Daily Grinder: Priest Abuse Case Gets Sicker

By Randy Lobasso
Philadelphia Weekly - Daily Grinder
April 3, 2012

http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2012/04/03/daily-grinder-priest-abuse-case-gets-sicker/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=daily-grinder-priest-abuse-case-gets-sicker

Priest abuse cases are always bad. Sure. But there's something about the Philadelphia case, specifically, that sort of makes me throw up a little, each time I read about it. Maybe it's the detailed, alleged maniacal perversion of the individual, uncharged priests who will never see the inside of a jail cell or that Cardinal Lynn apparently let it all happen. Or maybe it's the fact that Archbishop Charles Chaput has publicly endorsed Lynn and focused on national healthcare and school vouchers instead of, I don't know, showing any remorse for what happened or, let's say apologizing to the victims of the crimes he and his organization have now come to represent in this city. Either way, yesterday a detective read internal church memos about one priest who "joked about how hard it was to have sex with three boys in one week." Another priest, Rev. John Cannon, used to sneak into a cabin at a church-run camp, "groped the boys in their beds, and forced them to do the same to him." With friends/members like these, it doesn't matter if you can get your school vouchers or not. The laws of rationality say less people are putting their children under the supervision of Catholic priests.

This debate has begun: Pennsylvania House Speaker Sam Smith (R-Jefferson) has taken up the issue of
lawmakers_begin_debate_on_reducing_their_own_ranks.html">trimming the state House by 50 seats. Pennsylvania has the largest full-time legislature in the country.

According to one report, the Sunoco oil refinery has at least
At_least_four_bidders_for_Sunoco_refinery.html?cmpid=124488469">four potential bidders, and the ConocoPhillips one has one or two.

Does new Philadelphia Media Network ownership mean I have to suffer through full-page Wawa ads that take 10 seconds to load? Because that keeps happening.

In the meantime, pledges have been made: The new owners will not meddle in news affairs. They've also publicly stated they're interested in increasing staff, not more layoffs.

Gov. Tom Corbett has made a "request for qualifications" from companies who think they may be able to run the Pennsylvania lottery, instead of the state. And with that, he's taken the first step toward
Lottery.html">privatizing the scam as old as scams themselves.

Rick Santorum recently said the only poll that shows he's slipping was conducted by a "Democratic hack" in one Terry Madonna. But now a new poll, out of Mercyhurst College (oh, right. That place!), also shows the former Pennsylvania Senator slipping…slipping…he leads Romney by just six points.

And here's a photo/video dump of Rick Santorum drinking beer. Because sure.