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August 13, 2015

‘Cosby: convicted by social-media showtrial‘ [Bumped]

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"This situation begs a huge question: what is justice for?
The idea that people who stand accused of something have the right to have those allegations tested is being fundamentally undermined by this new form of public showtrial. In the past, showtrials were used by authoritarian governments to establish a "truth"€™, which was convenient for their political purposes. Today, the showtrial is used to validate and confirm the experiences of those making accusations. The showtrial has become the most effective way of telling people that their story has been believed by society at large, even when the laws of that country prevent a formal trial from taking place. In a society in which such therapeutic validation has become so central, what value do we accord justice, fairness and objectivity? Principles which have, for centuries, been cornerstones of Western systems of justice are now being done away with. -- Luke Gittos -- Samizdata quote of the day

Posted by gerardvanderleun at August 13, 2015 6:50 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Proof that the value of fame and reputation is over-rated (I also shake my head very sadly when I walk through the Grocery checkout aisles as I see one famous Hollywood Trainwreck after another get a literary Colonoscopy, courtesy of the paparazzi.

I'll take anonymity anyday - especially in this Post Christian World.

www . youtube . com/watch?v=1OwpGUI-TAI

Posted by: John Condon [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 12, 2015 6:40 PM

The purpose of trials is not to determine truth in some absolute sense. Their purpose is to limit the power of the state. Individuals are free to gossip and conspire and disapprovingly finger-wag or fanatically cheer on to their heart's content. However appalling any media circus may seem, individuals remain free to like or dislike someone like Cosby, subject only to their social obligations and ambitions and their personal conscience.

Posted by: Schill MacGuffin [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 12, 2015 8:12 PM

Oh yeah?

Have you heard about the dentist who killed a lion, and now has baying mobs attacking his home?

When the "state" has the power of the hoi polloi at the end of its strings, law don't mean shit. And here we are now.

Posted by: Rob De Witt [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 12, 2015 8:46 PM

" Individuals are free to gossip and conspire and disapprovingly finger-wag or fanatically cheer on to their heart's content."

This 'finger-wagging' of the 'individual', can now be magnified to a level unseen in previous history.

What if it is major distortion? A Fabrication?

A Lie?

Remember the University of Virginia Rape case which destroyed a whole Fraternity of young men? Don't think this could happen to you, Schill?

www . nytimes . com/2015/04/07/business/media/university-of-virginia-fraternity-to-go-after-rolling-stone-for-rape-article.html?_r=0

How about George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin Circus? You think you can talk your way out of that one?

(Bill Whittle - The Lynching)
www . youtube . com/watch?v=Ebu6Yvzs4Ls

Lets talk about the Minnesota Dentist that Rob De Witt brought up, Schill? You see... once you've been targeted, your life changes forever. 'Gossip' of 'individuals' have taken on a power unseen in previous history.

Posted by: John Condon [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 5:51 AM

Before going further we must accept that the MSM is corrupt, a mouthpiece for whatever the powers that be want disseminated.
Nothing you read or hear with MSM source is true.

People want something to chew on. All the protests and demonstrations are cathartic for many frustrated peasants.
Gives them some pleasure to bring somebody down and start kicking.
Once the rumors and false accusations are brought up the target has no recourse. It is hard to prove a negative. None of the rumors need be true. In fact the bigger the lies the better.

One example is Sarah Palin. She's tainted for life.

With little adaptation I offer this:

"...in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation." Adolf Hitler

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 7:40 AM

Great point. Is Bill Cosby guilty? Of what, trying to get women drunk and stoned so he can get laid? Sure. Him and nearly every other guy for the last 5000 years. Is he guilty of more than that?

Well I'm not exactly going to believe a group of women suing him to get rich just as he had a new TV show on the blocks to start up.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 8:13 AM

I've never read that full quote from Hitler before, Chas. Its faaaar better than the clipped version.

Who'da thought a Class 'B' landscape painter and sociopath would have such insight into Human Nature - not to mention even sharing that insight with the world?

Mein Kampf was definitely an instruction manual for future wicked tyrants and manipulators.

Posted by: John Condon [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 8:29 AM

It seems to be that this only applies if you've pissed off the People of the Narrative, e.g., nary a peep about the other Bill.

Call it what you will, it's an on-line mob.

Posted by: leelu [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 9:01 AM

I accept that gossip and mobs can be destructive. I was merely resisting the ideas that a "trial" has any relevance to this outside of the usual mechanism of civil libel law, or that we can or should look to government to protect us from "bad speech".

Posted by: Schill MacGuffin [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 9:04 AM

Long ago he chose to stick his head above the protective wall and eventually got shot through the face.

B-11-5, keep your fucking head DOWN unless your eye is in the hole and your finger on the trigger with heads exploding in the distance. You live in Crimetown.

What has he done except what the rest of us have done or tried to?

Posted by: ghostsniper [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 12:03 PM

Whether there is a trial or not, whether he is found guilty or innocent is irrelevant.

The damage has been done with the accusation and the females hopping on the bandwagon and the MSM playing it to the max.

We might wonder: why Cosby? Is he a political threat to DC? Can he damage or compromise any candidate? Drifting a bit further, does he have so much money that one, then two, then several other females theoretically strangers to each other want a piece of the action? Lost sight of shore now, maybe it is an elaborate game designed by Las Vegas mob guys, take bets on how, when, where he is crushed.

With all the actors, entertainers, Hollywood denizens doing things with drugs and sex, right out of the blue it's "Awright, let's slapshot this Cosby guy". "But boss, he's one a them Afro-fuckin'-Americans". "Yeah? So?"

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 13, 2015 9:14 PM

"We might wonder: why Cosby?"
=============================

He's the american dream of colored mens.
We wish all colored men were like him - DOCTOR Huxtable. THAT doesn't mesh with DC's plan to make everybody hate everybody else.

By kicking the legs out from under DOCTOR Huxtable it sends a signal to all other "normal" negro's:

"Act like animals so that whites will hate you."

Posted by: ghostsniper [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 14, 2015 7:07 AM

Yes, Cosby was lynched by the media.
Yes, he did not forward 'the narrative' and thus made himself a bigger target.
But why are we surprised by the media's feeding frenzy?
They did this to Andrew Jackson with respect to his wife.
What about Fatty Arbukle?
Scandal sells. Truth is secondary.
While I view most of the media as democrats with by-lines, to quote a phrase, there is ample reason to despise them aside from politics.
I believe Sherman once said, "If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast." I would humbly add that they would probably be salacious lies as well.

Posted by: Tim P [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 14, 2015 1:40 PM

Well they should not neglect Sanford and Son's Red Foxx, that guy on The Jeffersons, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Junior. Oh, wait, he's dead, uh? So much the better, he can't refute any accusations.

"Act like animals" good one ghost. The Monkey Men and Watermelon Women just act natcherly.

Any decent Blacks are cringing, trying to dissociate from the wretches that hide behind their skin color.

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 14, 2015 11:40 PM

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