The Heron's Nest: the Holy War Surrounding Monsignor Lynn

By Phil Heron
Delaware County Daily Times
December 31, 2013

http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20131231/the-herons-nest-the-holy-war-surrounding-monsignor-lynn

Seth Williams needs to tell us what he really thinks.

Make no mistake, the Philadelphia district attorney is not even a little bit happy about an appeals court ruling that threw out the case against Monsignor William Lynn, convicted of endangering the welfare of children in the children’s sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

Yesterday a Philadelphia judge admitted she may have erred in her interpretation of the law, and set bail for the only high-ranking church official convicted in the scandals.

That did not sit particularly well with Williams. In fact, he decided to raise a little holy hell.

He railed against the ruling tossing the case against Lynn and called the move to grant him bail an abomination.

Williams vowed to do everything in his power to put Lynn “back where he belongs, behind bars.”

I agree with Williams when he says he was “disgusted” with the rulings and what has transpired in this case. What I don’t agree with is the unshakeable facts that at the time Lynn is alleged to have been endangering children, the law did not apply to him. It was changed later, and Lynn was charged retroactively.

I spent yesterday morning talking about this volatile subject with Dom Giordano on his WPHT-1210 AM radio show. Clearly Dom is of the belief that Lynn absolutely did endanger children and that he deserved to be in jail.

I don’t necessarily disagree with him, when it comes to what Lynn and in fact the superiors of the archdiocese did in terms of the way they handled child sexual abuse cases.

But it doesn’t change the law.

Apparently, it doesn’t change opinions either.

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Resolving to avoid the weather in 2014

I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. What am I going to do, give up cursing for the umpteenth time.

I am making an exception this year.

I am swearing off the local weather forecasters.

Yes, we apparently are in line for some kind of nasty winter weather later this week.

Sounds like there is a chance of snow Thursday into Friday. And we are going to be hit with some ferocious cold temperatures.

Can’t we just leave it at that? Of course not. Instead we will get 24-hour coverage of whatever it is that is going to happen.

Count me out.

I’m ringing in 2014, and ringing out the hype that so often accompanies the local forecast. Who’s with me?

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A new test for Foles, Eagles

The Eagles - and Nick Foles - are headed into new territory.

One of the undercurrents of this most-unexpected season that sees the Birds playing a Wild Card game at home Saturday night is the breaks they have gotten along the way.

Now make no mistake, this team is good, and they have a fantastic coach with an innovative system that has changed just about everything involving the NFL regimen, from training to diets.

But the Birds also have been lucky. Hey, the guy who said he’d rather be lucky than good was right. In this case, the Eagles have been both good and lucky.

They played the Packers without star QB Aaron Rodgers, who returned to the lineup Sunday and pulled off a miracle finish to propel Green Bay into the playoffs.

They got the Lions and their high-flying offense in a near blizzard at the Linc, conditions that sent star running back Reggie Bush to the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Their rematch with the Cowboys for all the marbles Sunday night in Big D featured Kyle Orton, as opposed to Tony Romo, at quarterback. Oddly enough, Orton played very well, right up until the moment he did his best Romo imitation by throwing a critical interception that sealed the Cowboys’ fate just when it seemed they might be pulling off a come-from-behind victory.

The Eagles will get no such break Saturday night vs. the Saints.

Instead, they will face a legitimate superstar in New Orleans QB Drew Brees. Nick Foles will peer across the field and see the QB he would like to be.

The Eagles and Foles will need to pick up their game considerably. In particular, if they can’t put any more pressure on Brees with their defensive front than they did against Orton, it could be a long night.

The prescription for victory in this game just might be something that Kelly does not especially like to do.

The Eagles should control the clock - and keep Brees and the Saints offense off the field - by running the ball with a steady diet of LeSean McCoy.

The breaks are over for the Eagles. Now comes the hard part. We’re about to find out exactly how good Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy and Chip Kelly are.