Readers will know that I was brought up in a muscular church - a church that had a spiritual and moral backbone. Today's emasculated Episcopal church is a pale shadow of what it used to be. If a parishioner wants an easy-peasy go along to get along church-light, there are plenty of options for them (UCC to the white courtesy phone please).
This really pisses me off - from Yahoo/Associated Press:
Maryland diocese: bishop at wheel in fatal hit-and-run
An Episcopal bishop who was the driver in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist in Baltimore was charged four years ago with drunken driving and marijuana possession, court documents show.
Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook, who is the No. 2 leader for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, was driving a car that hit Tom Palermo, 41, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, diocese spokeswoman Sharon Tillman said.
Palermo died from head injuries, said Bruce Goldfarb, spokesman for the Maryland medical examiner's office.
Court records show that a sheriff's deputy stopped Cook on Sept. 10, 2010, in Caroline County on the Eastern Shore. The officer wrote in a report that Cook was driving on the shoulder at 29 mph in a 50 mph-zone with a shredded front tire. The deputy noted that a strong alcohol odor emanated from the vehicle and that Cook had vomit down the front of her shirt.
The officer wrote that Cook was so intoxicated that she couldn't finish a field sobriety test because she might fall and hurt herself.
According to the report, Cook registered .27 percent blood alcohol content. The legal limit in Maryland is .08 percent.
The officer found two small bags of marijuana in the vehicle, along with paraphernalia, and a bottle of wine and a bottle of liquor.
Oh Yeah - nothing says: "Eligible for leadership" like having vomit down your shirt and blowing a 0.27 BAC.
Please. People wrestle with personal daemons all the time - I have zero problems with that BUT... If you are in the throws of this, have the fscking grace to recuse yourself from any position of spiritual or moral leadership.
A bit more:
Cook pleaded guilty to drunken driving, and the prosecution of marijuana possession charges was dropped. A judge sentenced her to a fine and probation before judgment on the DUI charge, meaning her record could be cleared if she stayed out of trouble.
Tillman said Cook disclosed the earlier charges when she was vetted and ultimately elected as the diocese's first female bishop.
Yeah - they needed to counteract the number of real Episcopalians leaving the church (all about the benjamin$) and figured that a female Bishop was the ticket. Was this their best choice? What are the seminaries producing these days? Yes, we are all fallen and forgiven before the face of the Lord but show some fscking standards...
The RCOB? This:
In an email Sunday, Bishop Eugene Sutton told priests in the diocese that Cook left the scene of Saturday's accident, but returned about 20 minutes later "to take responsibility for her actions."
And this:
As other passers-by called 911, Lyon said he went looking for the car based on other witness descriptions. He found it about 100 yards away at a stop light, he said.
"The windshield was completely smashed in, with a hole on the passenger side, and from the damage of the car, there was no doubt in my mind that was the car," he said. "I asked the lady who was driving, 'Are you all right?' Then the light turned green, she said 'Yes,' and she left."
So this Bishop caused an accident, someone died, the Bishop fled the scene and returned 20 minutes later. Sounds like she wanted to get rid of some evidence.
RCOB - from the wonderful Kim DuToit: Red Curtain of Blood. ie: what passes in front of your vision when you read crap like this. I do wish he would start blogging again.
