Post-Dispatch Journalist Picks "Turkeys"

Deb Peterson, allegedly a journalist for the Post-Disgrace, has taken on the arduous task choosing noteworthy individuals in the St Louis area and beyond for her prestigious "turkey" awards.

She states:

TURKEY TIME: It is the somewhat anticipated, somewhat dreaded time of the year for this columnist to hand out her "Turkey" awards for Thanksgiving 2007. If your particular gobbler's carcass didn't get picked over, don't stew. We'll just have to try it again next year. But for now, the winners are:

Presumably as an act of humility, she elected to exclude herself and other worthy individuals, (J.C. Corcoran comes to mind), while choosing some who actually do what they are charged to do:

The Archbishop of Perpetual Turkey, Raymond Burke, had another year of ill-planned press and recognition. He threatened to excommunicate more local Catholics; caused a ruckus by publicly protesting a fundraiser to benefit the Bob Costas Cancer Center because it was going to include pro-choice supporter Sheryl Crow; and warned Rudy Giuliani that he would not give him Communion because the GOP presidential hopeful is pro-choice. Hopefully someone can persuade Burke to keep his gobbler down and out of the spotlight for the upcoming year. Nothing would make me more thankful than to not to have to give him this recognition again.

I would think that most people care not a whit about about Peterson's opinion, especially considering that, as a journalist, her grasp of facts in the above instances is woefully deficient.

Rather than refuting in detail each of her qualifying turkeydom examples, a brief explanation should more than suffice, as the details are contained within this site and elsewhere. As a matter of fact, so plentiful was the available information providing the reasons why Archbishop Burke performed his actions faithfully and diligently, it is difficult to understand why a journalist, supposedly with some investigative skills, was unable to find them.

One might even be led to believe that the "journalist" has an "ax to grind," so to speak, in a manner similar to that of J.C. Corcoran of recent days. We can actually see her first critical review of Archbishop-elect Burke back in December of 2003 here. The link at this post no longer works but it provided a clear and easy to understand response by Dr. Arthur Hippler, the Justice and Peace Director of the Diocese of La Crosse...

It's clear that things have changed little at the Post, and elsewhere...a persistent ingratitude for a good and faithful shepherd for the people of God in St Louis.

I am reminded that St Thomas Aquinas teaches us something about ingratitude and thanksgiving:

It would seem that the ingratitude, whereby a subsequent sin causes the return of sins previously forgiven, is a special sin. For, the giving of thanks belongs to counter passion, which is a necessary condition of justice. But justice is a special virtue. Therefore this ingratitude is a special sin. Thanksgiving is a special virtue. But ingratitude is opposed to thanksgiving. Therefore ingratitude is a special sin.

In addition to praying for Archbishop Burke and his family, we should also pray for those who feel it is their calling in life to attack and ridicule Archbishop Burke, the Church, and St Louis Catholics. We can be thankful that our Lord sees it fitting to provide us this cross to offer up to Him as a means penance and reparation.