Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/428378
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS The world is watching the career and repu- tation of comedian Bill Cosby disintegrate virtually overnight in a humiliating, seem- ingly-daily, public miniseries involving a flood of allegations, many decades old — but increasingly believable. Becausethere'snowapat- tern. A reported 17 women have — so far — come forward to allege he befriended them, drugged or incapacitated them and in varying forms had his way with them. NBC scuttled a planned Cosby show. Netf- lix deep-sixed a Cosby special. He resigned from his alma mater's Board of Trustees, re- funded some money, watched some key concert gigs be can- celled — and is now a symbol of exactly how not to handle a scandal. Future generations of public relations professors will point to the Cosby case as perhaps the worst spin control since Adam and Eve tried to explain to the Big Guy upstairs why they bit that apple. It seemed like an SNL par- ody when on NPR Cosby of- fered a looooooooooooong pause, no-comment silence when asked about the sexual assault allegations. Not saying a single thing to answer a ra- dio interview question didn't make sense, unless he's plan- ning to become a mime. Any PR person or anyone in the news media will tell you that the w-o-r-s-t thing some- one accused in a scandal can do is to not comment, as if they somehow felt the scan- dal would then die. It spurs on media coverage. Was this his PR team's misguided idea? His lawyer's? Or his? One of his PR people ought to get him in something like the "Bob Filner headlock" and explain the me- dia facts of life to him. San Diego's resigned Mayor Filner case was somewhat akin to Cosby's. Filner had been accused by a prominent, highly respected female staffer of sexual harassment. A slew of other accusations then fol- lowed. In Canada, CBC mega- star talk show host Jian Gho- meshi was arrested by police after being fired by the CBC and filing suit against them following an allegation about nonconsensual sexual violence — which triggered a tsunami of additional allegations from women. The common denomina- tor with all three cases is that each involves a powerful man who allegedly got away with behavior that would have got- ten us mere mortals in le- gal trouble. When one woman spoke out, new and old me- dia spread the word so more stepped forward. Former model Jewell Allison, who, in an interview with The New York Daily News, alleged Cosby forced her hand on his genitals, told the paper: "We may be looking at America's greatest serial rapist that ever got away with this for the lon- gest amount of time." Why did nothing happen if so many women had been pur- portedly molested? Writing for The Daily Beast, Mark Eb- ner notes how in 2007 he did a story with many allegations about Cosby that fit a pattern. He wrote that Cosby would be- friend young, talented women, seem interested in their ca- reers and they'd drink either spiked drinks or drugs passed off as medicine. Then some- thing happened. "People magazine even ran an article on the lawsuits that were settled with several of the women, but never followed up on it," he wrote. "And from my own experience, I can confirm that the story shook people to the core: Even more than Woody Allen, Bill Cosby was a beloved figure and civil-rights pioneer; hardened editors were horrified at the prospect of taking him down. I might as well have pitched a story about Martin Luther King, Jr. philan- dering with white women. The story went nowhere." The reason: All power isn't political. There's business power, the power of celebrity and the power that someone has to suggest he or she can open doors quickly for someone and really cares about them. Bill Cosby's attorney has put out a strong statements blasting the allegations, cor- rectly noting that they aren't coming from people who ever sued or pressed charges. But the damage to Cosby is done, and the "public verdict" on him seems already in. Two months ago, most Americans considered Bill Cosby the grand old man of comedy. Today, many Ameri- cans listen to these allegations from years past and consider him the dirty old man of show business. And they don't find it funny. JoeGandelmanisaveteran journalist who wrote for news- papers overseas and in the United States. He has ap- peared on cable news show po- litical panels and is Editor-in- Chief of The Moderate Voice, an Internet hub for indepen- dents, centrists and moder- ates. He also writes for The Week's online edition. CNN's John Avlon named him as one of the top 25 Centrists Col- umnists and Commentators. He can be reached at jgandel- man@themoderatevoice.com. Follow him on Twitter: www. twitter.com/joegandelman. Joe Gandelman Theimplosion of Bill Cosby Cartoonist's take Sources say there are 9.6 mil- lion adults in the United States with serious mental health prob- lems. 30% of them have been desig- nated as chronic homeless. Kinda makes one look twice at, for exam- ple, the guy un- der plastic that sits on Diamond Avenue near the Daily News building. Perhaps he should be shipped to another county as one columnist sug- gested months ago. But how do you do that? Have a patrol car entice him into the back seat with a hamburger and then de- posit him, or her, at the city lim- its of the next city. This is the out-of-sight-out-of-mind solu- tion. Or perhaps the law can look at his rap sheet and deter- mine who his folks or next of kin might be, then drop him at their doorstep with a note pinned to his soiled shirt reading, "No- tice: This person has been deter- mined to be yours to feed and water. Get with it or risk a fine, imprisonment or both." Then there is the guy who dresses in colorful attire, talks to himself and is often observed at intersections apparently try- ing to determine his next course of action. Every day or so he pokes his head into my office and says something unintelligi- ble. I respond with "You got that right" or "Go Giants" and give him thumbs up. This apparently satisfies him and he quickly re- treats, perhaps thinking he has made more converts than the folks sitting at card tables on the sidewalk at the Cone & Kimble Plaza or at the Post Office ped- aling their faith and periodicals to those who need a little nudge into the kingdom of heaven. Oh well, it takes all kinds to make the world go around, as long as they don't frighten the horsies. ••• Speaking of horses, a Po- lice Report last week regard- ing the 14000 block of Nevis Road indicated "4 horses were found in the front yard of a res- idence therein. The owner of the horses was located and ad- vised to contain them. A warn- ing was given." It did not indi- cate to whom the warning was given but it has been my expe- rience that warnings to horses are seldom acknowledged by the equine sector. If it had been me, I would have given them a carrot and sent them off to greener pas- tures. It would be the humane thing to do ••• The good thing about base- ball — the thinking fan's game — and the Giants winning the World Series is that it serves to lessen the importance of the 49ers football won/loss record. At one time we could just de- spise the posturing of the Seat- tle football team. Now we can just tell them to do their strut on a baseball diamond and we might pay attention. ••• Dr. Joe Harrop in his column last Saturday listed what he was thankful for. I would like to turn that around and tell you what I am not thankful for. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jack- son. I see these sanctimonious clowns hovering about those who believe they are victims of a system that discriminates against them. Whenever there is news of racial unrest, these two show up. Q. What is the source of their income? Are they, like top notch tennis pros, able to demand fees for just showing up, or do they appear because of the goodness of their heart? A partisan Congress that guarantees never getting any- thing done. Those who vote only their party line. Those that do not vote at all. OK, I did not vote for either can- didate for President the last go around, but neither appeared to be a good fit to lead the country. Absentee owners who aban- don their animals and leave them to die of thirst or to starve on parched land. Parents who take illegal drugs and leave their children — or their unborn — to fend for themselves. Those who believe that to be well informed means to be well armed. Politicians that send our youths off to war without hav- ing first experienced the hor- rors of war first hand. That should do it for starters. Now, as Mort Saul used to say, "Is there anyone I have failed to offend?" ••• Umbrella alert: Somebody left a nice large black umbrella leaning against our office wall at 760 Main on the evening of last Saturday's Xmas parade, and may retrieve it at any time, but call ahead because I may be out spreading good cheer. ••• Sightem: An unmarked, white, four-door vehicle, the driver of which had evidently pulled over another driver on Antelope Boulevard. I stopped to observe what was going on and was told by the driver, who was in plain clothes and sport- ing no uniform, to park else- where. I did and stood by my car until he approached and asked what I was doing. I said that his vehicle license had no "E" on it, and was it an official auto of some sort. He replied that he was a plain clothes de- tective sergeant and it was an official auto. I told him I wrote a column in the local paper, and this was the first time I had seen a driver apparently tick- eted for a traffic violation by a driver in an unmarked auto. We traded remarks and I started to depart when he cautioned me, "Next time, don't approach an officer who has pulled over another vehicle," and I asked, "How would I know you were an officer?" He did not respond and departed. I called Sheriff Hencratt who was busy at the time, and As- sistant Sheriff Phil Johnston re- sponded. "Yes, we have several unmarked vehicles and the li- cense number you jotted down was close enough to match one of ours. That detective is autho- rized to make traffic stops and we are very concerned about speeding in the Antelope School area. The vehicle sports 'cold plates' to aide in our under- cover work and the siren and red lights are mounted within the vehicle. However, it is un- derstandable that stopped vehi- cles might question if they were dealing with a licensed official." That explanation satisfied this busybody, but my advice is to check with your cell phone if in doubt. ••• "Doctor, doctor. You must see my wife right away. I think she has appendicitis." The doctor shook his head. "That's impossible. Your wife had her appendix removed last year. Have you ever seen a per- son with a second appendix?" "Have you ever seen anybody with a second wife?" Robert Minch is a lifelong res- ident of Red Bluff, former col- umnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmur- ray@hotmail.com. I say Homeless on the range in Red Bluff Future generations of public relations professors will point to the Cosby case as perhaps the worst spin control since Adam and Eve tried to explain to the Big Guy upstairs why they bit that apple. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. I grew up living on 61st Avenue about 2 miles south of Lassen View. We were close to the river. If we had a wet winter the water o en came up to the front door. No school on those days and sometimes we went up to our neighbor's until the water subsided. Most of the flooding was due to a seasonal creek near by. Barbara Thomas Martin: On flooding that closed State Route 99E and damaged homes Took me five hours to get home to Dairyville from Chico. Thanks to all the CHP, Caltrans, road department, fire and police personnel who have helped make it safe on a pretty scary day. Karen Roy Crockett: On flooding that closed State Route 99E and damaged several homes Robert Minch Assemblyman Dan Logue 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95928, 530 895- 4217 Senator Jim Nielsen 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@senate. ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown State Capital Building, Sacra- mento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@ governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa 507 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510 286- 8537, fax 202 224-0454 Contact your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, December 5, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6