Apology not accepted.

I realize that dumping a candidate this late during an election is something any leader would want to avoid, and I commend Ignatieff for having cut Andre Forbes over his racist comments, although a more rigid background check would have prevented his candidacy in the first place.  His words weren't a mistake.  They reflect his attitude and beliefs, an attitude and beliefs the Liberal party claims it condemns.

John Reilly, Liberal candidate for Wildrose also said some things that the Liberal party claims it condemns, but this time, Ignatieff forgives him and leaves him in place.  The man regrets it, Ignatieff tells us, and even tries to appeal to our sense of pity by saying that the former judge will have to live with the comments the rest of his life.

Oh?  And the consequences?  He still gets to run in the election.  I guess living with it won't be so bad after all.

Like Forbes' words, Reilly's reflect an attitude and beliefs.  In fact, even after apologizing, he said he made a political error but still believes not all sex offenders should be incarcerated.  He claims he used a clumsy example first time around.  OK, so what sexual offense crimes deserve a walk?

It doesn't matter if Reilly had a "long and distinguished career."  It doesn't matter if he made many good choices.  This one stance is not one a progressive party should give a pass on.  Sexual assault cannot be deemed anything else simply because the guy was young, or stupid, or helplessly turned on because the unconscious woman was naked.  That just gives would be rapists permission to abuse situations.

Maybe this is more a matter for Industry Canada than Justice

Seems women’s clothing doesn’t come with proper warning labels.

Justice Robert Dewar let a rapist walk excusing him saying the victim gave out signs that "sex was in the air" through her suggestive attire and flirtatious conduct on the night of the attack.

So Industry Canada better get right on that, run tests on what type of female clothing overrides women’s brains so that no doesn’t mean no, and test male reaction to such clothing to determine which styles carry an implicit message that the woman wants to be forced into sex even if she says no over and over.

Because you know, women don’t really know what they want, and some guys just can’t understand the subtlety of NO!!!!!!!!!!!  STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Dewar) called Rhodes a "clumsy Don Juan" who may have misunderstood what the woman wanted when he forced intercourse along a darkened highway outside Thompson, Man., in 2006.

Poor dudes walking around out there, don’t know how to romance chicks...Dewar is telling you just go for it if you (and even if it’s you alone) believe sex is in the air.

After all, NO is such a difficult word to understand.

How the hell is this creature a judge?  No means no except when it doesn’t?  No means no except when some cave troll who can’t relate to women in a normal fashion wants to use her body despite her protests?

This had better be overthrown and Dewar should be disciplined, never allowed to preside over any cases involving women or children as victims.           

This would have made my mother happy –

- good Catholic that she was.

However, she did not blindly agree with everything that came out of Rome, and her criticism over the child rapes would have been loud. (emphasis mine)

"It is important to us that unconditional transparency is brought to the past," the Swiss bishops said in a statement. They urged all abusers to "stand before God and the people whom they have wronged and report to the relevant authorities."

Switzerland, home of the Swiss Guard papal protectors, is considering creating a central registry of pedophile priests to prevent them from coming into contact with children. Swiss bishops are divided over the proposal.

Amid renewed outrage over the European scandal, Schoenborn announced over the weekend the creation of a church-funded but independent and clergy-free commission headed by a woman to suggest ways to strengthen church guidelines for dealing with sexual abuse.

Swiss bishops urged victims to consider filing criminal complaints. German bishops opened a hot line for victims. Danish bishops launched an inquiry into decades-old claims.

"Thank you for breaking your silence," Schoenborn told the victims. "A lot has been broken open. There is less looking away. But there is still a lot to do."

He’s right. While these cries for reform and words of condemnation are good to hear, there’s still a lot to do. So, on this holiest of weeks, what is the head of the Catholic church doing about this predatory conduct of its own?

Asked how Benedict was responding to the scandal swirling around the Vatican, Lombardi replied: "The pope is a person of faith. He sees this as a test for him and the church."

Right.  Like it's some outside thing testing them, poor victims.  Not their fault.  It's the church that's under attack, not the trusting children the continue to violate.

Benny is showing his humility this week through the tradition of washing his clergy’s feet.

That test, Benny? Massive fail.  My mother would not have been so happy about that.

Why isn’t this bastard being charged?

Arthur Budzinski was a shy boy of 12 when he was first molested by a priest during confession, while away from home at a school for the deaf.  Now, Budzinski's story is part of the latest sex scandal to plague the Vatican, as documents have surfaced that show the priest accused of molesting Budzinski and as many as 200 other deaf boys was protected from being defrocked in the mid-1990s by the office of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.

Really.  With stories coming out nearly on a daily basis, surely there's enough for one of a number of countries to launch and investigation.  Not some bull-shit thing, but a criminal investigation.

"I think someone should be punished for this," his daughter Gigi Budzinski said. "His innocence was stolen from him."
 
No kidding.  Had it been some regular dude covering up for a buddy, justice would have been dealt out long ago, and the son-of-a-bitch wouldn't have had several more decades to cover up more crimes.

A big part of moving on after being molested is hearing the molester acknowledge guilt.  Without this, the victim carries the guilt and shame.  Victims need to know the wrong was done to them, and charging the molester then having a court say that what he did was criminal goes a long way in helping the victim heal.

It also lets people know that no one, under any circumstances, is allowed to molest a child.

But Ratzinger is sending the opposite message.  So are all of those justice systems to timid to charge him.

Some priest apparently would like to see some measure of justice taken, although I doubt what they request would go very far:

According to Church and Vatican documents obtained by The New York Times, two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office of Ratzinger in the 1990s to let them hold a Church trial against Murphy.
 
But at the time, Ratzinger's deputy decided that the abuse happened too long ago for a church trial. Instead, it was recommended that Murphy, who was then ailing and elderly, should repent and be restricted from celebrating mass outside of his diocese, according to the documents.
 
And the child rapist?

On Thursday, the Vatican defended its decision not to defrock Murphy, who died of natural causes in 1998.

Safely tucked away in heaven, the Church must think, since they didn't even defrock him.

Well, 900, chill out.  It's only rape.  Not at all serious like using condoms.

Fuck the Catholic Church.  These were their crimes, this agony was brought on children by them, and they do less than nothing to stop it from continuing.

I'm not including decent Catholics in this, but if they really believe in the good things Jesus taught, they should really demand that the Church clean house.  Or find another way of practicing their spirituality.  Silence does give consent.