HUSH MONEY FOR SINS OF THE FATHERS'!!!

We are told that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay 660 MILLION dollars to 508 victims of sexual abuse by priests.

A lot of victims won't get a dime because they waited too long to file a complaint.

Think about this for a minute. Imagine how difficult it must be to tell someone you've been abused by a priest! A person who represents GOD!

We've heard all kinds of stories about parents who didn't believe their kids when they claimed that Father so and so had touched them inappropriately. Or worse!

And then when priests were brought before church officials, what happened? Well, the priests were sent to another church to "work things out". Oh, there were fancier words for what was happening to the priests. Baloney about spiritual cleansing, etc., but the bottom line was that the Catholic Church and in this area, Cardinal Roger Mahony, did their darndest to cover up what were in everyone's minds but Mahony's (and others) that disgusting crimes against children had taken place over and over again!

And for the life of me, why what Mahony and what other enablers have done is not worthy of criminal prosecution is something I simply do not understand.

Do you know what this 660 million dollars buys? For one thing, it buys Cardinal Mahony the opportunity to not have to testify in a trial. But maybe that day will happen one day. Is this something we need to pray for?

WE GET E-MAIL:

I write a lot about illegal immigration, President Bush and entertainment. I don't write much about the e-mails I get, but at the end of each blog, you're encouraged to write to this blog or to my personal e-mail address which is scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. Comments and or questions sent to my personal address are responded to by me with an e-mail. When you write to the blog, the only way I can respond is by mentioning it, like, now.

Friday, because of a vote in the U.S. Senate we didn't learn about until a few hours after the blog had been posted, I went back and changed the headline and our lead story. It was about an 87-1 vote that authorized 50 million dollars for information leading to the capture and or killing of Osama bin Laden and ordered President Bush to refocus on capturing and or killing bin Laden. You would think a requirement like that wouldn't be necessary, but prior to our invasion of Iraq, President Bush said he didn't know where bin Laden was and "I truly am not that concerned about him." No, I didn't say that. President Bush said that.

Reader/listener LB from St. Louis writes:

"I'm thinking a better question than 'Did Paris Hilton get special treatment would be; Did Osama bin Laden get special treatment?

The answer to both is obvious. So, it's more a waste of breath than an exercise in civics.

Here's another question. Did Dick Cheney get special treatment?

Dick Cheney is now the Certs of political bad breath. He's 'two, two, two mints in one'.

He's either part of the Executive Branch, or he's part of the legislative branch. Can he be both?
Nice work if you can get it. Does that mean he also gets two paychecks?

You have to hand it to the guy though. He's managed to prune all the branches without getting his nails dirty.

Cheney gives new meaning to 'the constant gardener'.

I hope he stays the hell out of my yard!

Thanks, LB and if you'd like to read more about the way your mind seems to work, I recommend Maureen Dowd's column in yesterday's New York Times. It's titled, "Who's Sorry Now" and it's an imaginary letter written by President Bush which is titled, "How I Look at my Mistakes". And that imaginary letter is followed by an imaginary letter written by VP Cheney with the same title. A letter that consists of two words.

Tomorrow, you'll read a first person letter sent to me about illegal immigration.

LINDSAY LOHAN IS OUT OF REHAB:

After more than six weeks of therapy in an alcohol and drug rehab treatment facility, Lindsay Lohan has left the building. That was Friday. Saturday, Lohan was seen partying at Pure Nightclub in Las Vegas with friends of hers. Hold on! It's not what you think! As part of an intensive outpatient program, Lohan is wearing an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet. One drink and an alarm is set off somewhere. Her outpatient program also includes going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, taking daily sobriety tests and receiving therapy.

A NEW TV SHOW AND A 2006 FILM:

There's a new show on the USA Network, Thursday nights at 10 that I finally saw. "Burn Notice". It's about a former government agent who's played by Jeffrey Donovan and his very interesting partner who's played by Gabrielle Anwar. Sharon Gless also stars as the Donovan character's mother. It's an interesting show, but what's great about "Burn Notice" is the chemistry between Donovan and Anwar. I mean this is Bruce Willis/Cybil Shepherd chemistry!

A 2006 film titled "Shadowboxer" is on the premium cable channels now. It stars two Oscar winners. Cuba Gooding Junior and Helen Mirren. They play hired assassins. Interesting casting, huh? I thought it was an interesting film, but it was a film that I thought could have been better. We've all seen those kinds of films, right? "Shadowboxer", despite it's occasional lapses into weirdness, keeps your attention thanks to Gooding and Mirren as well as good performances by Vanessa Ferlito who plays a woman on the run and by Stephen Dorff who plays a very bad guy who wants the Ferlito character dead.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Don't forget! You can HEAR this blog! The links to the three stations broadcasting today's blog can be found at the bottom my links section which is to the right of what you're reading now. It's the last three links. ATTENTION: This links information will change in a couple of days, so be on the lookout for that!

If you read this before pictures have been added, come back! Pictures will be up soon. A new blog is written every morning, Monday through Friday and is posted between 7 and 7:15, Pacific Time. Sometimes earlier. Questions and comments can be sent to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I do write back.

TOMORROW: A first person letter about the illegal immigration business annnd whatever else makes me say, "Whaaat!"