Throw Away The Key!

I have been watching the results of my poll (to the left of the recent post) on this blog.  I am grateful to all of you who have expressed your opinion.  I will maintain the poll to see if the yes/no balance remains constant.

It appears that a sizeable portion of the respondents are convinced that polygamous men and women need to be incarcerated.  No one knows exactly how many polygamists live in the U.S. but it could be hundreds of thousands.  What is a polygamist?  We know that there are several thousand Fundamentalist Mormon polygamists.  Then there are many Protestant Christian polygamists.  There are numerous Muslim polygamists.  Finally, there are probably hundreds of thousands of polygamous, recreational copulators - people who shack up serially or who are having affairs with the secretary or the neighbor's wife.  We shouldn't forget all the married men who are frequenting the Las Vegas whores who work in Harry Reid's state.  I guess we should also ask if the many gays and lesbians in Northern California are polygamous by nature or conduct.

If we borrow the bizarre reasoning of British Columbia's Attorney General, Craig Jones, all of the above classes of people are polygamists.  I want to ask the affirmative responders to my poll if they are willing to pay for the doubling of America's prison cells to house these offending polygamists.  I also would ask them if they themselves have been morally pure throughout their lives.

Before the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), some states required gays to register themselves as sex offenders.  Merely the orientation or inclination to homosexuality (generally a permanent condition) was sufficient to establish criminality.  You must all agree that this is SO disingenuous, that it is not a surprise that Texas and Oklahoma did not enforce this draconian rule.

Tom Green and Rodney Holm both recently served prison sentences in Utah for polyga-bigamy.  They are now back home with their wonderful wives.  I have asked this question before, but how long should a polygamous person's prison sentence last?  Most polygamists I know are polygamous for life.  They CANNOT limit themselves to the monogamous lifestyle.  Once released from prison, they go back and re-offend.  I cannot remember the last person who was returned to prison for repeat polygamy after parole.  It seems that the state lacks the lust for a sincere, widespread polygamy prosecution campaign.  During the Brown family's recent videotaped confessions, the State appeared to be watching a different channel - probably HBO (and Big Love).  The Browns fled to Nevada, and, as of this writing, I have not been made aware of any extradition proceedings.

Here's the bottom line.  You simply cannot have it both ways or have your cake and eat it too (or other cliches).  If you believe that polygamists belong in prison, you must also believe that they are unrehabilitatable (is that a word?) and that they must therefore remain behind bars until death.  Just throw away the key!

I have to think that not too many years back a large number of Americans and Canadians felt that gay people needed to be incarcerated for life or executed.  Fashion trends changed all that.

I am tempted to run a poll asking if anti-polygamy hate groups should be incarcerated for bigotry.

If the shoe fits . . . .

Yes, I know you are all going to accuse me of being an inveterate cynic. A good friend pointed out an exquisite irony to me yesterday.

Harry Reid, a Mormon U.S. Senator, is pushing for a Federal Task Force to crack down on polygamist "organizations", partly because of allegations of sexual conduct with underage girls, and allegations of church interference with local law enforcement activities. Well, read this [from the Provo Daily Herald] (then read my previous post):

A Utah County LDS seminary principal was arrested Thursday [July 9, 2009] for having an alleged sexual relationship with a student.

Police say Michael Pratt, 37, engaged in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl for the last several months. Until his arrest, Pratt was principal of the Lone Peak High School LDS seminary, where the girl was a student.

Sgt. Matt Higley, with the Utah County Sheriff's Office, said the alleged sexual abuse came to light after an individual contacted the state Division of Child and Family Services, who contacted the police. Officers then interviewed the girl, who Higley said was apprehensive about talking to police, but divulged significant details about the relationship.

"The sexual relationship, we know, started sometime around the beginning of May of this year," he said.

How the relationship began is still being investigated. According to a police affidavit, Pratt took the girl to various locations around Utah County to engage in sexual acts. The couple allegedly met in a ravine and an unoccupied home near the girl's house, at a boxcar in Provo Canyon, Rock Canyon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Goshen and in a mine near Eureka. According to the report, Pratt was brazen in his public meeting with the girl at the warm springs near Goshen.

"Also at this location, they were skinny dipping and someone was watching him from their car," the officer stated in the report. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

---------------

Maybe it's time for Harry Reid to focus his "Federal Task Force" microscope on the venerable corporate church organization he represents in his dual, political/ecclesiastical role as High Priest Senator. After all, at least as much sexual molestation and law enforcement meddling per capita likely occurs in his church as in the Fundamentalist Mormon world.

On a related note, in February of 2003, Utah AG, Mark Shurtleff, shepherded the passage of a "child-bigamy" amendment (to Utah's existing bigamy statute). The bill (HB 307) was lauded as a powerful answer to the rampant (?) "child-bride" problem in the sinister world of polygamy. Three guesses as to how many prosecutions have ensued in the last six years . . . .

1. None

2. Zero

3. All of the above

Will the Child-Bigamy law not be applied to Michael Pratt's crime because he is not a FUNDAMENTALIST Mormon, and the law was crafted to target only FUNDAMENTALIST Mormons?

STAMP ME OUT !!!

It appears from the article cited below that Harry Reid now wants to stamp us out! I don't know if it was he who used the "stamp out" terminology but, if it was, then I herewith place a voodoo curse on him so that he can end up like Korihor (see Alma 30).

What an idiot! How palatable were the Salem witch lynchings? How successful was the Tiananmen Square debacle? Does he seriously think he can get his SturmTruppen to come to Utah and stamp out 37,000 people? Would he stop after fifty crushings of women and babies because of all the squished bones, flesh, guts, brains and blood?

I think we should change his title from Senator to "Bastard".

Sincerely,

Renn, the Reid-Curser.

Harry Reid Pushes For Anti-Polygamy Task Force
April 16, 2009 09:40 AM ET | Paul Bedard |

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/4/16/harry-reid-pushes-for-anti-polygamy-task-force.html

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

He's a Mormon convert and a Nevada lawyer, so nobody has to tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that polygamy is illegal. But having multiple spouses continues, especially in splinter Mormon groups, and now he's planning to make it a federal case. Reid says he will push the attorney general to create a task force to stamp out the practice. The Department of Justice is expected to agree. "We have an obligation to help these women and children who are being victimized," Reid says.

Harry Reid is a Jerk

Did I ever mention that Harry Reid is a jerk? Last July, Harry Reid held a Senate hearing about polygamists. A number of polygamists flew to DC to participate, but Reid wouldn't let any of them speak. So much for "DO NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US" !!!

Reid has announced that he will be reviving his efforts to create a national federal task force to crack down on the crimes associated with polygamy. What are the "crimes associated with polygamy"?

Bigamy?
Child Bigamy?
Welfare Fraud?
Money Laundering?
Tax Fraud?

I know this post isn't especially scholarly, but it seems to me that we already have laws addressing those crimes, and Shurtleff and crew have been vigorously cracking down for some eight years, haven't they?

I was watching the Safety Net meeting online last week, and some guy asked the Workforce Services representatives if they are able to accurately determine if the people in Colorado City and Hildale are abusing welfare programs? The officials stated that they monitor every application for accuracy, and are aware of no special problems with abuse or over-use of assistance programs in that area.

In Reid's proposed bill, he talks about polygamous communities being "criminal" organizations. What is a criminal organization? Is that like Al-Qaeda or something? I know that corporations are, in a sense, fictitious persons, and can have standing in a court of law, but an "organization" is an abstract concept, so how can it commit a crime? Reid is an idiot. People commit crimes - not organizations! That would be like saying, "That awful church shot me in the leg!" ABSURD !!! Reid must be trying to say that polygamists are criminals, so, if they organize in some way, then their organizations are criminal. What an idiot! He wants to go after anyone who is "associated" with polygamists, or who is "related" to a polygamist. Heck, it's a good thing he's not going after every Utahn who is descended from a polygamist!

I don't know why more people aren't protesting this ridiculous, bigoted bill. There are supposedly 37,000 fundapolygamentalists in the U.S., but I bet there are 11 million illegal Hispanic aliens in this country. I'll give you three guesses as to which group commits more crimes, collects more welfare dollars, and impregnates more teenagers. Some Hispanics are criminals. Some Hispanics form organizations like LA RAZA. According to Reid's contorted logic, LA RAZA would be a "criminal" organization (subject to RICO statutes like the MAFIA). Why is Reid not forming a task force to crack down on crimes in Latino communities? Latinos are in far more U.S. cities than polygamists are. Last I heard, the Latino population of Idaho is approaching 25%, and they seem to be reproducing faster than polygamists.

Lastly, what is all this CRAP about providing assistance for women and children "FLEEING" polygamist communities? By my last count, we have:

Hope for the Child Brides
Help the Child Brides
Child Protection Project
The Diversity Foundation
Tapestry Against Polygamy
Travesty of Bigamy
Rescuing the Reluctant
Americans Against Religious Freedom (AARF)
Conniving Canadians
Busybodies International
Reid's Rescue Rangers
- and too many others to mention . . . . .

My guess is that there are so few people "FLEEING" polygamous relationships, that these support organizations don't have enough fleeing escapees to go around. After the military assault on the YFZ ranch in Eldorado, I count ZERO women and children who are trying to "FLEE" that community.

If Reid thinks that crimes in "polygamy" are a drain on our precious economy, why do we want to appropriate millions more dollars to fund more wasteful, un-Constitutional government programs to tackle polygamy?

In 2019, we will be paying $865 billion per year just to cover the interest on the federal debts we are currently running up. Doctrine and Covenants (section 87) has the words - "....until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations." Maybe Warren Jeffs isn't so wrong about stuff, after all.