Media Matters - Opinions to go Online

Thanks to a legal technicality, not innocence, Bill Cosby is now out of jail—having morphed from “America’s dad” to “America’s predator.” Cosby’s off-stage and off-camera MO was drugging and sexually violating women. But there’s another, ironic, aspect to Cosby’s outing, downfall and imprisonment. He also betrayed a society that needed prominent African-Americans as mainstream role models. Not only was he a saluted, beloved father figure on TV, his stand-up routines and comedy albums were G-rated. He never trafficked in off-color material, whether sexual or racial. His appeal was in finding common-ground humor–think Noah’s Ark or “Fat Albert”–that was universal, regardless of race. He should have been a well-timed, appreciated American icon and hero—instead of a societal monster on the prowl.
“Too many columns are less sober analyses than snarky stand-up acts or primal screams. The stand-up and the screams sell.”—Frank Bruni, New York Times.
Too bad the mainstream media became early enablers of the anti-ACA pushback by adopting the demonizing, anti-presidential, eponymous label of “Obamacare.”
Gluttony as sport: Enough coverage of the annual Nathan’s (somehow) Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest on Coney Island. Cornhole never looked so entertaining.