What’s A Cubit?

Bill Cosby is out of jail:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the indecent assault conviction of Bill Cosby on Wednesday and ordered his release from prison after finding that he was denied protection against self-incrimination.

The court said that a prosecutor’s decision not to charge Cosby, 83, in an earlier case opened the door for him to speak freely in a lawsuit against him, thinking he would not incriminate himself criminally. A second prosecutor later used the lawsuit testimony in a criminal trial, and that testimony was key in his conviction years later.

Cosby was convicted on three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018 of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004, and was serving a three- to 10-year sentence. He has served nearly three years of the sentence.

The state Supreme Court said Cosby cannot be retried on the same charges.

Let’s be clear from the outset — I hold no brief for Bill Cosby. Based on the available evidence, he’s a flat-out monster and richly deserved punishment for his misdeeds. I do hold a brief for due process, however, and there’s no question his prosecution was a violation of his rights. The right against self-incrimination is of paramount importance. All things being equal, I would rather not see Bill Cosby’s face in the future, once we get past this round of media attention.

So yeah, Bill Cosby as he is now carries little value, but what about Bill Cosby as he once was? He was one of the best comedians of the previous century, arriving on the scene around 1960, the same time as Bob Newhart (beloved), Jonathan Winters (much missed), Don Rickles (“problematic”), and Woody Allen (reviled, mostly on merit). Cosby first became famous for his “Noah” bit, which is still hilarious nearly 60 years on:

God: (standing on a chair behind Noah, he rings a bell once) NOAH.

Noah: (Looks up) Is someone calling me? (Shrugs and goes back to his work)

God: (Ding) NOAH!!

Noah: Who is that?

God: It’s the Lord, Noah.

Noah: Right … Where are ya? What do ya want? I’ve been good.

God: I want you to build an ark.

Noah: Right … What’s an ark?

God: Get some wood and build it 300 cubits by 80 cubits by 40 cubits.

Noah: Right … What’s a cubit?

I wouldn’t want to see Noah’s Menard’s bill — that much is certain.

Between the Noah bit, his Fat Albert routines, and the decade-long kids show based on those routines that was a staple of my childhood, Cosby was ubiquitous even before his 1980s era sitcom ruled the airwaves. He was America’s Dad. It was all a lie, yes — he is also a sexual predator and a hypocrite of the first order, but he was a wonderful interpreter of the human condition. What do we do with useful monsters? It’s a conversation worth having.

44 thoughts on “What’s A Cubit?

  1. So, though the evidence strongly supports Cosby being a long-time predator, this particular series of decisions by prosecutors seems pretty outrageous.

    MBerg’s post is an excellent example of “how do we feel when the state violates the rights of awful people who would otherwise escape punishment”?

  2. Emery, most of the world’s worst have had their days in court. Quit being a dumb ass just to be one. Sheeesh!

  3. Allen is an excellent film maker, and his later output is better.
    2013’s _Blue Jasmine_ is a perfect Aristotelian tragedy.
    Hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis, catharsis, it’s all there.

  4. Lead prosecutor in the case will be disbarred and charged for prosecutorial misconduct in three… two… or who are we kidding! Law? Law is for little people, others can get away with flaunting and shaping it any which way the MSM wind is blowing.

    If I were Cosby, I would sue the lead prosecutor in the civil court for everything the motherfucker owns. Right down to his underpants! Let the motherfucker burn!

  5. Actually dentist bit was the best, although I am biased. And as monstery as Cosby was, he did talk sense when talking about blacks having to scrap ebonics and speak proper English, pull up their pants, etc.

  6. MBerg’s post is an excellent example of “how do we feel when the state violates the rights of awful people who would otherwise escape punishment”?

    Wish I could claim credit, but this one is Mr. D.

  7. MBerg’s post is an excellent example of “how do we feel when the state violates the rights of awful people who would otherwise escape punishment”?

    And, er, but for the violation of rights, he’d have escaped nothing; the prosecutor would have had to have proved the case the old fashioned way, without the deceitfully-derived self-crimination. Which, given the number of witnesses, would seem to have been utterly do-able.

  8. Before his fall, Cosby gave a long interview on the subject of race.
    He was a reluctant racial separatist. He believed that the civil rights movement was a creation of white people for white people’s reasons. He wanted to live somewhere where everybody he had to deal with — bankers, store owners, trash haulers, doctors — were black. He said was the only way to escape the prison of having his human relations dominated by racial identity.

  9. The Left doesn’t hold a monopoly on canceling people but since the Hollywood blacklist (is that a naughty word?) and McCarthyism disappeared it sure seems so. I watched “The Birds” on TCM and the execrable Ben Mankiewicz had his undies in a bunch over Hitchcock’s proclivity for making passes at his leading ladies. The horror! He once tried to kiss Tippi Hendren in a cab! I still listen to Phil Spector-produced music, laugh at Woody Allen characters, and believe Robert E Lee was an honorable man.

  10. MBerg’s post is an excellent example of “how do we feel when the state violates the rights of awful people who would otherwise escape punishment”? – Emery

    Hmmmmmm, remember when Hillary Clinton fenagled the law to reduce a 40 year old man’s sentence for raping a 12 year old from 30 years to 5 years with 4 years suspended and time served?

    I guess that’s just good lawyering, huh Emery?

  11. From John Ford’s classic western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, we get the immortal line, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

    Bill Cosby was a legend, he was also a deeply flawed man.

    I am more comfortable with his legend than his manhood and I hope in the future, the world can enjoy him without worrying about his character.

    That is why I don’t like to dwell on the warts of national heroes or see their statues torn down. They are better, for us, left was heroes.

    But no, some in the media will say, “don’t you care about the truth?”

    And my response will be, “gosh, when did that become a consideration for you guys?………Let’s focus on your flaws for awhile.”

  12. 👆I invite you to consider the difference between “the rich can beat the system” and “only the rich can reliably vindicate their rights”….

  13. One more thought…

    I don’t know the truth of the allegations, nor am I sure that anyone actually does, but is it not a coincidence that Bill Cosby, a successful black man who portrayed black fathers in a positive light and served as a role model for all fathers, has been brought low by allegations that he was an evil patriarchal predator?

    It is as if two of the most powerful competing narratives of our era clashed in real time. The good man versus the evil patriarch.

    It is almost as if he were destined to fall. The man poised an existential threat to the left, to the liberal bureaucracy, to everything that the Democratic Party has become — the father and provider of the minority family.

    It is an edifice worth tens of trillions of borrowed capital and he threatened to chip away at its foundation.

    Bill Cosby offered black men and the black family agency, control over their own destiny.

    That simply could not be.

    Either this was the politics of destruction or luckiest day in the life of liberalism.

  14. Cosby’s humor was universal – there was no white perspective or black perspective to Noah, the Chicken Heart, Frankenstein, or the Go-Cart Race. And while Fat Albert and Old Weird Harold, and playing Buck-Buck, used characters (and caricatures) more recognizably black, as a kid I never thought of these as black or white; I just totally saw myself as pulling the same stunts and doing the same activities. That may have made Cosby “acceptable” to whites, but he also made blacks laugh. Funny was funny when things were less calculated. (Growing up, my daughter was good friends with a young black teen from our neighborhood; a great kid that was often at our house and even went on a short vacation with us once. I was surprised to discover he had no knowledge of the great black comedians I’d grown up with like Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, and Cosby. When I played some of their old routines for him, he laughed til he cried.)

    As far as I know, though, Cosby never told jokes about drugging women or raping them, or even doing drugs (other than Midol). That wouldn’t have been funny, but there are probably comics out there today doing that type of material. Cosby’s behavior should be shunned and sanctioned, and if the prosecutor hadn’t been so eager to go elephant-hunting, it would have been. The cases against Cosby would likely have been successfully prosecuted without the “poison-tree” testimony. I wouldn’t buy anything Cosby has to “sell” these days, but I’ll still enjoy those old bits with little reservation

  15. I invite you to consider the difference between “the rich can beat the system” and “only the rich can reliably vindicate their rights”…. – Emery

    I invite you to consider that the legal system is an enterprise by lawyers, for lawyers. It matters not who pays the lawyers, as long as they are being paid.

  16. We might note that the biggest tragedy of Bill Cosby is that nobody ever noticed his modus operandi and spoke up to stop it. From what I’ve read of one of his victims, a big pick up spot for him was the Playboy Mansion, so we might infer that he was one of many people there doing the same kind of thing. More or less, the man could have been stopped–if not convicted–during the Nixon administration if people had cared.

  17. My wife listens to a couple YouTube lawyers (one from Central MN) who comment on lawsuits and legal matters concerning pop culture, celebrities, and internet influencers. One of these lawyers discussed the Cosby situation and her take was a bit more nuanced than the article: The DA at the time this started made a plea deal that THE DA’S OFFICE would not prosecute, if Cosby testified in a civil suit. He made incriminating statements in that trial, and had to pay a hefty settlement. That DA lost re-election. The new DA used those incriminating statements, pressed new charges and brought the matter before a criminal court, which convicted him. The SCOPA said “Since the original DA publicly stated “THE DA’S OFFICE” would not pursue charges, that means the whole office, into the future.” The new DA renegged on the public statement of the previous DA. It had nothing to do with Cosby’s guilt or innocence.

  18. Per Bill C’s description of the agreement and JPA’s earlier thought, I do think it would be good to review that agreement in light of the subsequent prosecutor’s failure to keep it. If the new prosecutor was aware of the agreement and decided to willfully violate it, yes, I’d be entirely in favor of disbarment.

    Regarding Mitch’s thought about making the case without that testimony, I guess he could have tried it before the agreement was made, but not after. It was, after all, a no-prosecute agreement. The difficulty with doing so is that he’d have had to get testimony from a number of women who were assaulted in the same district, or else shield laws (prior sexual conduct) would tend to have excluded that corroborating testimony.

  19. Excellent post Mr D!
    Cosby’s rights were violated and a jury of his peers convicted him on the evidence. Both are true.

  20. Speaking of filthy prosecutors and police pigs! Emphasis mine.

    A Travis County grand jury has indicted an active-duty former Fort Hood Army sergeant on charges of murder, deadly conduct and aggravated assault in the 2020 shooting death of an armed Austin protester. Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood, was working for a ride-sharing company and just dropped off a customer when he turned onto a street filled with people protesting police brutality. He stopped his car, honked, and seconds later, police said Perry drove his car into the crowd, The Texas Tribune reported. But videos show that he was under attack contradictory to the police reports!

  21. Cosby’s rights were violated and a jury of his peers convicted him on the evidence. Both are true. – Emery

    Not quite.

    The statement should read: “Cosby’s rights were violated and a jury of his peers improperly convicted him on evidence that should not have been presented. Both are true.”

    Again, this is not an argument for or against Cosby’s guilt or innocence – because prosecutorial misconduct speaks to neither.

  22. Cosby’s rights were violated and a jury of his peers convicted him on the evidence. Both are true. – Emery

    Not quite.

    The statement should read: “Cosby’s rights were violated and a jury of his peers improperly convicted him on evidence that should not have been presented. Both are true.”

    Again, this is not an argument for or against Cosby’s guilt or innocence – because prosecutorial misconduct speaks to neither.

  23. A Travis County grand jury has indicted an active-duty former Fort Hood Army sergeant on charges of murder, deadly conduct and aggravated assault in the 2020 shooting death of an armed Austin protester.

    Oh, don’t worry.

    After losing his savings, his house, his car, maybe a marriage and a year of so of grueling legal process – he stands a good chance of being found innocent.

  24. As an early teen, I used to listen to albums (remember those) of Cosby. The Chicken Heart was so damned funny.

    Loved his TV show that portrayed a successful, intact family.

    All ruined by his off-screen behavior.

  25. 👆Quibble much??

    The prosecutor promised not to criminally convict Cosby if he waived his fifth amendment right and participated in a deposition. The prosecutor’s office, years later, thought they weren’t bound by that promise anymore and used his deposition statements against him. That’s a clear fifth amendment violation.

    If you want our justice system to be truly equitable, we must strive to apply all laws equally. This includes what are inappropriately called “technicalities” by some but are often ideals, such as due process rights, included in Constitutional amendments.

  26. If you want our justice system to be truly equitable, we must strive to apply all laws equally. This includes what are inappropriately called “technicalities” by some but are often ideals, such as due process rights, included in Constitutional amendments.

    Yes, because falling short of this ideal erodes respect for the rule of law.

  27. Mr. D, I am still waiting for law to apply equally to, let’s see, sHrillary, Biden, Kerry, BLM rioters, Antifa rioters, etc, etc…

  28. @jpa: If most Republicans believe Antifa, BLM and violent left-wing activists stormed the Capitol building on January 6th, then why do they oppose a commission to investigate it?

  29. Mr. D, I am still waiting for law to apply equally to, let’s see, sHrillary, Biden, Kerry, BLM rioters, Antifa rioters, etc, etc…

    I am as well. Not confident it will, at least for a while.

  30. Mr. D, hence I have very little regard, much less respect for the rule of law.

  31. “A Grand Jury could indict a ham sandwich” ~ New York State Chief Judge Sol Wachtler

    That said — generally speaking: prosecutors like to win their cases. To do so requires evidence of a crime that would cause a jury to convict.

    But — ya — “lock her up”.

  32. “If most Republicans believe Antifa, BLM and violent left-wing activists stormed the Capitol building on January 6th, then why do they oppose a commission to investigate it?”

    We don’t object to a commission. We welcome one, with three members: me, Rudy Giuallni and Mike Lindell (The My Pillow Guy). We’ll conduct and full and fair investigation and release our report to Congress and the American people.

    What, you don’t agree? Why not? You think we’d be fail to be impartial? You think we’d refuse to consider evidence that contradicts our narrative, that we would turn it it into a circus to score political points?

    Why are you afraid of the Truth?

  33. The chairman of the dem commision on jan 6, Rep Bernie Thompson (D). Has filed a lawsuit against Trump for causing the riot.
    So we know what kind of “fact finding” we’re going to get, don’t we?
    What I would like to know more about is the shabby impeachment process. They didn’t even do their due dilligence when trying to remove the president of the US (blaming Sicknick’s death on the riot, for example).

  34. @Dr Woolly: Republicans had the chance to form a bi-partisan commission to investigate the Capitol Insurrection but Republicans filibustered it in the Senate.

    What is interesting is that the rules for this committee are the same one the Republicans used for their Benghazi investigation(s). Somehow though, it isn’t fair when the Democrats are in charge.

  35. You really can’t make this shit up. I still contend trollbots are Mitch’s sock puppets. How else would you describe previous posts in light of libturd refusal to investigate and stymie election integrity investigations? Nobody can be that obtuse, that hypocritical. Hence I put to you that resident trollbots are Mitch’s creation for the sake of bolstering his blog comment count.

  36. When in history has the Capitol been overrun by fellow American citizens and one party decided it wasn’t worth investigating with a serious commission?

  37. When in history has the Capitol been overrun by fellow American citizens and one party decided it wasn’t worth investigating with a serious commission?

    If I had any confidence a serious commission could be created, I would consider it. But I look around Washington and I don’t see serious people; I see partisans, score settlers, and a hell of a lot of people who are more about protecting their turf than public service.

    Capitol Hill is full of security cameras; release the raw footage and we can see what happened for ourselves, without the interpretations and chin scratching of the grandees. We can handle it.

  38. The world saw the January 6th Capitol riot — live. I wonder what it is that Republicans don’t want to find out.

    To those who complain of a Democratic witch hunt I have but one thing to say, Benghazi.

    Republican intransigence created this House Select Committee.

  39. To those who complain of a Democratic witch hunt I have but one thing to say, Benghazi.

    You could cut out the middlemen and just get yourself a calliope. No one is going to take this seriously. Where have you gone, Estes Kefauver? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

  40. I think Republicans would have been better served to have gotten behind a commission earlier when they had the opportunity.

    Once that was accomplished they could have moved on to more important political issues such as immigration, the economy etc. Now they have to wither the political fallout (as you noted earlier) from this inquiry which could/will be used as a political cudgel in the upcoming elections.

  41. Now they have to wither the political fallout (as you noted earlier) from this inquiry which could/will be used as a political cudgel in the upcoming elections.

    I have no doubt the Democrats plan to use whatever dog-and-pony show they conjure up as a cudgel. But Pelosi’s spectacle will be used against the Democrats as well because it is a waste of time and resources; no one believes the Republic was in peril that day, especially those most interested in waving a bloody shirt.

  42. RE: Cosby.
    In a civil case he was given immunity to compell him to testify. Once he was given immunity he could no longer plead the 5th.
    A later prosecuter than used that testimony to convict him of a related criminal offense.
    Let him out. It’s an open and shut case.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.