By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, DEC. 18, 2014, 2014) — You gotta love it. Pope Francis was recently asked during audience to comfort a little boy who had just lost his beloved dog. In St. Peter’s Square, Francis told the lad that “paradise is open the all God’s creatures.” The comments gave much-needed solace to a grieving child.

The Pope’s comments were welcomed by most of the world. To the rabid Catholic right, however, the Pope’s slam-dunk in favor of reason and against archaic Catholic theology (animals do not go to heaven because they have no souls), was apostasy. That’s why THE PLANET loves it. The Church’s stupid doctrine stems back to Pope Pius IX, who served as Holy Father from 1846-1878, a Pope for his times but not for modernity.

Pius drove home his agreement with the barren notion that animals (dogs, cats, and the entire population on Noah’s Ark) do not have consciousness and therefore cannot possess souls. Of course, THE PLANET must add that Pius was the first Pope with gonads big enough to match his ego, defining and declaring in 1854 the doctrine of papal infallibility.

Fortunately, Francis’ penultimate predecessor — St. John Paul II — made it clear that animals do have souls and, as JPII said, they are “as near to God as [humans] are.”

Do Animals Have Souls: ‘Absolutely’

Rick Gladstone in The New York Times quoted Fordham Prof. Charles Camosy and Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor of America, a Catholic magazine, on the pet topic.

From Gladstone’s piece:  Camosy “said it was difficult to know precisely what Francis meant, since he spoke “in pastoral language that is not really meant to be dissected by academics.” But asked if the remarks had caused a new debate on whether animals have souls, suffer and go to heaven, Camosy said, “In a word: Absolutely.”

And this: Martin “said he believed that Francis was at least asserting that ‘God loves and Christ redeems all of creation,’ even though conservative theologians have said paradise is not for animals.  ‘He said paradise is open to all creatures,’ Martin said. ‘That sounds pretty clear to me.’”

The larger issue is the prison of Catholic dogma (no puns on “dog) still serving (not well) in its attempt to keep the Catholic laity dumb, ignorant, and sheepish (no pun there, either). The Church, thus, is well served by a Pope who understands that the formal Past is dead and Tradition is its pall bearer.

Only such a man could have intervened between the United States and Cuba to help broker an end to the pointless blockade that has long outlived whatever usefulness it ever had.

Great work, Francis.

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Bill Cosby Is Innocent. Period.

What is the smallest number in the universe? It’s the number that defines the count of women who have NOT accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault. This is a local story because of Cosby’s familiarity with the Berkshires. He lives in nearby Shelburne Falls, and he has visited the Berkshires many times. He is no stranger, for example, to the Red Lion Inn and the residents of THE PLANET’s beloved Stockbridge. He’s a local. That’s what gives his saga more of a bite than it would normally register at this address.

In this day of the 24/7 news cycle and in light of the recent disaster at Rolling Stone magazine surrounding a woman’s now-discredited claims of sexual assault against a fraternity at the University of Virginia, we can easily see that Cosby has been the victim not of a mob lynching but a hanging by social media. Yes, Cosby is the victim here.

A few points are worth noting.

• To call Cosby’s accusers “victims” skates the thin ice of the libelous. These women have made accusations. They are not “victims.” Only a conviction in a court of law can make them that.
• False accusations frequently occur (search “University of Virginia and Rolling Stone“).
• How many of Cosby’s encounters with these women were consensual?
• Cosby is a famous, rich man and a kingmaker in show business. Does that not attract a certain type of ambitious young woman, willing to do anything for her big break?
• Why did so many women wait so long before speaking out with these accusations? The charges stem from alleged incidents that took place not years ago but decades ago.
• Why did no one among the more than two dozen accusers press formal charges? Cosby has not been charged with a single case of criminal misconduct.
• Why does Cosby’s wife of 50 years and his 38-year-old daughter support him without reservation?
• There has not been one substantiated claim made.
• There has not been offered into evidence one corroborated accusation or piece of evidence.

The Presumption of Innocence and the Denigration of Due Process

With this preamble, THE PLANET makes this central point. The presumption of innocence must hold true in all cases. Without the presumption of innocence, we have a denigration of due process. No society can hold together when such “inalienable rights” are so casually ignored.

Meanwhile, a man’s great reputation has been ruined, even though there has not been a single formal charge, let along a conviction based on evidence in a court — beyond a reasonable doubt.

The latest accuser is a former model and actress in reality TV shows. She authored an article for Vanity Fair magazine on her “newly-discovered-but-formerly-repressed” memories and also granted an interview with ABC News. No word on how much money she was paid for either or both of these gigs or if she, like others, plans to go after Cosby’s wallet with a civil suit. Cosby says the woman tried but failed to sell her story to the tabloids 10 years ago and that she is now claiming that she repressed the memory of what happened in 1974 … until recently.

Right.

A previous accuser has filed suit against Cosby claiming that the comic sexually molested her 40 years ago. Cosby responded in court saying that the woman first tried to extort $100,000 from him for her silence. As more women piled on, Cosby says the woman upped her ante to $250,000.

Bill Cosby, these women owe you an apology.

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“Live, love, laugh, be happy. Live and love, your whole life through.” — Mick Valenti, “Mick’s Ocean,” from his album Beatlesque, (2011).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.