Molestation case teaches lessons

A mother who listened to her son and reported her suspicions that something wasn't right at a Kalispell day care should be commended.

So should Flathead County Sheriff's Office detectives who took the report seriously and investigated James Thorne of Kalispell. He pleaded guilty Friday to four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, involving children. More charges are pending.

Detective Jeanne Landis, who investigates sex crimes, reminds parents to talk to their children about good touches and bad touches. That advice has been around for decades, but it's still good.

Child molesters keep their foul secrets to themselves. Often the people closest to them have no inkling. But children should learn at a young age that bad secrets shouldn't be kept. Thanks to one family who was able to communicate that message, Thorne was stopped and will likely go to prison for the rest of his life.

When Secretary of State Brad Johnson announced his office's acceptance of a legislator changing parties, he also opted to do a little editorializing.

In his announcement last week confirming the switch of state Sen. Sam Kitzenberg from Republican to Democratic, Johnson couldn't resist a few digs of his own.

"I would not have chosen Sam's method," Johnson said in an official state press release, and he later adds, "I wish it could have happened differently."

So do we, but we wonder whether the secretary of state has any business weighing in on the politics of the matter. Admittedly, Johnson is a Republican, but more importantly he is the state's chief election official and his credibility depends on his impartiality.

Johnson's release noted that his office's only legal role is to record the paperwork in a party switch. Maybe he should have stopped at that point.

We realize that the secretary of state's office often is used as a steppingstone to higher office, but it might be nice if Johnson would limit what could be construed as partisan campaigning efforts when he's being paid by taxpayers.

Finally, it was good to see that Rupert Murdoch pulled the plug on the O.J. Simpson book and TV project this week.

It was a bad miscalculation in the first place for his companies to promote the sick musings of Simpson, at the cost of his victims' families and his own children.

But at least when public outrage mounted, Murdoch did not try to mount any phony defenses. He admitted the mistake, said he was sorry, and tried to rectify it.

Of course, lots of pundits now are attacking Murdoch for not acting sooner. But that ignores the culture we live in, which we all must take responsibility for - a culture of amoral voyeurism where TV news trumpets the latest celebrity "sex tape" and where confession is not only good for the soul, but also the pocketbook.

Don't blame Murdoch for the junk on television; blame yourself for watching it. This O.J. episode proves once and for all that the viewing public does have power over programming. If you demand higher quality, you may just get it.