What do Bill Cosby, Tommy Franks and George Tenet all have in common? President Bush has awarded all of them with Presidential Medals of Freedom. The four-starred Franks and former CIA Director Tenet played critical roles in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Meanwhile reruns of “The Cosby Show” kept Americans laughing, making it easier to cope with the alleged “War on Terror.”

In 2002, at the height of war, Bush presented Cosby with this medal, commenting that “(Cosby) used the power of laughter to heal wounds and to build bridges. I don’t think you can bring the races together by joking about the differences between them. I’d rather talk about the similarities, about what’s universal in their experiences.”

This was a great political strategy on Bush’s part. Through giving Cosby this award, Bush formalized another political alliance between government and the entertainment industry. Cosby now serves as a liaison between the government’s racial conservatives and the black community. Cosby uses humor to unite the races — in their disdain for poor blacks.

Recently, Cosby has delivered a number of chats addressing the social and educational problems particular to lower-income urban communities. He just can’t understand why inner-city youth are walking around in backwards clothes with their underwear showing, speaking in a sub-standard form of English. Also, he feels that urban youth are praising materialism — spending $500 on a pair of sneakers — rather than focusing on their education.

Now we all know people like this (Sometimes, I fit this description.) And this is what makes Cosby’s messages so appealing to whites and blacks, and especially racial conservatives. Cosby’s descriptions give ammunition to the belief that poor blacks just need to get their act together and start pulling their own weight.

When I first heard Cosby’s statements, I was glad that he was publicizing this very popular private conversation. The expensive Air Jordan brand of gym shoes is a household brand with my family. And I would much rather get a new pair of Guess jeans rather than a book to help me with my Spanish. Because my parents have always given me lectures on how I spend my money, I could definitely relate to Cosby’s comments. But I quickly snapped back into reality upon remembering that materialism isn’t just an urban problem. It’s an American problem.

Also, my parents might not like my boyfriend’s baggy jeans. But my Grammy wasn’t too fond of my Daddy’s bellbottoms either or his groovy lingo. So who is Cosby to stick his nose up at baggy clothes and hip-hop fashion? Well, he was America’s favorite dad, and now he’s extending his parenting talks. Cosby has undoubtedly earned his turn at the podium, but someone needs to pull the cord on his microphone.

It’s already too easy to believe that the problems of the black community are self-inflicted. Now you have Cosby preaching that “when you have a 50 percent graduation rate, and some people can’t put two sentences together, and can’t write or spell … you’ve got people who have put themselves on a track to failure.”

How does a student’s inability to write or spell translate into “putting themselves on a track to failure?” Students go to school to learn, and it’s the responsibility of the school to make sure that this happens. There is no excuse for kid to advance from grade to grade without knowing how to read or write. It’s absurd that Cosby would blame the students for the school’s failure.

Despite Cosby making generous contributions to historically black colleges and universities, he is failing his people. He came from the streets, filled with the same people that he’s humiliating. He was in their shoes. Therefore, Dr. Cosby of all people should understand the complexities of the inner-city struggle. Doctor didn’t always precede his name. Failing the 10th grade twice, Cosby opted for the good-enough-degree (GED) instead of graduating from high school. Later, he would drop out of undergraduate school. Because he never earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, he used his celebrity status to eventually gain entrance to a doctorate program.

Cosby was fortunate enough to overcome his situation. He didn’t pull himself up by the bootstraps. He struggled hard, and fortunately his life eventually fell into place.