Chat: Where tragedy and comedy collide
Yep, it’s Chat Day.
I want to kick off the show quickly, since Celine Dion is waiting to come on next.
Gotta hurry. They’re dimming the lights.
But as always, I need to say this really is YOUR time on stage.
Send me items, funny or serious — photos when you can — and our chats will keep getting better.
Remember, my email address is listed at the bottom of the column.
Now let’s get rolling ...
ITEM: We’re huge fans of law enforcement, teachers, firefighters and everyone else who gives us safety reminders.
It’s all about the need to be careful and use common sense.
So who was that moron getting a sandal caught in a walkway crack — the huge, gaping one that we’ve been warned about so often?
Yup.
My mind was elsewhere, of course, and thus I went flying. The four-point landing on concrete tore up both my knees and the palms of my hands.
I’m now bandaged to the point that it looks like I tried to take on that roaming grizzly barehanded.
Sorry, no photos allowed with this story.
I feel stupid enough.
ITEM: Pope Francis sent out a stern call for halting predatory sexual abuse by clerics in the Catholic Church — and delivered a powerful rebuke over a string of cover-ups.
The issue once again hit pretty close to home.
Hayden attorney Duane Rasmussen was front and center in a series of lawsuits in 2005 and beyond. Duane represented victims of abuse by priests in the Spokane Catholic Diocese.
The resulting string of legal action forced the diocese into bankruptcy mediation, with millions of dollars eventually paid to many of the victims.
Rasmussen noted back then that although Spokane was a small diocese, the potential bankruptcy could have national and worldwide repercussions.
He was right.
Amazingly, nearly everyone hurt by the systemic abuse — just as we saw last week with similar revelations in Pennsylvania — was almost as angry about the Church’s cruel reaction as they were about the abuse itself.
“There was an institutional cover-up going on, which extended from various parts of law enforcement to the Catholic Church’s Spokane diocese,” Rasmussen told various media outlets at the time.
“Institutions protect themselves. There’s no question some of the various perpetrators knew each other for some time and would cooperate with each other.”
My take as a former Catholic: Many of those bishops who knowingly moved predators from one parish to another should be in prison.
Human weakness is one thing. Soulless premeditation is worse.
Apologies are worthless from perpetrators of life-altering crimes.
Now here’s some irony ...
The Church right now is starting a new class on exorcism, with 250 priests learning the ancient practice at the Vatican.
Perhaps this ritual to rid individuals of demonic possession could start with work on all those priests who have been found guilty of sexual abuse.
The newly trained exorcists would have plenty of trial subjects.
Yeah, my suggestion does come across as a little snarky. But the bottom line to this abhorrent period in Catholic Church history can be described in one word ...
Sad.
ITEM: Right, let’s forget that scandal and get back to something fun.
Rich Kellogg found something historic in downtown Coeur d’Alene and wanted to pass on the news.
We’ll let him tell the story ...
“Here’s a sign I saw in the recently remodeled old railroad station at Third and Lakeside in downtown Coeur d’Alene,” Kellogg wrote.
“It currently houses a law office and the offices of NJ Mining Company, which owns the building. A lot of care went into the remodeling — not to make it into a museum, but to have historical and period pieces throughout.
“The sign was originally the property of the Northern Pacific Railway Company.
“Now by itself, this sign is not necessarily noteworthy. But consider the placement.”
Indeed.
Did you follow the instructions, Rich?
•••
Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.
A Brand New Day appears Wednesday through Saturday each week. Steve’s sports column runs on Tuesday.
Email: scameron@cdapress.com.
Twitter:@BrandNewDayCDA