FLOOD OF REMEMBRANCE

Lest we forget -- lest we forget. Kipling

Pistrina's series on the Terrible Trio's zero-legacy leads the Reader to put the essential question: What is to be done to wrest traditional Catholicism from these small-bore minds with 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 ambitions?

They hold tight-fisted control of the non-profit corporations underwritten by the hard work and sacrifices of the faithful. They have made dead sure that the people who support them have no voice in any matter. They behave and spend as they please. They are confident they can weather the frequent storms of opposition that arise because they can rely on an unthinking base of cult followers to keep them in the clover.

No doubt, the fierce reaction to the Blunderer's grisly opinion on the Schiavo case or to the SGG School scandal has cost the Triad gravely. Indeed, they will never recover. Their stature in the traditional world is forever diminished.

However, just because they have been exposed and have lost their influence outside the small cultlets they have bewitched doesn't mean they are without financial resources to keep themselves going for a little while longer. By this time, it's not unreasonable to suppose that their tiny band of supporters is so brainwashed that they will keep giving until they have no more. Perhaps, there are a few decent souls left who harbor doubts, but the number of the principled few must be so small that their leaving will have little impact on the Trio's basic comforts. They know that the remnant they have is immune to reason and to an appeal to common sense and Catholic principles. Their lock on this morally lost, frightened cadre of fanatics is as firm as their heightened sense of self-preservation.

In a word, nothing short of actuarial tables, the economy, and their own aging can stop them from doing just about whatever they will. Sure, their luxuries have been drastically cut back by the severely reduced income stream, but the scope of their control of properties and organizations remains intact. No one's going to change that, even if they must one day become greeters in some big-box discount store to eke out a living.

Just the same, there's a reason enough to continue the vocal opposition. The Japanese have a saying that goes something like this: "After 75 days, all men forget." Without a swelling torrentof reminders, it's all too easy to forget what troubles the Trio has visited upon traditional Catholics. They may be unschooled, but their savvy self-interest has taught them the basics of marketing: They simply have to put on a good face and make nice, and then the money will come trickling back. In fact, their business model requires that the faithful just fuggedaboutit. Their cagey experience with the average Traddie has confirmed that weak-willed people hope time will heal all wounds.

Without opposition, time is on their side. That's why it's important to make everybody outside their cult remember just who these swashbucklers are. There is no anodyne for the suppurating wounds they have viciously inflicted on the traditional Church. While we cannot prevent them from preying upon their own passive cultists, we can contain their contagion by countering their PR initiatives with the truth.

Keep the Beast weak. Don't believe it. Refuse its avaricious demands for your money. Tell the world why!