Get a Rope and We'll All Feel Better? The Trib and Bishop Imesch Redux.
Thursday, I posted a rant against the Chicago Tribune's summary execution of Bishop Joseph Imesch of Joliet. My mistake.
I used compound and compound-complex sentences, irony, self-deprecating humor, and local color. It confused some Bloggers. I'll try to do better.
The Tribune sued to unseal a deposition. The deposition was deposed in August. The deposition is almost 250 pages in length.
The judge sealed the deposition. He did that to protect the persons making the accusations. The judge stated that he did not want a media circus. The inquisitor was Jeffrey Anderson. The man being grilled was Bishop Imesch. The Tribune sued because 'people have a keen interest' in knowing how a bishop makes decisions. The Tribune won. The Bishop lost. Fair enough.
The Tribune did not publish the deposition. It ran the excerpts that made Bishop Imesch look like the editorial board wants him to look. A monster who encourages child abuse. The piece run by the Tribune was printed in my posting completely. Today, I will post what I found to be upsetting.
Many of the bishops who covered up crimes, and who enabled predators to hurt new victims, still face no formal consequences said in a weekend letter to his flock that these incidents occurred "before psychologists recognized that behavior of that kind was indicative of a severe problem that could not be adequately treated." The diocese now notifies civil authorities of any abuse allegations, he said. "The media reports tend to portray me as someone who doesn't care about the safety of children. Nothing could be further from the truth. All of us can look back on our lives and find things we should have done differently."No, it's not the news media that portray Imesch in a troubling light. His words suffice.A diocesan spokesman told the Tribune that Imesch, who is 74 and plans to retire at 75, has asked the Vatican to look for his replacement.So Bishop Imesch, it appears, will be allowed to leave on his terms. How convenient for him.The people molested by criminals he didn't report will continue to live with the consequences.And the many honorable, selfless priests of the Joliet diocese can soon begin rebuilding the trust that Bishop Imesch has destroyed.Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Out of almost 250 pages of deposition, The Tribune found its rope for new Ox Bow Incident. The Ox Bow Incident - for the gratification of some Bloggers - is a novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark that was taught in highschools at one time. It is a story set in the old West. Cattle was stolen. The Sheriff was out of town. An important man in the town Maj. Tribune, er Tetley put together a lynch mob. They tracked down three men and hanged them. One of the characters was the son of Maj. Tetley and he recoiled from the summary judgment on the men. His father howled, ' I'll have no female sons bearing my name!' The boy did as he was told.
Turns out that old Dad was wrong. They hanged the wrong men, but justice was too slow. Maj. Tetley, like the Chicago Tetley - er Tribune, issued his fatwah! Three people got hanged - so what? What about the poor cattle that got rustled? Don't we have any feelings or compassion for the cattle? They are the real victims here! Doesn't anyone care about the cattle?
Sorry, whenever I encounter BS, I try to go around it and call attention to it. What the Chicago Tetley, er Tribune did last week was not about the children. The editorial was as much an exercise in power as Maj. Tetley's in the novel. The new mullahs are the 501 (c) funded Activists and Cause lawyers like Herr Anderson. The Activist thrives off of hurting people and hurting people often do not have time to read novels like the Ox Bow Incident. Like the Wahabist Mullahs or home grown Activists - we used another word for activist in the old neighborhood - what the hell was it? It started with an A and ended with an E . . . I digress - instruct or train their disciples and then set them loose an their targets. They work well with cause lawyers who rake in 40% on each massive million dollar settlement in each town they campaign.
The fatwah has been issued and rope knotted in the right places. Justice is slow. Do the emotional - the hurting, the compassionate, the feeling, and the righteous - emulate their brothers in the Mid East?
Bishop Joseph L. Imesch is not some Danish cartoon. He is a kind man who stood by me in a time of crisis. I had trouble with an a. . .ctivist at one time. Taking time to take my side did not put a nickle in the Bishop's pocket. Where I come from, we don't throw people who do good for us under the bus. We generally get the whole story and tend to stick by someone who is in a jam. We also tend to make sure that 'the right thing' is done for all concerned. Harry Truman's greatest public act was attending the funeral of Machine Boss Tom Prendergast when Harry was Vice President. The Chicago Tetley, er Tribune backed the man on the wedding cake as I recall.
This will be confusing for many - The Courts handle justice in Illinois.
18 comments:
You apparently believe the man is innocent, despite his sworn testimony that he was aware that a priest had skinny-dipped and played naked games with children.
Is that correct?
One of the problems inherent in people with axes to grind trying to draw parallels between works of fiction and actual events is that they ignore the key elements that make their comparisons moot. Those key elements here include the fact that the men lynched in the novel had no connection whatsoever to a crime, and the posse took their action without investigating the details of the crime.
Based on this and your previous post it is obvious that, unlike I and the editors of the Tribune, you have not read the deposition in its entirety. Had you, you would be aware that there is nothing contained in the deposition that mitigates Imesch's acknowlegement that he was aware of severel incidents of child abuse on his watch, and not only failed to report those incidents to the authorities but helped conceal them through reassignments.
If anything, the conduct of the church, to "handle" these cases internally rather than give free access to the authorities and the courts to adjudicate them properly is as solid an example of a perversion of the legal system as the one portrayed in the novel.
Further, painting people like Anderson, who have brought this decades old cover up to the attention of rank and file Catholics (who, after all the church should be serving) as some sort of Nazi is nothing more than a shameless attempt to shoot the messenger. Because even someone as insensitive as you knows how bad it would look to blame the victims.
Skeeter,
Get a pen pal.
Hickey,
Thanks for your comment. I note that you have not addressed the issue.
Let me re-state: Do you believe that it is proper for somebody to have actual knowledge that a person is skinny dipping and playing nude games with children, but do nothing about it?
It is a simple question, but one that you have not addressed.
Hickey,
If you don't want to face tough questions like those from Skeeter then don't post on this blog.
Or, in the alternative, post on a blog that doesn't allow comments. Then you can enjoy a one sided conversation where the Catholic Church is beyond reproach and everyone else is motivated by blind hatred of the Church.
The decisions Imesh or any other Clergy may have made to promote, allow, or stop the abuse of kids is for their own souls' consideration. I guess if you think about, (or pray about), something long enough you can justify anything in one's mind. For me, I'll keep a VERY close eye on my kid's during the church picnic, thank you very much. And, no thanks Father, I can drive Billy to the game myself.
Dear anonymous,
Nah,
Skeeter's questions aren't tough - just kind of trite and a little tiresome. Keep a good thought.
Hickey,
Please demonstrate the "trite" and "tiresome" nature of Skeeter's question by a response that exposes them as such.
Your dodging the question and put downs of Skeeter certainly fails to do so. The deposition clearly lays out the scenario Skeeter is troubled by.
So humor us with a concise and forceful response to the question. If you feel it is beneath you to respond in such a manner, then don't be surprised if many of us fail to find any merit in your original post.
You were motivated enough to put up a lengthy post. Too bad you don't have the energy to defend it in a meaningful manner.
"If you feel it is beneath you to respond in such a manner, then don't be surprised if many of us fail to find any merit in your original post. "
Certainly not beneath me, but certainly one to be compelled to do so, by any petulant whine. If my post holds no merit for you move it along - but, hey, thanks for stopping.
Hickey,
I do believe that if the Church and its defenders continue with a shoot the messenger and critics mentality then it will lose whatever sway it holds with the general public, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. Maybe your characterization of criticism as a "petulant whine" will turn the tide, but I doubt it.
In terms of "move it along", I'll keep reading and posting comments, but I won't put any merit in any future posts you have regarding the Church. Mission accomplished.
All I have to say that is that if you are going to post a pretty strong position on a high-profile issue, and somebody asks you to respond to a direct and very legitimate question directly relating to the very issue, the least you could do is answer the question. Otherwise you undermine your position more than anyone else could.
I always take an anonymous request with all the seriousness it warrants and the merit with which it holds my opinion equally in such estimation.
I don't know if Bishop Joseph Imesch of Joliet committed a crime or not, but, in any case, I hope that someone presents a more substantive defense of him that has been offered here.
She's not pretending.
At 3:55 PM, So-Called Austin Mayor said...
"I don't know if Bishop Joseph Imesch of Joliet committed a crime or not, but, in any case, I hope that someone presents a more substantive defense of him that has been offered here."
That is my hope as well. It would be great to seem a hard-hitting investigative journalist go to work on this - not my rice-bowl.
As far as free and open debate, every time I seem to get a nose-full of that Progressive thought process, I am reminded of Gary when it was going full-bore.
Hickey,
Do you understand what a "deposition" is? Is that the issue here? Have you confused a "complaint" and a "deposition"?
Do you understand that the skinny dipping matter was not an allegation, but an admission under oath?
Knowing that he admitted the conduct, how can you continue to keep your head in the sand?
I does not matter if it was a "crime." What the Tribune is suggesting is that the Bishop should face a real sanction and not just be allowed to resign. The Tribune has not suggested that the Bishop be immediately sent to jail. The Tribune has demanded that he not be allowed to simply fade away as if he had done nothing wrong. He has done something very wrong. You should have the courage to admit that.
I should be taller and thiner - everything under the hood is Ok!
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