It's hard not to wonder, in the wake of Thursday's revelations, to what extent Louis has used this persona to shield his reputation.
Unlike in Spain and Argentina, where babies were stolen from families considered to be too poor or too subversive to raise the children well, the motivation in Chile was to shield the reputations of well-off families from the social stigma of unmarried motherhood.
In his memo to the board, he alleged that because Mr. Heaney could not dissuade the four council members from appointing Mr. Shields, "he threatened to ruin Mr. Shields's reputation, embarrass his family, and, if appointed, to not let him into the supervisor's office".
The name change may have helped to shield UBS PaineWebber's reputation, but it has not helped the fund's investors.
So why is the Australian government going to such lengths to shield Indonesia's reputation?
ESPN's refusal to report the story gave rise to criticism that it was not only protecting Roethlisberger's reputation, but it was also shielding its TV partner, the N.F.L.
There were twelve thousand pages, and they revealed a by now dispiritingly familiar picture: years of shielding accused priests from criminal charges, and a concern for the reputation of the Church that too often trumped empathy for the victims.
Paterno helped teenagers by giving them a chance to play football at Penn State; Sandusky, shielded by Paterno's reputation, seemed to be helping to prepare younger boys for a better future at the Second Mile, but quietly "culled" them for sexual abuse.
By seeking to impugn the reputation of a dedicated public servant and rewrite history, Mr. Davis has donned trotter's blinders, shielding himself from what is evident to the bench, the bar and everyone else.
