I've been quite astonished and rather depressed at the sheer viciousness of many Pell detractors and those who are professed Pell haters (for whatever obscure reasons) who steamed in and not only expressed such sheer delight at his conviction but have been utterly vile in attacking any person who dared to offer support for the man.

I'm no Church or Pell fan..I love to see Justice prevail but the nature of the attacks on Pell's supporters and the positions of those doing it has been astonishing..not the usual Twitter / Facebook mob but lawyers. MPs etc.

I've even seen some criminal lawyers attack former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott & John Howard (I'm no supporter of either)for daring to write References in support of Pell after his conviction when they know full well this is when people provide references for a sentencing hearing.

I've seen a former TV personality from the 1970s, Katrina Lee who is now a committed Christian who accompanied Pell every day to court hauled over the coals by those who should know better.

The attack on PMs etc for providing references is highly dangerous: it is a form of intimidation that may prevent a convicted person for any crime have others supply references on the future.

I expect over the coming months these matters will become very serious and be questioned. The Pell convictions are just the beginning of a complex story..

Meanwhile some are bravely putting their heads above the parapet...
***********************************************

Cardinal sin: critics raise questions about George Pell's conviction


The verdict is in, but it is still being debated.

With Cardinal George Pell in custody for the sexual abuse of choirboys, his high-profile supporters continue to voice their doubts about his conviction for abuse.

On Wednesday, former prime minister John Howard and Australian Catholic University chief Greg Craven gave positive character references on behalf of Pell. Fellow former prime minister Tony Abbott revealed he had spoken to Pell after the verdict was revealed on Tuesday, and Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli said he remained Pell's friend and "I don't shy away from that".

www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/cardina...20190227-p510iv.html

It is incredibly difficult for friends to stick by you under these circumstances - I was really lucky that I lost no real friends. A couple of very high profile acquaintances politely distanced themselves after advice from employees (such junior staff being people like Max Clifford) but none deserted me. However I noticed that many executives in the industries disappeared and even now it's hard getting media to carry stories by me. Which might be a good thing (my Spectator story in 2015 about Sir Edward Heath prompted the Surrey Police debacle).

JK2006 wrote:
It is incredibly difficult for friends to stick by you under these circumstances - I was really lucky that I lost no real friends. A couple of very high profile acquaintances politely distanced themselves after advice from employees (such junior staff being people like Max Clifford) but none deserted me. However I noticed that many executives in the industries disappeared and even now it's hard getting media to carry stories by me. Which might be a good thing (my Spectator story in 2015 about Sir Edward Heath prompted the Surrey Police debacle).

Surely Simon Cowell must have been a good friend beforehand, to put up the bail money?

A very, very good friend and I still regard him as such - it was even my suggestion he employ Max Clifford as the best at what he did.

What I find fascinating (in a scary way) is the sheer vacuousness of many posting their hatred..for George Pell's reference writers.

At least I have had one quite high profile "human right's" lawyer agree with me and delete his tweets.

I actually tracked down an apology given by all Rupert Murdoch's newspapers for attacking reference writer in 2007 when a Police Prosecutor was jailed for possessing child porn (still a controversial case as he says the offending material was on his laptop as evidence in another case.

What is funny is that several Rupert Murdoch journos are now acting exactly the same seemingly oblivious to the pending storm.

As I said previously, a dear friend of mine was one of them. But as they all got $40,000 in compo then he was delighted as he immediately bought himself a new Mercedes.

This was before twitter amplifies these matters endlessly.

I await with fascination to see when the axe falls...

JK2006 wrote:
A very, very good friend and I still regard him as such - it was even my suggestion he employ Max Clifford as the best at what he did.

Karma won here...as it does mostly.
I'll see you in Morocco in a few hours...time to follow the sun.

www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/...alia-is-now-on-trial

First trial

"...a jury voted 10-2 to acquit him; but that meant a hung jury.."


All I can say is that The Australians are out to win against the UK, US and probably the North Koreans on having the most unfair justice system.

"Through a lawyer, the man's family said they finally understood the torment that led their son to self medicate with drug abuse".

Why do your own inner work or hire a therapist to help you deepen your understanding of yourself and others when a lawyer can not only do this for you speedily and free of charge but get you some money as well? What is there to fear? What could possibly go wrong? What is there to lose?