Meet my Bernie Law Doll.  I made him a batch of years ago, but apparently he wants to come out and watch the news this week.  (Sorry for some of the pictures, which suck, but which also demonstrate a curve of learning which I can celebrate).

Wickipedia on the infamous dude –

“… despite substantial amounts of documentation that demonstrated deep involvement with covering up the molestation of 1,000’s of children, Law refused to step down as Archbishop of Boston… ”

And, as if that weren’t bad enough, the Catholic Church promoted him by shipping him off to Rome and making him a member of the College of Cardinals (whatever THAT is).

So that’s old news.  But turning to August of this year? The Boston Globe reported an in-depth story about the tennis coach Bob Hewitt who apparently abused his female tennis students for years, even after complaints were lodged against him in the 1970’s.

How’s this for a comment by someone in an official capacity (John Korff, director-at-large of the US Tennis Association, who knew Hewitt ‘back in the day’):

“Gee, it’s nice of the girl to pop up 35 years later,’’ Korff said. “Give me a break.’’

Wow. Later apology not believed! Korff’s comment stinks of disdain and ignorance. Perhaps he had never heard of PTSD or learned how trauma get processed.

After decades of holding it together, the victim referred to above (Heather Conner), broke her silence in the very year that one of her daughters turned the age she had been when the abuse started (14).  Her life began to come apart at the seams in an arc of survivor behavior that is not uncommon (in fact, is well-documented in the annals of psychology). Hewitt also sneered about the victim coming forward after so many years.

And now Penn. State. There we have a beloved, long-serving coach who ought to have done better than alert campus police about a fifteen-year history of abuse by his assistant.  He ought to have believed that those who held him in such high esteem, his players,  ten year-old boys using his facilities deserved protection. In 1998, Sandusky (the assistant coach, or as I shall call him, “the Head Fiddler” – HA~  Craig Ferguson – you can use this if you like) ADMITTED to ‘inappropriate contact in the shower room’.  And well, guess what? All the candlelight vigils and all the tweeting and honking will not absolve the coach of his inadequate intervention. Fiddling with young boys in the shower is a crime. ‘Head Fiddlers’ belong in prison, not in steamy showers with boys. You do not report crimes to the dean, to the athletic director, or to campus security.  You report crimes to the police or the D.A.

Hello Herman Cain? Oh god, give us a break, sir, and go away.  Back in law school, it was noted when studying Title VII that it took 4-5-6 women’s allegations to bring a creep down. In other words, in a “he said/she said” situation, even with the protection of the Constitution and the federal laws built around the Constitution, it took 4-5-6 women’s word to overcome one perpetrator’s claim of innocence. I went to law school in the late 80’s, but it appears that things have not changed. Herman Cain’s accusers reached the critical weight.

BTW – Bernie’s cape (you know how those Catholic figures of authority love women’s clothes!) – is made by sandwiching fibers between two layers of water soluble film, stitching them on the machine, then dissolving the plastic — this is exactly what I need to go make samples of for tomorrow’s ‘Creative Quilting’ class.