Another Idol Falls

For John, BLUF:  Being famous or well beloved is no guarantee you aren't a sexual predator.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Here in the "Colonies" we don't know BBC personality Jimmy Savile (Sir James Wilson Vincent "Jimmy" Savile, OBE, KCSG), who died last year, but his death revealed a host of possible criminal activity during his lifetime.

The late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile is a suspect in 199 crimes recorded so far, including dozens of cases of rape, British police said Wednesday.  They described the level of sexual abuse allegations against Savile as "unprecedented in the U.K."

These revelations coming after Mr Savile's death suggest a level of coverup, a level of organizational corruption, that should shock everyone in Massachusetts except maybe Howie Carr.

This scandal does reach to our shores with Mark Thompson, the president and chief executive of The New York Times Company, being called to testify in a closed door inquiry.

Mr. Thompson was the director general of the BBC in December 2011 when the corporation’s flagship “Newsnight” current-affairs program canceled an investigation into accusations of abuse against the television host Jimmy Savile who died two months earlier at the age of 84.  Mr. Thompson assumed his new post at The New York Times on Nov. 12.

Frankly, this is a good reason to not name buildings and intersections after people while they are still alive.  It avoids the embarrassment of having to take down the name.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff