Former Cardinal Indicted

For John, BLUF:  This is an embarrassment to me as a Roman Catholic, yet we should not hide from it  Sin abounds.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Ex-Cardinal McCarrick charged with sexually assaulting teen

Here is the sub-headline:

Disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy during a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974

From ABC News, by Reporter Alanna Durkin Richer, 29 July 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after a Vatican investigation confirmed he had sexually molested adults as well as children, has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy during a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974, court records show.

McCarrick is the first cardinal in the U.S. to ever be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor, according to Mitchell Garabedian, a well-known lawyer for church sexual abuse victims who is representing the man alleging the abuse by McCarrick.

This says to me that we need to listen to those who say they have been molested in some way.  Not that all allegations are true, but we should not be dismissing them out of hand.

On the other hand, to go back to 1974 raises a question in my mind.  Is there a chance that he has repented and changed his actions over time?  Conversely, what do the mental sciences tell us about the ability of people to reform themselves?  I accept that perhaps someone who is a pedophile is a pedophile for ever, sad as that may be to consider.  However, if not, then what is the law and the reform of the individual for?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Self-Hating West

For John, BLUF:  As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100th Anniversary, and is pushing its own form of toltalitarianism, it seems the United States no longer has an attractive model for its own citizens and for those abroad, except for illegal immigrants.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Marketing optimistic Chinese self confidence vs Western managed decline

From The Belmont Club, by Mr Richard Fernandez, 1 July 2021.

Here is the lede:

Xi Jinping has projected himself as the ‘Strong Horse’ and painted China as an attractive future in contrast to Joe Biden and the self-hating West which cannot even find something good to say about itself.

"The self-hating West.  That sums up a serious problem.

Chinese Citizens, Uyighers and Tibetins aside, have a common narrative, and rhe Chinese Communist Party pushes that narrative on those who are Chinese descendents in other nations.  What do we have to offer on the 4th of July 2021?  Apparently no longer the Magna Carta and the Rights of Englishmen.

What is it that unites us in the United Statees this 4th of July?  Is it only our belief tht Caucasians are a special form of evil, as expressed in Critical Race Theory.  I understand the desire for revenge, but when revenge becomes self-defeating it is time to move on to forgiveness and a quest for unification.  Are we there yet?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

New Skins Quarterback?

For John, BLUF:  If he is a winning Quarterback it was a great decision.  This is America!  Let the past be forgotten and judgment be based on current performance and future potential.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Here is a Tweet from this morning:

Emily Zanotti
@emzanotti
He’ll play for the...Redskins? 😬

Based upon this earlier Tweet:

Allahpundit
@allahpundit
Colin Kaepernick reportedly ‘ready and willing’ to play for the Redskins

Based on this Wash Post headline, "Colin Kaepernick reportedly ‘ready and willing’ to play for the Redskins."

Ironic.

I actually wonder if Mr Kaepernick made what he thought was an honest move and then found he couldn't back down.  For sure, he wouldn't be the first such person.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

There Is No Forgiveness

For John, BLUF:  Was it a mistake or is everything coming down?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

More catching up.

Protesters in Atlanta Vandalize ‘Peace Monument’ After Mistaking It for Confederate Symbol

This is Brietbart and Reporter Penny Starr, 16 August 2017.

Here is the second paragraph:

“The Atlanta march traveled from Woodruff Park to Piedmont Park Sunday, where some damaged the Peace Monument, erected in 1911,” a blog on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website said.  “The sculpture features an angel standing above a Confederate soldier, guiding him to lay down his weapon.”

On the other hand, perhaps being a Confederate Soldier is like sinning against the Holy Spirit, something that can never be forgiven.  (Matt 12:31)

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

We Need a New Word

For John, BLUF:  We should think about our words.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

I was checking my Facebook page and Doctrine Man had a link to a Stars and Stripes article, by Reporter Peter St. Onge of The Charlotte Observer.  The headline is "Paula Broadwell, in one word".  Author Paula Broadwell wrote the General David Petraeus biography "All In".

Mr St Onge starts with a question:

How would you describe Paula Broadwell?

She’s been in the news again, reluctantly so.  The man with whom she had an affair, Gen. David Petraeus, took a plea deal this month for giving military secrets to Broadwell, who was writing his biography.

The Observer has written about that case and that relationship, and we’ve published things others have written.  In those reports, Broadwell, who lives in Charlotte, is often referred to as the general’s “mistress.”

She doesn’t like that word.  She thinks it’s sexist and demeaning.

“I can deal with the repeated old news, but such non-stop chauvinism is reprehensible,” she said in an email to me last week.

Broadwell would prefer what CBS and NBC reporters have called her – a “biographer.” But “biographer” doesn’t capture the context of her relationship with Petraeus.  “Mistress” is more fully descriptive.

But is it fair? Mistress doesn’t have a gender equivalent.  It’s a word that’s tangled up in culture, history and how we see women who cheat differently than we do men.

Frankly, I am with Ms Broadwell.  To define a wife and mother, an Army Veteran, an author, by the single term "mistress" is demeaning and unfair.  Sure, she made a mistake.  But, if there is forgiveness and redemption then it should apply equally to Paula Broadwell as to any of the rest of us.  General Petraeus passed her information so she could fact-check the book she was writing, not for sexual purposes.  And ask yourself how the careless use of "mistress" impacts Ms Broadwell's husband, who has stood by her.  How does that focus help the healing in that family?

Beside, "mistress" is such a French thing.  These two had an affair.  They both did wrong.  One presumes they have both asked forgiveness of their own mate.  It is now time to move on.

Regards  —  Cliff

He Might As Well Be American

For John, BLUF:  Different sensibilities in Europe.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Over at the blog ¡No Pasarán! we have a link to New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd talking about the situation in France.  Yes, it is a month old, but Erik just got to it yesterday, and besides, MoDo's writing is timeless.  Erik's title is:

"You do not install one mistress at the Élysée when you have another mistress; That is simply bad form."

The French do have a certain sense of who they are, a certain je ne sais quoi.  Erik quotes Ms Dowd

“The whole problem with this Hollande scandal is that he is not married,” says Jean-Marie Rouart, the French novelist.  “Had he been married, this affair would never have been revealed.”

He observed that, as an “elected monarch,” the president has to maintain appearances. “In France, having a mistress is not considered cheating,” he says.  “We are not a puritanical country.  France is Catholic.  We accept sin and forgiveness.”

There is that, forgiveness.  We all need some of that and not just from God and not just for sins of the flesh.

So here is the bottom line for Ms Dowd:

In the minds of many here, the French president is a loser because he’s so unrefined he might as well be American.

Ouch.

Hat tip to the ¡No Pasarán!.

Regards  —  Cliff

Golden Globe Speech

For John, BLUF:  Forgiveness. We could use a little.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Blogger Althouse has a clip of the Jacqueline Bisset Golden Globe acceptance speech.  The most important part is at the very end.

You have to forgive everybody.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff