“Dumb and Dumber”

Dannie Dolan’s Bishop’s Corner of January 3, 2016 rang in the New Year with all his old familiar themes: reminiscing about “the old days” (with a little “guilt-tripping” thrown in for good measure); a “sympathy play” anecdote about “finally” getting a “tepid water” problem fixed (that had supposedly gone on for years – as if there was no money to fix it until now), and getting a new stove and microwave for an “office kitchen”; his usual comments about the weather (of course!); banal banter about his cats (especially Caravaggio); lots of faux “concern” for Bp. McKenna and others; and – the pièce de résistance – his revelation about SGG’s “new-old” organ having to be sent in for repairs (hint: “we need even more money for that too, Gerties!”).  It was vintage “Dannie” -- a veritable tour de force of just about everything that’s wrong with the cult-center.  If he had TRIED to make himself look totally ridiculous, he couldn’t possibly have been more successful.

First off (as we noted earlier), he reminisced nostalgically about the observance of Holy Name Sunday in “the old days” (no doubt, for its “show” value).  That set the stage for transitioning into his next theme (one of his favorites): guilt-tripping.  Starting off with, “We were blessed with encouragingly good weather and excellent attendance ‘like the old days.’”  This, of course, was a not-so-subtle reminder that attendance nowadays is NOT like “the old days.”  And then, just in case his Gerties didn’t catch that hint, he followed that with “Nobody particularly came to church during the Octave, of course. What a shame to let all of that beauty and prayer go to waste.”

Dannie then went on to tell the Gerties about how his “Christmas” went:  “I got my Christmas presents early and am well content. All I wanted, I was telling Santa, was hot running water after a hiatus of several years of the tepid trickle.”  Oh, poor, deprived Dannie!  Having to put up with a “tepid trickle” for several years?  Whom are you trying to kid, Dannie, with your pretense of “offer it up” frugality and long-suffering perseverance?  You, who go on several high-dollar boondoggles a year, not having the money to fix a trickling faucet?  And you, who won’t tolerate a crying baby for a minute during your sermon, having the patience to put up with that “tepid trickle” for years?  Again, whom are you trying to kid, Dannie, with your nakedly fabricated play for sympathy?

“Oh, and… (there’s always an “and,” isn’t there?),” Dannie continued, “a stove and a microwave for the priests’ office kitchen, [our italics] where we often take our meals, would be nice. We didn’t have one, ‘not one that works,’ as King John [?] would say. It came, so, pretty good!”  A stove AND microwave – in the priests’ office kitchen?  How insensitive, how thoughtless of those Gerties to supply you with those things only for the rectory kitchen up to now!  How about one for your bedroom (along with a mini fridge) – so you can whip yourself up a midnight snack?  How about a wet bar?  We are so mortified that you have been deprived of these necessities all these years (especially considering that you had to put up with that “tepid trickle” too)!  Poor baby!

Next, Dannie had to regale his Gerties with how the cats’ Christmas went: “The cats, however, had the best Christmas ever. Thanks to one devoted ‘Cat’lic,’ they had a present or two waiting for them…Christmas catnip.  Oh, how thoughtful!  And – “Cat’lic” – aren’t you the clever one, Dannie!  (Actually, Dannie devoted a whole paragraph about Caravaggio [one of the cats] opening his “present.”)  We bet the Gerties really enjoyed this – especially those who helped pay Dannie’s “high heating bills” the last few winters! 

By the way, we notice that Dannie only mentioned Caravaggio and Puccini [another cat].  Why not Vivaldi? [He’s the third of their feline trio.]  Perhaps Vivaldi is “no longer with us anymore.”  Perhaps he “went to that big cathouse in the sky.”  (Or perhaps the Lotarski boys got to him.)  Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait ‘til Dannie clears up the mystery in an upcoming ’Corner.  We can’t wait to hear the news!

Next, Dannie informed us that some of his affiliate clerics “had crosses* this Christmas” …. Fr. Mardones says Juarez and El Paso had the worst (and first!) snow in many years, shutting down the cities over the weekend.  Bishop Sanborn’s back grew worse after his Michigan trip for Bishop McKenna’s funeral, and he finally had to cancel his Christmas trip to England and the Continent.”  How sad to miss Mass for Christmas…”  Yes, how sad!  Actually, Dannie, the snow down in El Paso and Juarez didn’t even start until the afternoon of the day AFTER Christmas.  So, the snow couldn't possibly have caused Fr. Mardones "to miss Mass for Christmas."   (Click here for the El Paso newspaper’s account of the snow-storm).  Well, Dannie, before you decide to mislead your Gerties again with some “heart-rending” BS, please get your facts straight before making a fool out of yourself!**  You know what they say: “Liar, Liar, pants on fire!”

But we save the best – or, as we put it earlier, the pièce de résistance -- for last: the broken organ.  Yes, the “new old” organ (that Tony bought to replace the existing one) is “on the fritz.” Yes, Dannie reported that “the organ has gone out, so he’s [i.e., Tony) changed hats and is waiting hopefully for the repairman.”  Well, ironically for Dannie (and providentially for the rest of us), Pistrina (presciently) pointed out the very same thing on that very same day.  Now what makes this so significant is that it was less than a year ago that this organ was bought to replace SGG’s existing one, which – despite the fact that Dannie (in his March 1 Bishop’s Corner), stated that “the old organ really is old, and slowly dying” -- was working perfectly well at the time. Both Pistrina and we commented at that time (click here and here) about what a waste of money this new organ was.  But Dannie insisted that a new one was needed – so he got Tony his new toy; and the Gerties (of course) picked up the tab.  And now, “Tony’s new toy” is broke.

So, Dannie sold the parishioners on the idea of buying that “new old” organ on the premise that the old one was “slowly dying.” And now, it seems, the Gerties will be tapped again for the repairs.  Oh sure, Dannie will probably wordsmith things to make it look like the money is coming “from somewhere else.”  Perhaps he’ll say that it’s coming out of the “Bishop’s Fund” (as he claimed for his frequent boondoggles to faraway places).  Or perhaps he’ll find some novel, “cute” way of asking for the money – such as, “I’m looking for organ donors.”  But we all know what the real “bottom line” is: SGG’s parishioners will AGAIN be picking up the tab. 

Perhaps Dannie will play his “false humility card” again, and say that he’ll “sacrifice” some (invented) “need” (such as, a “needed” apostolate trip to Baja), and “instead” use that money for the repairs.  And (of course) he’ll word it in such a “sympathy soliciting” way that the Gerties will say, “Oh no, Your Excellency, don’t do that!  Go ahead and take your trip.  Don’t worry.  We’ll pay for it!”  Well, tell us, Gerties: will you really be that gullible again?  How many more times, we wonder, are you going to swallow that crap until you’ve “had enough”?

In closing, let us repeat that Dannie’s Jan. 3 ‘Corner has to go down as one of his biggest fiascos yet (perhaps an even bigger bust than SGG’s new “ordo” will be).  It was a representative microcosm of just about everything that is WRONG with SGG.  In it, Dannie showcased all of his “major strengths”: manipulative “guilt-tripping,” false humility, syrupy (and totally insincere) flattery, deliberate lying (with the intent to deceive) -- and a sick preoccupation with his feral pet cats.  But it’s not just that all these things were showcased, but that they turned out to be so undeniably embarrassing for Dannie – especially his words about that “new old” organ coming back to haunt him (not to mention, his mendacious insinuation about that snow storm “canceling Christmas”).  He cannot deny any of it; he can only hope that his Gerties “don’t find out.”

Of course, making a fool out of oneself is nothing new for either Dannie or Tony.  They are past masters at it; they have both bungled badly (and often), each in his own “inimitable” way.  They are truly the Dumb and Dumber*** of Traddieland.  Dannie’s Jan. 3 ‘Corner is just the latest in a long line of such blunders in the Dysfunctional Duo’s repertoire.  Along with SGG’s new “ordo,” this ought to go a long way toward hastening the demise of these two bozos – especially if those Gerties “find out”!  And, sooner or later, they will.

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* “Crosses”?  Is missing a mid-winter boondoggle to England (and the Continent) a “cross”?  [A-a-a-a-a-a-h, poor Donny!]  Dannie, there are lots of SGG parishioners who can’t even afford foreign travel – but who nonetheless were expected to pay for your “high heating bills” (and Tony’s new toy organ).  Or is being held up by “bad weather” a “cross”?  Dannie, your Gerties brave bad weather many times – especially those men who get out of bed -- in the middle of the night, in mid-winter, when the weather is often “iffy” -- to take their hour turn at All-Night Adoration.  And those “back problems” that Big Don and the others had to endure: these are “crosses” too?  What about those parishioners (such as the Duff family or the Schappacher family) who had to endure for years the hardship (and expense) of raising severely handicapped children?  (And, for that matter, what about what Terri Schiavo endured?)  Dannie, compared to these folks, your Roman-collared buddies’ “crosses” are NOTHING. 

Tell us, Dannie: for clergy, does a persistent hangnail qualify as a “cross”?  Does wearing a Roman collar somehow make one’s suffering more intense than usual?  If I didn’t know any better, Dannie, I’d say that you were engaging in a bit of hyperbole.  But – oh, I forgot! – peasants (aka, laity) are not so refined as clergy.  They’re thick-skulled louts  (like Terri Schiavo, for instance) who are numb to pain and suffering -- who don’t feel things so keenly as clergy.  (Yeah, we forgot, too, what Tony said about Terri: that her husband “had the sole right before God to determine whether these means [i.e., tube-feeding her] should have continued to be used.”  We should’ve known that starving and dehydrating her to death was the right way to go!  We simply forgot, too, that we’re just “plain, dumb folk” who must believe and obey whatever Tony says – because he’s a priest!)  So, of course, Dannie!  You’re right!  Please forgive us!

** Not only did Dannie tell a lie, but it was a deceptive lie: he gave the impression that Fr. Mardones missed Christmas Mass because of the weather.  Now one of Dannie’s apologists might argue that it was Sanborn to whom Dannie was referring when he lamented, “How sad to miss Mass for Christmas.” But, upon inspection, this makes no sense.  As Dannie himself pointed out, it was a Christmas trip (to England) that Big Don missed – not Christmas Mass.  (We’re fairly certain, too, that the trip was to be after Christmas anyway.)  One can only deduce, then, that Dannie was referring to Fr. Mardones when he said, “How sad to miss Mass for Christmas.”

However, another possibility (that one of Dannie’s apologists’ might proffer) is that Dannie was just “making a general statement” [about missing Christmas Mass] and was therefore referring to no one.  But this would be totally absurd, given the context of the passage.  No, one can only deduce, again, that it was a purely deliberate attempt by Dannie to deceive (and, of course, an obvious attempt at soliciting sympathy as well). But this is all part of Dannie’s modus operandi: when he lies (which is quite often), it’s invariably with the intention of deceiving, of soliciting sympathy, and/or of furthering himself at the expense of others.

*** Dumb and Dumber was the title of a Hollywood movie -- a comedy – billed as a hilarious romp about two bungling fools who could do nothing right (which fairly describes Dannie and Tony).  What Dannie and Tony do can certainly seem to be hilarious at times, too – but only in the satirical or ironic sense.  Their bungling efforts often do make them look “funny”; but, in reality, they are not funny.  What they do is tragic – especially when one considers both the material and spiritual harm they have wrought (and continue to do).  We sincerely hope that today’s Gertrudians recognize this soon, so that they don’t suffer any further victimization at these predators’ hands – and that others recognize it soon too, before the same thing happens to them.

The Latest “Must Have” Non-Essential: SGG’s “Ordo”

Pistrina Liturgica recently reported that Dannie and Tony’s newest ecclesiastical venture is the commissioning of an “ordo.”  And just what is an ordo?  It is, as their article explained, the annual calendar (in mostly abbreviated Latin) with instructions for the daily recitation of the Breviary and the celebration of Mass.  It is intended not for the laity, but for clergy, and thus has very limited circulation potential.  Now it just so happens that there are other perfectly adequate ordines already existing.  So why is Dannie commissioning this new one?

The obvious reason is that he’s doing it for prestige.  After Tony’s other offerings (WHH et al) have been such train wrecks, SGG was in dire need of “rehab” for its tarnished “scholastic” image – and a relatively “safe” way to get it was to publish this ordo.  Since ordines are written in Latin (and fairly “technical” Latin at that), this would seem to many as an impressive piece of work, and a sign of real “scholarship,” because -- if an outfit is competent enough to publish an ordo -- then its people must “really know their stuff,” right?   And since Tony & Co. will simply be copying much of it from other ordines, there is minimal chance that they’ll flub the Latin (as Tony did on WHH et al) -- right?  WRONG.

As Pistrina initially discovered, even the cover page of SGG’s ordo – the page the public notices first (and THE page “you want to get right”) -- had glaring, school-boy Latin errors in it (click here) as did much of the rest of it (click here).  So, SGG’s attempt to pass themselves off as a real “Latinists” (and thereby recoup their tarnished reputation) has flopped again.  Chances are, there’ll be many more errors (even though the ordo is largely a “copy job” from another existing ordo).  But Dannie doesn’t care.  He knows that his culties will see it as a work of “erudition” (and some might even be stupid enough to buy it, even though they haven’t the foggiest notion of what its about – or what to do with it).

Dannie also hopes that, mistake-ridden or not, the sponsoring of an “official ordo” will be seen as an impressive “Catholic undertaking” in itself.  Most traditional clergy, of course (and laity who are really familiar with ordines), realize that copying an already existing ordo is not a sign of “scholarship” (Latin or otherwise), and hence won’t be impressed.  However, it will certainly impress the brain-dead (and possibly a few more too) – and that’s all that Dannie cares about.*  He knows that SGG’s claim to being “scholarly” – especially their reputation as  “Latinists” and “theologians,” is in tatters to the point where even the rank-and-file Gerties now doubt it.  So, this “ordo” just might salvage their reputation to some degree – at least enough to keep his Gerties donating.  And for Dannie, that’s “close enough.”

Now this might get Dannie some short-term gains – but what if it’s a total flop?  Earlier, we mused, “chances are, there be many more errors.”  Well, as it turns out, there are (and which Pistrina will be categorizing in subsequent posts).  But even if there weren’t, what made Dannie think that what is mostly a copy job of an earlier work would impress the world-at-large – especially when that earlier work is far superior?  What Dannie and Tony have given the world is another cement life preserver -- another set of pre-flattened automobile tires.  Their newest scheme has about as much chance of “success” as does an Islamic State recruiting pamphlet in Tel Aviv.  In the long run (actually the not-so-long run), Dannie’s new opus will only serve to embarrass him, and to reinforce SGG’s image as a bunch of buffoons.

This new effort, like all their other efforts, is doomed to failure – not just because it is a bungled effort, but because it was done for the wrong reason: greed.  Dannie and Tony’s focus has always been on one thing: M-O-N-E-Y -- which has always clouded their judgment, and destroyed the very goal they’re after.  And this time around is no different: this new ordo, designed to give them prestige (and therefore ultimately translate into more “business”) will, again, only bring them more embarrassment and grief – and less revenue.

And what, we ask, made Dannie think that his bungling crew of semi-literates would come up with anything worthwhile anyway?  What made him think, after Tony’s previous fiascos, that they could tackle something as “challenging” as an ordo (in spite of the fact that it was largely a copy job)?  And what made him think that their errors would go unnoticed?  (And, did he ever consider that it might also raise the ire of those whose ordo they are copying?)  This new ordo – this new “landmark” [or is it landfill?] effort – will only be “landmark” in the sense that it will probably turn out to be SGG’s biggest fiasco yet -- and destroy what little prestige SGG has left.  In fact, it just may be the event that precipitates SGG’s final downhill slide – that hastens its well-deserved demise.  

After the 2009 school debacle (from which SGG’s prestige took a huge hit), many of SGG’s parishioners left -- including SGG’s biggest benefactor.  We recall, afterwards, that Big Don Sanborn wrote to that man,** sarcastically asking him, “…if you find one of them [Dannie or Tony] as a greeter in Wal-Mart in order to support himself, will you be then satisfied and content?”  Actually, we think that this was a very appropriate question for Donny to ask – and very prescient of him, too -- because, after this latest ordo fiasco, that “greeter” job may be the only one that Dannie or Tony will be able to get.  After all, it’s a job that doesn’t require any Latin skills (real or imagined).  In fact, it requires hardly any brains at all (making it, by the way, ideally suited for any of Big Don’s pest-house completers).  All it really requires is a smiling face.  And, let’s face it: with Dannie’s cheesy grin, he’d be a shoo-in for the job!  So, our advice to him is:  Go for it, Dannie!

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* Indeed, one of Dannie’s culties, writing a caustic e-mail to Pistrina (after its first article slamming SGG’s ordo), said, “It is positively sinful how you trashed Bishop Dolan's and Father Cekada's ORDO 2016 over just a few silly typographical errors.  They are trying to keep the Faith alive which is more than you nasties are doing, you are killing it....If you know so much, why don't you publish an Ordo so priests can say Holy Mass to keep sinners like you from burning in hell?” 

Of course, as Pistrina later pointed out in a follow-up article, it wasn’t just a case of “typographical errors.”  Pistrina also answered this idiot’s challenge – “why don't you publish an Ordo so priests can say Holy Mass to keep sinners like you from burning in hell?” -- by pointing out that there was a far more competently written ordo already existing, so why produce another?    The e-mail also illustrates the ignorance of this moron in equating the writing of this ordo with “trying to keep the Faith alive” – and equating opposition to it as meriting “burning in hell.”

The writing of an error-filled ordo, when there is already a better one out there, does not constitute “trying to keep the Faith alive.”  On the contrary, what it constitutes is an obvious attempt to gain prestige by profiting at someone else’s expense – not exactly an “altruistic motive.”  So, if there is anyone “burning in hell” over this, it is Dannie and his accomplices – for concocting such a nakedly mercenary scheme.  However, we thank that moron for his (or her) e-mail, for it gave Pistrina the opportunity to reinforce its point that, in the case of SGG’s ordo, it is NOT just a matter of “typographical errors” – which will become more and more embarrassingly evident as more errors are uncovered.  Thus, this moron has given Pistrina the chance to expose the cult-masters once again for the buffoons that they are.

** The parishioner to whom Sanborn wrote his letter was Bernie Brueggemann, who – along with about half the parish – left SGG after the 2009 school scandals.  Bombastic Don tried every “guilt-trip” trick he could think of to get Bernie to feel guilty – but the ruse didn’t work.  Luckily, we have preserved that letter, which showcases the Donster’s intimidating and manipulative style.  This letter is also damaging to Sanborn in that it was written to a man who was loved and revered by everyone – even by those hard-core culties still there at SGG -- which makes Big Don look all the more like the bullying maggot he is.  Little did the Donster realize, when he wrote his diatribe, that it would come to be a total embarrassment for him – just as this ordo will be for Dannie and Tony.

Deference? Sorry, Not Any More!

A man, the firstborn son in a large Italian-American family, was -- as firstborn sons often are -- expected to “go far” in life.  He was intelligent and handsome, and had an engaging charisma about him.  After finishing a stint in the Navy, he got a job as a salesman; and it was quickly apparent that he was a “natural” at this.  He quickly became the top salesman where he worked.  Eventually, he met a girl, got married, and started a family.  While he was in the Navy, however, he took up gambling.  This habit continued after he got out, and later developed into a really serious problem.  Eventually, he became a full-blown compulsive gambler, and lost his job.  His wife, who gave him chance after chance to reform, finally – after seeing him gamble away their house (and even steal from his kids’ piggy banks to support his habit) – left him, taking their two kids with her.

Now all the while this was going on, the man’s family made one excuse after another as to why his chronic gambling “wasn’t his fault.” And, because he himself was such a charismatic “sales jock," he “sold” his family on that notion too.  Time after time, his father (or, in some cases, an uncle) would pay his gambling debts and “bail him out” – hoping against hope that he would reform.  Of course, he never did.  Bailing him out only fed his habit (like trying to put out a fire with gasoline).  Being a real “charmer,” he “re-married” several times, swindling each and every subsequent wife out of her life savings.  But to this day, some family members still regard him as “faultless.”  In fact, some even blame his first wife – saying that “things would’ve got better” if she hadn’t “abandoned” him.  Some feel sorry for him.  And, yes, some even think of him as “the victim.”  But in no case, do they condemn him.

Well, it’s kind of the same way at SGG.  There we have Dannie, the charismatic master flimflammer, exploiting and victimizing people at will (and draining their pockets for whatever pet reason strikes his fancy) – yet his culties defend him to the hilt.  Not only do they rigorously endorse him, but they vehemently condemn anyone who dares say otherwise -- especially those who expose the truth about him.  They regard them as vindictive “witch hunters” who “have an axe to grind”; and they refuse to believe the mountain of factual evidence against him.  They either refuse to believe it, or they find some way to “explain it away.”  No matter what he does, their Dannie can do no wrong. 

We at Lay Pulpit (and even more so at Pistrina Liturgica) are especially cited for being “disrespectful of the clergy” for what we say about Dannie and Tony.  Since they are “men of the cloth,” we are supposed to show them “deference.” – but do they (and their supporters) show others the same?*  Showing Dannie and Tony deference, of course, presupposes that they are good, decent men who have some degree of legitimacy that entitles them to that deference – either because they are legitimate, or they are presumed to be until proven otherwise. 

And the plain truth is that, in the beginning, they were presumed to be legitimate. They were given the benefit of the doubt, and shown that deference – plenty of it.  But they showed themselves NOT to be good men; and when they chose to abuse their privilege – to wantonly and habitually victimize people, and then to disdainfully and arrogantly disregard those victims and their plight (and the hard evidence of their mistreatment) -- they forfeited all right to any such “deference.”  Therefore, we ask, why go through the utter pretense of continuing to show these worms any deference?  What they now merit is total censure.

Strictly speaking, NONE of the sede “bishops” warrants any “deference.”  Since appointments to the bishopric must come from the Holy See (i.e., be authorized by the institutional Church), none of the traditional bishops are licit (and -- many might argue -- are invalid).  However, we here will not “play theologian” and rule on any of that, nor are we saying that a sede bishop warrants no respect at all.  (Our position is that good men, whatever their “credentials,” warrant respect – and bad men don’t.)  But we can say this: as sedes, they haven’t any of the jurisdictional authority that goes along with the office of bishop.  So, for a dirt-bag like Dannie to have his Gerties kiss his ring and accord him all the other “deference” due a bishop is unwarranted (not to mention, pretentious) – but, oh, how Dannie just relishes playing the part!!

It is ironic that Dannie, who has no pastoral jurisdiction or authority whatsoever, can pretend that he does -- and can play at it with such relish – squeezing out every bit of ersatz homage that he can from his SGG vassals.  Actually, just for what they said about Schiavo, Dannie and Tony -- even considered as simple priests -- are entitled to no deference whatsoever.  Add to that the rest of their “track record,” and these bagworms deserve nothing but utter CONTEMPT.  These two renegades, who operate totally un-policed and answerable to no one -- and doing whatever they damn well please -- expect their underlings to accept their rubbish “because they’re priests.”  Sorry -- not any more.

Besides, the “nice approach” has already been tried on these bagworms far too many times before – and it hasn’t worked.  Invariably, when people have asked them to explain a wrong position that they have taken (especially on Schiavo), they have condescendingly told them to “shut up and obey,” and have scolded them for “questioning their authority.”  And when confronted with all the hard evidence against them, they have simply clammed up and ignored it -- hoping that it won’t become “public” – or, they have denied it – hoping that their parishioners accept their “explanation.”  Or, they simply use the “stonewall” approach and shout down their opposition, telling them to “shut up and believe” because “they are priests” -- and, therefore, are not to be questioned.  So, again we ask, why show these worms continued “deference”?

Actually, for those who know the truth about Dannie and Tony, but who remain acquiescently “deferential,” their silence is sinful – sometimes mortally sinful -- because it only reinforces the cult-masters' behavior.  “Accommodating” them won’t stop them.  And it certainly won’t reform them, but will only ensure that they’ll do more of the same.  Dannie’s and Tony’s apologists would do well to remember this.  And when they actively defend these maggots, they not only give them unwarranted “legitimacy” and credibility, but they make themselves collaborators in the cult-masters’ mischief.

It is interesting to note, too, that when these people attack our blogs for what we say about Dannie and Tony, they never attack the main arguments.  Instead, they invariably pick on some “tangent” point, and/or they accuse us of “name-calling.”  They, of course, also engage in name-calling.  But there’s one big difference: we can back up what we say with FACTS.  They can’t.  All they have going for them is groundless denial.  And the reason that we can back up what we say is that, invariably, our proof comes from Dannie’s and Tony’s own lips: the cult-masters condemn themselves with their own words.  So, again, these people who try to defend them by “blowing smoke” are just making both themselves and the cult-masters look even worse. 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: self-righteous, defiant denials and deaf ears are not “morally acceptable alternatives” for the truth.  Those who strenuously defend the cult-masters cannot use any of those as a “justification shield.”  They have an obligation to seek out the truth – and then use it.  If they do not, they are just as guilty as the cult-masters.  The sad reality, though, is that many of them willfully do NOT seek it out, because they’re afraid of what they’ll find – and then they’d have to give up their “show.”  Whatever their reasons – willful ignorance, close-minded intransigence, acquiescence, or “inertia” (not making the effort to seek out the truth) – none of these, again, are “morally acceptable alternatives.”

These people must stop pretending, and come to the cold realization that Dannie and Tony are illegitimate scum, as the evidence clearly shows.  If they think they can prove otherwise, we eagerly invite them to try.  But we know that they won’t -- and can’t -- because they know that we have the truth on our side.  Defending these maggots as “legitimate” will always be a failed effort, just as bailing out that gambler (in our earlier example) was a failed effort: it only ensures that one’s self-destructive behavior continues. 

Again, no one is going to reform Dannie and Tony.  And the truth about them is out there – a mountain of it -- and it’s getting harder and harder to ignore.  So, it’s time for the dirt-bag duo’s supporters to STOP ignoring it, to start facing reality, and then to TOTALLY REJECT Dannie and Tony and their cult catholicism.**   By supporting these losers, they are hitching themselves to falling stars.  For their own good, they’d better abandon that course and embrace the truth, before they become losers too.

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* For both Dannie and Tony and their apologists, the “Alter Christus” argument (that they invoke to exempt them from any criticism) seems to apply only to them, and to no one else.  Both the cult-masters and their culties disparage “Bergy” (Francis I) and other novus ordo clerics, and anyone perceived as “playing ball’ with them (such as the SSPX), and that is okay.  In fact, they even disparage traditional clergy as well -- the late Abbot Leonard Giardina, for one (click here for more on that).  Anyone considered an adversary of the cult-masters is “fair game” for being attacked – just one more example of the “double  standard” mentality that reigns supreme at SGG.

Another thing on which Dannie and Tony’s supporters attack us is that we only go after the SGG/Brooksville bunch, and no one else.  Well, the answer to that is that these are the only ones with whom we have first-hand knowledge.  Anything that we know about others is “second hand”; and, therefore, it would not be fair for us to comment on them.  Besides, if we did, we’d probably be criticized for “picking on everybody.”

That is not to say that we haven’t received detailed information on other parts of traddieland that are rotten, but we just don’t have the time to devote to them.  Perhaps one day we can; but for now, chronicling the misdeeds of the SGG/Brooksville bunch is a full-time job in itself.  (Perhaps someone in one of those other locations could start their own blog, because -- to repeat -- “our plate is full” for now.)

** No, the spelling of “catholicism” with a lower-case “C” is not a mistake or “typo.”  It was done deliberately, for cult catholicism is not Catholicism at all, but a grotesque caricature of it.  So, why give the cult-masters legitimacy by capitalizing that word when it applies to them?

At SGG, EVERYTHING Is About “The Show”

Dannie Dolan’s Bishop’s Corner for the first Sunday of Advent (Nov. 29, 2015) had his usual admonishment about keeping Advent as a time for preparation, not partying.  After the Thanksgiving holiday, Dannie stated, “our feasting should end for a bit, not continue unabated with Christmas parties and celebrations during Advent.”  He then exhorted his Gerties “to be quiet and prayerful and offer some penance in preparation for Our Lord’s birth,” adding, “You will never appreciate the feast if you do not know the fast.”  Well, it turns out that Dannie apparently “didn’t know the fast” this past Lent when his feasting didn't "end for a bit" -- when he was pigging out on “copious quantities of meat” down Mexico way. 

It almost makes one laugh when hearing Dannie’s words about avoiding “parties and celebrations” and doing “penance in preparation for Our Lord’s birth,” when one remembers how Dannie spent his “Lent” in Mexico.  Dannie, who are you trying to kid?  What kind of “preparation” did you do then for our Lord’s crucifixion?  Oh, but pardon us!  We forgot: this is SGG, the land of the famous double standard, where the cult-masters make (and routinely break) their own rules, but which the Gerties must unquestionably obey – and where the latter are expected to pay for Dannie’s and Tony’s trips, toys, and “high heating bills” (yet get no help in paying their own).

For many Gerties, Dannie’s words ought to be getting pretty tiresome and be “wearing pretty thin” by now.  Are they, perhaps, finally starting to wonder if -- just as his pontifical Masses et al are “all for show” -- so too are his words?  Well, they should wonder no more, for it turns out that at SGG, just about everything is “all about the show” – even its “school.”  A recent Pistrina article, for instance, confirmed a report that the school’s girl students are required to sing in SGG’s choir – and that they spend about 25% of every school-day in choir practice.  That, coupled with the fact that the choir is compelled to sing High Masses every day (and to sing even for funeral Masses) eats up even more of their precious school-day time.  (And in a school with woefully low academic standards to begin with, this is doubly disturbing.)

But Dannie needs his choir to make SGG “look good” for both his home audience and his “cyber” audience.  If one ever “clicks” on SGG’s web page, he’ll invariably find a group picture of the school kids, looking all “spit and polish” and downright cherubic; and the picture is usually about something that the kids “volunteered” to do.  Dannie is always waxing poetic on how they happily and willingly donate their time.  But in reality – as many former students (and their parents) can attest -- it’s invariably obligatory.  It’s part of their job.  It’s part of “the show.”  And if they don’t do it, they’ll probably get “disciplined,” perhaps even more severely than that boy who was beaten with a wooden paddle for missing his homework.  In reality, there is no such thing as “gladly and willingly” at SGG.

So, these kids are just part of the SGG “display window” – part of its “promotional scheme” – to make Dannie and Tony look good.  And it’s not just in church that they’re having them sing.  Apparently, they’re also being requisitioned to sing for oldsters in nursing homes.  As Dannie boasted in his ’Corner, “I am especially grateful this year that our children can grow up with a love for music, choral and instrumental, and that they share this precious treasure with the old and infirm they visit.”  Now this would be very edifying, if these kids were truly volunteering.  But our guess is that, as it’s always been in the past, they’re required to do this – as part of “the show” – that they were conscripted to do this. 

Now it may be that – volunteer or not – the kids themselves are doing this for edifying reasons.  But one cannot say the same for Dannie. We cannot see him doing anything “altruistically.”  His reasons are invariably mercenary.  And, after all, one must remember that it is “ill will Dannie” who has vilified so many over the years – and who referred to watching porn and animal torture videos on the school computer as “boys will be boys.”  (We must ask you, Dannie: are the principal’s boys taking that computer into any of those nursing homes for “performances”?)  So, again, given Dannie’s (and Tony’s) mercenary proclivities (not to mention, the rest of their “track record”), we strongly suspect that those nursing home sing-a-thons are not so much a matter of good will, but of good box-office.* 

And, of course, Dannie and Tony get all the credit for it – at the expense of those kids who have been “volunteered.”  And what do the kids get?  Well, for one, they get a crappy education, for they must donate a major portion of their school day performing in SGG’s Vaudeville act – and this in a school that is already sub-standrad to begin with.  And for this, the parents are supposed to be “grateful” that their kids are getting a “Catholic” education.  But what they’re actually getting is a raw deal: a caricature of Catholicism, coupled with sub-standard academics.

Today’s Gerties must surely be tired of getting that “raw deal.”  We’re sure, too, that they’re getting tired of being exploited, and of getting nothing in return for donating all their time, money, and effort – except perhaps more exploitation (and more “guilt-tripping” from Dannie for not coming to his “show” often enough).  Many have already come to recognize Dannie’s “show” as the costume clown act that it is (and the school as the academic cesspool that it is); and they’re getting tired of “throwing good money after bad.”  We’re sure, too, that they’re getting tired of showing these sleaze-bags “deference,” and of the latter taking advantage of that deference – of “playing their ‘Alter Christus’ card” – to squeeze them for everything they can get, while demanding unquestioning obedience from them.

The problem is, Dannie and Tony are not about to “change their stripes.”  They’ve demonstrated that far too many times.  So, the thing for SGG’s parishioners to do – that is, for those who have the good sense to recognize what’s going on -- is to give these bagworms the boot (as must those parishioners at any other cult centers who find themselves being similarly exploited).  In today’s world, trying to live a good, decent Catholic life is difficult enough, without having to put up with exploitive counterfeit clergy.  Today’s parents have a right to expect real Catholicism, and a decent education for their kids -- not some cosmetic caricature of Catholicism, and a school that is only fit for turning out professional glee-club performers.  It’s time to dispense with these imposters and their double-standard, “do as I say, not as I do” chicanery.  It’s time to tell them to take their “show” somewhere else.

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* “Box office,” for those readers (from non-English speaking countries) who might not be familiar with the term, refers to that little booth in front of a movie theatre where tickets (to the movie) are sold.  When the movie “does well,” i.e., when many tickets are sold, the movie is said to be “doing well at the box-office.”   Similarly, if someone puts on a performance for “box office” reasons, he is doing it not so much “out of the goodness of his heart,” but for far less “altruistic” motives -- that is, for self-promotional and/or “revenue” reasons.