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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Ashland Middle School student spearheads Nepal relief effort 10 things to know for Tuesday Fourth of July celebration theme is 'Be Active, Live Healthy!' 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Dianne Williamson: Enough of 'Say it isn't so' By Dianne Williamson The Telegram & Gazette DailyTidings.com By Dianne Williamson The Telegram & Gazette Posted May. 11, 2015 @ 8:05 am By Dianne Williamson The Telegram & Gazette Posted May. 11, 2015 @ 8:05 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Today’s column can be filed under the header of “men who we know did it, because we happen to not be stupid.” The day after the Wells Report found it “more probable than not” that the New England Patriots intentionally deflated footballs, thus revealing its iconic quarterback to be a world-class fibber, a defamation case involving Bill Cosby improbably landed in Worcester, Massachusetts, in U.S. District Court. First, allow me to stress that the act of deflating balls is a far less serious crime than drugging scores of women and raping them while they’re incapacitated, even if the playoffs are involved. I fully understand that Tom Brady may be a liar and a cheat, but he’s not an immoral sexual predator, as far as we know. In both cases, however, once-revered and accomplished men have been accused of actions that they deny committing, but rational people realize they did it because please refer to the first paragraph. Regardless, both of these celebrities have scores of enablers who refuse to accept harsh reality, and they’re running around like hysterical Mitt Romney clones on Election Day, insisting that facts and numbers aren’t real. I don’t mean to come off like a know-it-all or Monday-morning quarterback, but I told anyone who would listen in January that Brady was lying during the press conference when he wore the silly beanie hat and sounded as convincing as Bill Clinton saying he did not have sex with “that woman.” Pinocchio on steroids was more credible than Tom, and it’s a wonder his nose didn’t grow right there on the spot when asked if he was a cheater. “I don’t believe so,” he said. “I feel like I’ve always played within the rules.” He didn’t believe so? He feels like he follows the rules? Well, sometimes I feel like Beyonce, so it stinks to be me. What sort of innocent man responds to public hits to his integrity in such a tepid manner? Still, regardless of solid common-sense evidence that Brady cheated — the locker-room attendant refers to himself as the “deflator,” for goodness sakes — the scores of fans and sycophantic sports writers who adore him insist he would never cheat and it’s no big deal if he did and it doesn’t matter and look how handsome he is and by the way climate change isn’t an actual thing. Which brings us to Bill Cosby. Last Thursday, a federal judge in Worcester heard arguments in a defamation lawsuit filed by three women who claim they were raped by him (Cosby, not the judge) in the 1970s. One of the women, Therese Serignese, was in court and later said she wanted to clear her name after Cosby’s representatives called them liars. “I don’t want to be branded as a liar,” Serignese said. “I take pride in my word.” Are you listening, Tom Brady? Inside the court, the motions were rather technical and sleep-inducing, so I was heartened to learn that two of Cosby’s lawyers from Springfield answer to the following hilarious monikers that I am not making up: Francis D. Dibble Jr. and Jeffrey E. Poindexter. With his baldness, gray suit and glasses, Dibble, especially, could be the protagonist in a Sinclair Lewis novel, and he wasn’t exactly forthcoming when I asked a basic question about the case during a recess. “No comment,” he said, adding, “I could (answer), but I’m not going to,” in what seemed an unnecessarily taunting manner. I suppose if I was saddled with the name of Francis D. Dibble Jr., I wouldn’t be a charmer, either. Plus, these lawyers are stuck with a client who’s been accused by dozens of credible women, so perhaps a foul temper is par for the course. Yet, despite the consistency and similarity of the accusations, there are still people with smaller brains who insist that Cosby is innocent and is for some reason being targeted by victims throughout the country who mistakenly believe they had sex with him against their will. Besides, even if Cosby raped all these women, “it’s not like he did it yesterday,” as Rush Limbaugh famously noted. So come on, let’s cut the guy some slack. Time heals all wounds, and apparently exonerates serial rapists. Bottom line? The truth is sometimes uncomfortable. Nowhere is that more evident than in the lengths we go to deny unpleasant evidence and defend our fallen idols. Dianne Willamson is a columnist for The Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette. By Dianne Williamson The Telegram & Gazette DailyTidings.com By Dianne Williamson The Telegram & Gazette Posted May. 11, 2015 @ 8:05 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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