eyebrow when Janice Dickinson accused Cosby of rape. Although even nutcases can be raped, it certainly seems, at least in Dickinson’s case, to be an example of someone jumping on the bandwagon. > [@Locrian](#): > > Why the hell would anyone make up a story about lotion put in their hand and forced to jerk him off in a hotel room? I can think of many reasons, but here’s one possibility: Rape leaves physical evidence. Heck, consensual sex leaves evidence. Handjobs don’t. She may have felt falsely crying rape could have come back to haunt her, but wants to be on the gravy train for the potential eventual payout resulting from a suit. Perhaps she did give him a handjob, but wanted to do it, and now with all the hullaballoo senses an opportunity. > [@Locrian](#): > > There’s no benefit for this victim at least. Sure there is. Money. Of course it is possible that Cosby has done everything he is being accused of. However, until something more comes to light, other than more 'me too’s, I think the course of action now is to strongly convince Cosby to address the accusations. Regardless of how this all shakes out, as others have said, his career, whatever he had left of it, is ruined. The question is was it deserved, and none of us, not even those most vociferously pillorying him, know the answer at this point. Certainly due diligence is recommended to all interested parties who want to get to the truth of the matter, but we are not there yet. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/54 "2014-11-23T17:52:35Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t think there is any evidence at all that Cosby is a rapist, accusations are not evidence. I can’t make heads or tails of this. Are we using different definitions of the word “evidence?” Every fact that can affect the probability of a statement’s being true would be, to my mind, evidence for or against that statement. That a person said a thing happened generally affects the probability that the thing did in fact happen (usually positively). How is the person saying the thing happened, then, not evidence? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/55 "2014-11-23T17:56:16Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Where can I learn more about that? I’m only finding one rape allegation, from Juanita Broaddrick I think Broderick’s was the only rape allegation, but there were the Paula Jones and Kathleen Wiley sexual assault allegations. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/56 "2014-11-23T17:56:52Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > That a person said a thing happened generally affects the probability that the thing did in fact happen (usually positively). How is the person saying the thing happened, then, not evidence? You abused my daughter. When she was twelve. She told me. You know and I know you did it. Come clean - you’ll feel better for it. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/57 "2014-11-23T17:59:08Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > You abused my daughter. When she was twelve. She told me. You know and I know you did it. Come clean - you’ll feel better for it. Now you can tell me, I’m assuming, what it is about the context that negates the evidentiary value of the statement quoted above. I can too. And the stuff that effects that negation makes your example completely irrelevant to what we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/58 "2014-11-23T18:01:13Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I think Broderick’s was the only rape allegation, but there were the Paula Jones and Kathleen Wiley sexual assault allegations. So I am not sure whether Broderick’s rape accusation is true or not. But absolutely Clinton deserves to be excoriated for what he’s done to women that falls short of rape. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/59 "2014-11-23T18:01:53Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I can’t make heads or tails of this. Are we using different definitions of the word “evidence?” Every fact that can affect the probability of a statement’s being true would be, to my mind, evidence for or against that statement. That a person said a thing happened generally affects the probability that the thing did in fact happen (usually positively). How is the person saying the thing happened, then, not evidence? Seriously? “Bill Cosby is a rapist because X number of people said he was” is never ever going to be enough to convince any reasonable person that it is true. That people are treating it as a given fact just because someone said so is what you should be confused about. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392/60 "2014-11-23T18:03:00Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Seriously? “Bill Cosby is a rapist because X number of people said he was” is never ever going to be enough to convince any reasonable person that it is true. That people are treating it as a given fact just because someone said so is what you should be confused about. What I’m confused about is how utterly uncomprehending you are of the issue. None of what you just said accurately reflects the state of play. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-from-the-defenders-of-rapists-already/705392.md?page=4)