Might as Well Add One more item about the SNAP facade

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Just added this one more comment to Michael Baumann's blog post: Parting Company with SNAP

One more image I want to share. Last Easter week, Jim Robertson, who is not the healthiest guy, was on his own, holding a vigil in front of the L.A. Cathedral. He contacted the few activists still around in L.A. and we were all going to join him throughout the week when we could.

He started it on his own, the vigil was growing into something.

Then SNAP showed up.

Virtually on top of Jim, with no recognition of his being there, up shows the SNAP Show, holding a "press event" with their gaggle of TV News cameras and spokesmodels.

Practically standing on top of Jim, SNAP held their press conference, then SNAP was off as always, not to be heard from again.

Only response Jim got as he sat there in the middle of it all vigiling was someone from SNAP hollering at him for daring to consider himself leader of SNAP L.A. when they have this woman from South Orange County who drives up to run their press events here.

It's all a sham, a horrible picture, a nasty experience for those of us on the ground. And worst part of it is all the survivors who know this, and still file into SNAP events and shower praise when SNAP comes to town again.

They are the only survivor group because they make sure they are the only survivor group. Anyone who starts something on their own can count on the SNAP Show to arrive in the middle and steer the gaggle of reporters elsewhere.

I watched them hold a press event based on a news story that I BROKE in City of Angels, and SNAP did not mention City of Angels instead in their releases linked reporters to OC Weekly who repeated my story.

It is better as a survivor to look at SNAP and laugh, otherwise it hurts too much.

And I HAVE researched the origins of SNAP. That is why I came to the conclusion they are part of the church. Not at a survivor membership level, I'm talking about the 2-3 people at the top.

Look at the backgrounds of Blaine and Clohessy. They have plenty of ties to the Catholic Church, as professionals.

I wrote all I want to write about it at City of Angels 2, Feb 2010 to April or so. Read it there.
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PS: The purpose of the press event that SNAP suddenly felt compelled to throw on top of Jim's vigil last Easter was to release Servants of the Paraclete documents, same docs that City of Angels released here June 2008 and SNAP ignored it. In 2009 when the New York Times released the same documents, SNAP released a press statement.

Guess now SNAP can dust off those docs and "release" them any time they want, to draw attention away from what local survivors are doing. I'll be watching.

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August 9, 2010
Now I'm even responding to myself at Mike's blog, just posted this at 4:45 in the morning:

Call me irresponsible. If anyone has a better explanation for why SNAP treats survivors, as revealed n these comments- and there are many more incidents like these- Let's hear the answer.

Funniest thing is the silence from SNAP when people come forward like this. They never respond or explain criticism, just act like it never happened.

That's how it always is, you never get an answer. You are left using the same terminology to describe your experience with SNAP as for dealing with the church. The end result is the same.

Today the bishops are as powerful as they were ten years ago in the USA. No one has gone to jail but a couple priests. America is tired of hearing the story.

I think that's exactly what the bishops wanted in 1986 when they created SNAP. That's what I think. Damage was controlled and nothing much changed inside the hierarchy.

Survivors get filtered to lawyers, then the story remains secret, anyone who tries on their own to go public finds themselves buried under a SNAP press event that goes nowhere.

And I'm working on Anger Management these days.