I think we have here what a literary agent would call “an important book.”

David Pierre of Media Report has published an illuminating new book, The Greatest Fraud Never Told: False Accusations, Phony Grand Jury Reports, and the Assault on the Catholic Church. Pierre and his work are often ignored because he is unjustly accused of dismissing accusations of clergy sex abuse, en masse. That charge is not true. Instead, Pierre stresses an often-forgotten truth: “a false accusation is truly an affront to those who genuinely suffered as the result of their horrendous abuse.”

When the first hints of clergy sexual abuse began to surface in the late-80s, I served as an advisor to many of the good, new bishops being appointed. On this topic, I counseled the bishops:

• First, do not call this pedophilia – because, for the most part, it is same-sex activity between a cleric and a post-pubescent young man; that’s the truth and, the truth always sets us free. “Pedophilia” conjures up images of five- and six-year-old boys. Further, if the sinful activity had been properly labeled, ironically, the secular media wouldn’t have given it much coverage, since they always promote same-sex relations.

• Second, never settle any case out of court for a variety of reasons, not least that while a pastoral plea demands a pastoral response, a legal challenge demands a legal response. Moreover, when a financial settlement is made, that more than suggests guilt, thus damaging irreparably an innocent priest’s reputation. Regrettably, most bishops listened, instead, to diocesan attorneys and insurance companies.

Instead they listened to lawyers . . .

Peace prize or not, the orange man has pulled off a real-life prize of no mean proportions.

President Trump’s announcement today that Bahrain will be the latest Arab country to recognize Israel starts to make it look like we could be on the way to a Mideast Peace. It would be unwise to get ahead of events, but it would also be unwise not to recognize at least the possibility that is coming into view. Predicting this development Thursday, Mr. Trump declared, “You could have peace in the Middle East.”

The announcement by the White House today comes in advance of what was already shaping up as a remarkable event for Tuesday, when Mr. Trump is due to host at the White House the signing of the entente between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Prime Minister Netanyahu will be there, as will U.A.E.’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Now, the White House says, Bahrain will be there, as well.

Under the mainstream radar, I’d say.

She had a vision.

“Mother Earth is angry,” Pelosi said. “She’s telling us — whether she’s telling us with hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in the West, whatever it is — that the climate crisis is real and has an impact.”

Time for some human sacrifice:

H/T Hannibal Lecture.

As you sow, so shall ye reep.

A new poll from Gallup and the Knight Foundation has found that the vast majority of Americans believe the media is biased.

What, pray tell, did those editors, reporters etc. expect?

They have met the enemy and these are them.

Rochester Police Department (RPD) officers have been given permission to cover up their names displayed on their tags to avoid harassment from left-wing protesters, who are screaming out their home addresses, kids’ names and schools, and making taunting calls to their parents in front of them. They are also spreading personal information about the cops via social media.

“The past couple of months officers names have been researched by protesters to put personal information out to the public, putting the safety of their families in jeopardy,” said a statement from RPD Chief La’Ron Singletary, who announced his resignation earlier this week.

Oh you Dems, DISOWN THEM. Early and often, to make up for your ignoring or lying about them.

I love this guy. Blinks not, socks it to them.

“They’re basically a collection of liars. Most of the mainstream media. They’re a collection of liars and they know exactly what they’re doing. A perfect example of that were the riots. Right on the street it was clear as day what was going on, anyone observing it, reporters observing it, it could not have escaped their attention that this was orchestrated violence by a hardened group of street fighting radicals and they kept on excluding from their coverage all the video of this and reporting otherwise and they were doing that for partisan reasons, and they were lying to the American people. It wasn’t until they were caught red-handed after essentially weeks of this lie that they even started feeling less timid,” Barr said on the flight back to Washington Friday afternoon.

Think of this: If Trump loses, out he goes, and all the investigations with him.

Medieval.

During a press conference, Dr. Jacques Girard, who heads the Quebec City public health authority, drew attention to a case where patrons at a bar were ordered to wait until their COVID-19 tests came back, but disregarded the command and left the premises before the results came back positive.

This led to them being deemed “uncooperative” and forcibly interned in a quarantine facility.

“[W]e may isolate someone for 14 days,” Girard said during the press conference. “And it is what we did this morning…forced a person to cooperate with the investigation…and police cooperation was exceptional.”

Madness.

When science is not settled.

Oh that Swedish thing.

As the rest of Europe and the world remains under the grip of draconian rules and the threat of new lockdowns, Sweden, which allowed its citizens to remain free throughout the entire pandemic, has pretty much declared victory over the coronavirus.

The country now has one of the lowest infection rates on the planet, and it’s difficult not to admire how it has handled the past year, with no strict lockdown or compulsory face mask rules. All businesses, schools and public places remained open in Sweden for the duration.

Setbacks along the way, but look at it now.

“Sweden has gone from being the country with the most infections in Europe to the safest one,” Sweden’s senior epidemiologist Dr. Anders Tegnell commented to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

“What we see now is that the sustainable policy might be slower in getting results, but it will get results eventually,” Tegnell clarified.

“And then we also hope that the result will be more stable,” he added.

Where did Dr. T. stand on masks?

Tegnell previously warned that encouraging people to wear face masks is “very dangerous” because it

gives a false sense of security but does not effectively stem the spread of the virus.

“The findings that have been produced through face masks are astonishingly weak, even though so many people around the world wear them,” Tengell has urged.

Can you hear the gnashing of teeth at this news?

Advice from friends:

The country deserves a debate over policy because Mr. Biden is proposing the most left-wing agenda of any major party candidate in our lifetime. The Democratic strategy is to keep Mr. Trump talking about Donald J. Trump.

Will the real Mr. Trump step forward? Rather, will he promote what he’s done and not (unwisely) what he can be at times, annoyingly.