Crazy about Caylee

Published in the Umatuna, 07/24/11, the newspaper of the Archdioces of Hagatna, Guam

An estimated 142 million people tuned into the recent Casey Anthony verdict on radio and television. On the internet, there were 3.3 million page views per minute to news sites carrying the story. CNN and ABC announced record traffic, and Facebook reported at least 10 posts per second.

The phrase "media frenzy" sounds too cliche to characterize the rampage. The word "zoo" came to mind, but the comparison would have been unkind to the animals. The case had become a case itself. Why the mad obsession with the "tot mom" who was alleged to have killed her child?

In the United States, parents kill their children with great frequency. In addition to the 4000 children killed every day in the womb, another 584 children under the age of 5 are reported murdered annually, mostly by their parents. According to the Bureau of Justice, 31% are killed by their fathers, 29% killed by their mothers, 23% are killed by male acquaintances, 7% killed by another relative, and 3% killed by a stranger.

Why we are in trouble

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, and also President of the USCCB, is being trumpeted as a solid conservative by the "oh so anxious for any bishop that even sounds conservative conservatives" (if you can follow that).

But gay marriage has triumphed under his nose for a reason. And there's more to come. Sadly, it seems Dolan is more interested in being well-liked than well, well anything else.

Consider this little interchange on Fox and Friends, 11/24/2010: (This link no longer works. See video below.)

Fox:	Do you have a message of thanksgiving?
Dolan:	I know a lot of people -- >> you bet I do.
Dolan:	I'm thankful my mom is here.
Dolan:	She's going to be with me.
Dolan:	I'm thankful she's going to be making the dressing and the pumpkin pie.
Fox:	I'm -- >> you're off the hook, huh?
Dolan:	>> I'm thankful for thanksgiving.
Dolan:	It's a time of the year when people are open to the lord and we don't think about ourselves.
Dolan:	We're grateful to god.
Dolan:	We're conscious that somebody, some call him or her, whatever you want, somebody beyond us is in charge and we are immensely grateful that it's not about us.

Hmmm, "him or her, whatever you want". Thank you Archbishop for your conviction about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.