3AW's Neil Mitchell just does not get it

Yesterday Neil Mitchell responded to the 'many' emails from Catholics criticising his treatment of Monsignor Baron. Those emails accused him of being motivated by anti-Catholic bigotry. He chose a particularly abusive email to read out, smearing any Catholic who dares to stand up to him. This sort of selective choice of email is part of his defence for the way he has dealt with the foul-mouthed priest affair. Smear the accusers and you make them less credible.

Having attacked the credibility of those who objected to his one-sided manner of dealing with Monsignor Baron's foul-mouthed outbursts he went on, unrepentant, to repeat the main points of that one-sided treatment. Monsignor Baron was not only foul-mouthed and abusive, he revealed a psychological disturbance in the form of his abuse. The Archdiocese had to remove him. It would be the highpoint of hypocrisy to have Monsignor Baron stand in the pulpit, preaching love and fellowship to his congregation.

In this comment I will leave aside the implications of Neil Mitchell's taking on the role of psychoanalyst. Let me try to put things in really simple terms so Neil Mitchell and others can follow the reasons not only Catholics are objecting to his handling of the affair. There are two sides to the issue.

Monsignor Baron used deplorable language in dealing with the torment of the young men who deliberately targeted him. Such language and behaviour is entirely unacceptable for a Catholic priest. Archbishop Hart had no alternative but to remove him from his position. Any sensible person, not only Catholics, would agree with this course of events - if it had happened this way.

Monsignor Baron, however, underwent a punishment at the hands of the media that is a hundred times more severe than anybody else would have to suffer. In brief, Monsignor Baron has been destroyed for behaviour that can be witnessed week in week out in throughout our society. Not only that, the truly serious behaviour of a media figure like Peter Meakin is passed over with hardly a word. How does three convictions for drink driving compare with the use of foul language by a priest? Talk of hypocrisy and double standards!

The second issue is the issue of the feral male and the havoc an out of control generation of young men is causing our society. Here we are talking about criminal behaviour: bashings, murder, theft, arson and so on. Neil Mitchell and his venal hypocritical media mates totally ignored it. They were far more concerned with destroying a Catholic priest for his bad language. Neil Mitchell should hope that he is never in the situation of having to deal with the bashing death of a son or daughter, after they have merely gone out with friends for a night of fun. He should talk to the mother and father at Eltham who some weeks ago lost their son in this way.

There are none so blind as those who do not want to see.