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Cosby's actions hardly TV fiction

That columnist Christine Flowers insists on seeing the celebrity as character Cliff Huxtable instead of as a rapist demeans women.

Bill Cosby gives a thumbs up outside Montgomery County Courthouse on Wednesday, the third day of jury deliberation in his sex-assault case.
Bill Cosby gives a thumbs up outside Montgomery County Courthouse on Wednesday, the third day of jury deliberation in his sex-assault case.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff

Cosby's actions not TV fiction

I am appalled at the message that columnist Christine Flowers presented ("Cosby taking the hit for men who've wronged women," Philly.com, Tuesday). Flowers appears to be more upset that the image of fictional character Cliff Huxtable has been tainted than she is at the harm done to Cosby's actual victims. That she's willing to play the blame game to preserve her fanciful world is repugnant.

This tunnel vision was played out similarly by a 59-year-old Republican congressman who recently complained that he doesn't need health insurance to cover pregnancy and other female services he'll never use, and therefore shouldn't have to pay for it.

Every day, women and girls without privilege or the means to stand up for themselves find themselves delegitimized and demeaned by word or deed. Women who present this misogynist opinion give license to those who would perpetuate such practices. This is too dangerous to let stand without protest. In addition to being a columnist and TV personality, Flowers is a lawyer who knows the victims' rights. It is shameful that she advances this kind of misogyny.

|Lynda Rubin, Philadelphia

Jewish museum needs gentiles

The National Museum of American Jewish History should consider coming up with a more catchy name ("Doing with less," Saturday).

At our family's reunion in Philadelphia in 2015, we spent a day on Independence Mall. Even though I tried to persuade my family (we're 99 44/100 percent African American) that the museum was as interesting as Independence Hall, the Constitution Center, and Betsy Ross' house, they all said: "It's just a museum for Jewish families."

It's not just a Jewish museum. It's an ecumenical place celebrating a people who overcame bigotry to carve a place in America. It is a story that appeals to gentiles and Jews, especially those gentiles whose ancestors struggled for acceptance, regardless of whether they were slaves dragged here to pick cotton, immigrants escaping the Old World mess, or coolies building railroads in the West. Moreover, the museum is a compelling positive counterpoint to Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum - another ecumenical place, where one studies the compelling story of what happens when a country succumbs to genocide.

The Philadelphia museum's chief executive officer and director, Ivy Barsky, needs to understand that they have a marketing problem. Since the city and nation are predominantly gentile, why not come up with a name that entices casual gentiles heading to the Liberty Bell to say; "Hey, let's check this place out."

|Rosamond Kay, Philadelphia, yakr47@aol.com

Rethink budget cuts

I was dismayed to read how the National Museum of American Jewish History is responding to its budget shortfall. The chief executive officer/director agreed to take a "modest, voluntary" $25,000 pay cut to her exorbitant $324,000 salary. It hardly seems right that a person in charge of a large nonprofit in financial difficulty should earn such a high salary. Furthermore, top managers are taking small pay cuts but are not losing their jobs, as 18 full-time staffers are.

Cutting the hours of operation and expensive exhibits makes sense, but it is a bad business decision to close the museum cafe, which offers visitors (especially those bringing children) a welcome break and could generate revenue.

I hope the museum's leaders reconsider their cost-savings plan.

|Joanne L. Gotto, Philadelphia

Spotlight on city's disabled

Their numbers are significant, yet they remain largely unseen and unknown by most Philadelphians. I speak of our city's disabled population.

It may surprise people to know that 14 percent of Philadelphia's citizens are disabled. Far from wanting our pity, disabled citizens are fiercely proud of their considerable contributions to our society. They ask only for equal access to housing, employment, barrier-free design, education, recreation, behavioral health, health and human services, arts and culture, and voters' rights.

On Saturday, Philadelphia will shine a much-deserved spotlight on our disabled population. I am pleased once again to be partnering with Councilman Derek Green, the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities, the Disabled in Action organization, and the National Constitution Center for the Sixth Annual Disability Pride Parade, from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The opening ceremonies at the National Constitution Center will feature artistic performances, followed by an 11 a.m. march of solidarity and pride down Market Street to City Hall's Dilworth Plaza for speeches and more performances that will pay tribute to the talents and accomplishments of Philadelphia's community of people with disabilities. Please join us.

|Al Taubenberger, Philadelphia City Council, al.taubenberger@phila.gov