Ten Cuidado

Ya know, when it comes to a topic such as this, I tend to not get into it. This time around, I feel like something needs to be said...

Bill Cosby is a rapist. There's nothing to argue about as far as this goes. He's even admitted to doing so, and whether he did it to one or one hundred all-in-all he's a fucking slime-ball--on behalf of man-kind, I assure you, we're not all rotten fucks like Bill Cosby. And I'm kind of ashamed to have ever cared about the man's existence in my life. Hindsight is always 20-20, though, right?

I mean, Jesus Christ, fucking Quaaludes? I'm just so disappointed in that sham of a man. There's so much regress that he could have/could be caused/causing for any and all non-whites in this country. So many people looked up to him, and then this? I know I'm making it sound like he just did this...I know he didn't. He was recently found out. I'm sure this isn't news to anyone at this point.

All of that said. All of that disappointment and sincere malice I feel towards that man--and rapists in general--aside:

We need to be careful when talking about this stuff.

Just recently I was watching Larry Wilmore. He's hilarious. A lot different than Colbert, but the show stands on its own. I find that the show is a breath of fresh air from the Keeping it 100 segments down to the ridiculous 70's skits--as well as the different star appearances whom participate each show. For most of last year, if he wasn't talking about Bill Cosby as part of his monologue, then at the very least he was signing off his show with a picture of Cosby going across the screen as he emphatically and hilariously yells, "I didn't forget about you, mother fucker! I didn't forget about you!" I think it's definitely important to make sure we don't forget about people that deceived us for so long--in this case, Cosby.

However, there was one show that Larry decided to talk about Cosby's counter-suing of some of his alleged victims. Larry, as though he knows for a fact that Cosby had anything to do with these women, started going on and on about "How dare he sue his victims! As if humiliating them wasn't enough, now you're playing victim!"

Now look, maybe these women were indeed raped/assaulted/etc by Cosby, but what Larry was eluding to left a bad taste in my mouth. Please, let me explain...

This world...this world is a fucking mess. It was only a few years ago that it became commonplace for people to strap bombs to themselves to blow themselves and anyone around them into smithereens.

People rape other people. Racism exists. Homophobia exists. These are all unfortunate truths, but I think the worst thing that we can do about ANYTHING is making assumptions about people due to their skin color, their ethnicity, their class, their intelligence level, etc. What I mean by that--and Cosby is a MUCH different story since, as I said, he's already admitted to raping--is that we can't allow ourselves to let the boy cry wolf, and believe, automatically, that there's a wolf. Yes, perhaps not the best analogy since we know how that story ends--spoiler alert, there eventually was a wolf--but my point is to say: In a world searching for equality, we can't live in a world where we believe rape IS NOT ok, but be complacent with people making false allegations. The reason I bring up equality is because our patriarchal society, and the years and years and years of male on female documented rape, makes it seem like that all men in general can, at any point, be complete and utter scum of the Earth by forcing a women into sexual endeavors.

But the truth is that women rape men and men rape women. Men also lie about women raping them for whatever fucked up reason, and women also lie about men raping them for whatever fucked up reason. Especially after years and years go by, I know how hard it is for evidence to be maintained in order to prosecute someone accordingly, and, although I've never personally been raped, I know how hard it is to talk to someone ABOUT being raped.--OK, let me adjust that, I indirectly understand how hard it is, and I'm sure it's even harder than that in actuality. However, we still need to maintain due process. Again, the Cosby situation is A LOT different. But I've seen countless stories about men being accused of rape, going to trial, being acquitted of all charges, but then people saying that he's definitely a rapist anyway! Accusing someone of rape is almost literally a death sentence for that person. The WEIGHT of that accusation is grand. In this day and age that accusation might even be worse than murder if the accusation is proven incorrect/a lie.

Ultimately, although our justice system does not currently work this way, I would hope that a proven liar is sentenced to jail for the same amount of time the alleged suspect was going to get for said rape. That's how justice should work. If not enough evidence is found in coordination with the alleged act, then that's one thing. If there is a proven lie for such an accusation, then I hope it rains on the accuser just as hard as it would an actual rapist. Those people are of equal colored slime.

- PatInTheHat