Good Luck

Today, I learned that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Judge Dee Benson's order to return control of the UEP Trust to FLDS leader(s).

I have never hidden my passionate desire for the Trust to go back to the people who built it.  Maybe, right now, that isn't possible.  A wise man once opined that, if the Short Creek folks got themselves straightened out, it would be easier and more likely for the Trust to be returned.  We shall see.

I am a little surprised at the 10th Circuit's decision.  If it was, in any way, an emotionally-driven move, it might surely have been the result of much sensational, silly and not-so-silly media coverage about fantasy book-burnings and child molestations.

In the Court's temporary stay, Wisass is forbidden from making any significant changes (read - selling Berry Knoll) until the appeal is fully heard.  His complaint about being in an impossible place is once again true.  He has to run the Trust, but he cannot be paid to do so.  He can just run his meter vainly. The Court has made further extensive litigation inevitable, which litigation will likely go unfunded on both sides.  The money - any money - must ultimately come from the already depleted pockets of the FLDS people.  This is a monumental mess, and the enemies of the FLDS are jubilant.  God constructs and Satan destructs.

So, to Wisass, I say, "Good luck.  Have at it!  See how much more damage you can do.  Pour the coals on your own head."  To the 10th Circuit I say, "Be careful what you do. Yes, the FLDS are not perfect; perhaps they are even naive.  Nevertheless, remember that Judge Benson was right. Despite the failings of a tiny few, the blatant violation of the Constitutional rights of the many was wrong."

The exquisite truth about this chaotic situation is that it compels each observer individually to weigh and assess the facts and the principles involved. It is complex enough that one must drill down and judge very carefully. 

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. (Matthew 7:1)

Good Luck!

Head Scratch

He's cuter than she is !!!

I'm still scratching my head.  I heard a news reporter last night pose the question of whether, in the history of our nation, two different sovereign courts have ever gotten into such a tussle as the one currently escalating between the Utah district court (Pousse Lintbag) and federal district court (Dee Benson).

Today, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on Judge Benson's order to return FLDS documents (at least until it can be briefed on the controversy).  I told you - polygamy gets people all lathered up. If this thing gets any more crazy, I think the world could split in two.  Actually, worse than that, the FLDS might not get their trust back.

The court wants more hearings and who knows if the attorneys are getting paid? Brutal Wisass is about to be disqualified as an evil trespasser, and, worse still, the internal squabble over FLDS leadership threatens to derail the return of the trust to its rightful owners - the FLDS people.

Looking at the big picture, I seriously doubt that Shortlaff and crew want to keep their fingers in the UEP Trust pie for very long. It has brought them nothing but expense, frustration and humiliation.  Maybe some people just want to see it destroyed - wiped off the map.

I think it's time for the parties involved who are stupid, wrong, selfish or evil to back off and realize that the community was created by decent, honorable people, so it should only be controlled by decent, honorable people, and not by liars, plunderers or outsiders who care more for themselves than for the welfare of the people.

However, as I scratch my head, I think of the feud that lasted years in Northern Ireland between virtual kinfolk - the Irish Protestants and Catholics.  They bombed and murdered each other until the children could no longer remember what the original argument was about, or who hit whom first.  I wonder - does it need to get that bad?  Do these kinds of battles help the participants to show their true colors and their true nature?  Did we come to earth (or to the Rocky Mountains) to show God whose side we are on (as evidenced by the way we treat our fellow man [or woman])?

I believe this war has been about religion and authority - whether Monson or Jeffs or Wisan or someone else is the true holder of the keys of leadership in the restored church.  Do we truly want to come to blows over a theological nuance (or has it been about money and control all along)?

Not Messing Around

He's not messing around!  Yesterday, Judge Dee Benson followed through on his promise to give the UEP trust back to the FLDS.  He accepted the settlement compromises negotiated by the Utah Attorney General's office, and removed Brutal Wisass as manager of the trust, requiring him to turn over all pertinent documentation.  Read the AP article.

The FLDS have agreed to comply with the stipulations (not to kick out the ex-members who were given leases, not to sell off UEP trust property, etc.).

Wisass is claiming to be owed (along with Shields) some $1.5 million for his activities in recent years.  "Pay me for the abuse I inflicted on you!" he says.  So, here's what I think - - the fiduciary was hired by the Utah AG's office, and he did the bidding of the AG's office (one would assume).  The UEP trust is a land-holding entity.  It does not have "liquid" cash.  It even allegedly still owes back property taxes.  For Wisass to be paid, there would be three options.  Get ready to select an option - -


1.  Take more money from the FLDS people (GOOD LUCK WITH THAT !!!)
2.  Sell more of the UEP trust property (Benson forbade that, didn't he  . . . . ?)  - - or
3.  Have the Utah AG's office pay him for the spectacular work he did for it.

I vote for number 3.  Is there a fourth option?

They Punted

Okay, I'm not a lawyer, although I play one in my house.  It's time for me to weigh in on the urination contest between Utah's very Supreme Court and Federal Judge Dee Benson.

The Utah Supremes are miffed because, after they elected to ignore the merits of the FLDS church's claim against the State for reforming its trust, Judge Benson addressed the merits head-on and found egregious Constitutional violations (primarily from Diseased Lintbag).  The Supremes hinged their decision (to effectively "punt" the matter) on a legal doctrine known as "Laches".  The idea of Laches is that, if you feel you have been wronged, you have a duty to make any valid protests within a reasonable time period (or else too much water will flow under the bridge, and people will have moved on with their lives and placed faith in the new status quo).  This is not necessarily a bad principle but, the way Judge Benson looked at it, if what the State (and Limprag) did was a Constitutional violation ab initio, then irrespective of the (late) timing of the complaint, the trust beneficiaries had been being abused from the very start, and on a continual, ongoing basis.

If I am comfortable with Benson's argument for any reason, it is at least because Brute Wisass conducted a spiteful, selfish, disdainful campaign of disregard against the FLDS leadership and membership from day one.  It might well be argued that, if Warren Jeffs was telling the folks to "Answer them nothing!", they were risking having everything taken from them by the Fooles and the Hischers.  Judge Benson sagely noted that, if that was what the beneficiaries really wanted, it was NOBODY's business to charge in and compel them to do otherwise.  Attorney Rod Parker suggested that the period of inaction was framed as a "test of faith" for the membership.  Let's not also forget that, whenever an FLDS member showed his or her face in a Utah courtroom, he or she was immediately slapped with a subpoena to cough up the whereabouts of Warren Jeffs or else face detention in Arizona's Florence dungeon till the start of the next millennium.  The persecution of the people became intolerable.

So what are the key principles in this situation?

1.  The Fooles and the Hischers had conflicts of interest in the trust reformation in that they were suing the trust for gain and then colluded in the rewriting of the UEP trust language.

2.   Jugg Desleaze Lintrag showed extraordinary prejudice at every turn and should have been removed from the start.

3.  Brutal Wisass was a disgrace to the LDS Church and to the accounting profession in that he waged a personal and self-serving war against a generally innocent community.

4.  The Utah Supreme Court waxed spineless (as it did in State v. Holm) and did not want to get to "the merits", so it punted the case, finding comfort in the convenience of the "Laches" excuse.

5.  Judge Benson watched the case from a distance and agreed (in 2008[?]) to get involved in the event that the Utah Supreme Court failed to take appropriate action.  The Supremes punted the case, so Benson thought long and hard about the merits and his own eligibility to decide the matter.  He concluded that he does have jurisdiction, that the reformation of the trust was fraudulent at the start, and that, since the Supremes had punted the matter of the merits, he must step in and remedy the error.

The Supremes are irritated because Benson disagreed with the Laches excuse and insisted that a State can never invade a private trust and alter it at will in violation of its original intents.  The Supremes are now toying with motions from both sides regarding whether they can or should disregard the federal court's ruling (plus there are two other FLDS matters still pending in their court).

The hardest part of this is that this is relatively uncharted legal territory.  The last (and perhaps only) instance of such an egregious trust invasion was the one perpetrated against the LDS Church in the 1880's.  Either way, the entire siege was disingenuous, deceitful, collusive, and criminal from the beginning.  It was reminiscent of Missouri Governor Boggs' extermination (of Mormons) order - - public officials twisting the legal process in an effort to achieve devious political ends.  Such gross official license and creativity has no place in honorable government.  Even the LDS Church must be having second thoughts about the wisdom of confiscating church trusts for mere gits and shiggles.

I think that despite Justice Christine Durham's sincere desire to hear reasonable new pleadings from both sides, it is (ironically) too little - too late.  They had their chance to explore the merits before, and they punted. Now, everybody involved can see the writing on the wall. This is another tar baby.  Whisetrash is about to be convicted of felony trespass.  Snortlips doesn't need any more public embarrassments.  The 10th Circuit is bound to stand behind Benson, and, if Spent Bunshaker is onto something more than a rumor (for the first time in his weasely career), there could well be a season of healing and renaissance in the community. In large part, Fundamentalist Mormons are extraordinarily loyal and committed people.  Public officials prefer the "divide and conquer" program, since they fear that united we will be strong.  It's one thing to boast of having tackled the "polygamy problem", but entirely another to trample on the property and free agency of an entire culture.  It backfired in 1953 and 2008, and backfire it will again.

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday we learned that Federal Judge Dee Benson issued his ruling in the FLDS UEP trust case.  May I say that this was the most significant event (in the polygamy world) since the victims of the 1953 raid were returned to their homes, or since the 439 YFZ ranch children were allowed to return home.

I can't help but smile, because Judge Benson was strident in his criticism of the state's attorneys and their pathetic inability to provide a decent legal argument as to why the state should have invaded a church and confiscated its property.  I think my greatest satisfaction comes from thinking about Brute Wisass and how he told the FLDS people he was their S.O.B. (State Ordained Bishop).  He acted like he was God's gift to the people - a great savior, yet he was smug, arrogant and stubborn.  He appeared to care only for himself and a few cronies.  Payback's a bishop !!!!

It is almost mind-boggling to think of the defeat of Wisass and the Fooles. I hear rumors that Wisass wants to appeal, but one bright observer asked, "With whose money?"

I note that there are new allegations of child-trafficking across the Canadian border. I guess we have to wait for evidence of you-know-what (penetration, conception, pregnancy etc.) to corroborate or dismiss the rumors. I sense that many ambitious folks will try to leverage this matter into more political capital.  My fear is that it is always about selfish and ulterior motives, not the welfare of the people. Sadly, many will quickly forget the rapid rise and fall of Wisass and how he impaled himself on the deceptively sharp stake of the anti-polygamy movement.  Many will follow in his tragic footsteps because they have long forgotten the liberty aspirations of their pilgrim ancestors.

I'm not saying that polygamists are perfect, but targeting them to impose patronizing intervention or busybody interference is never right.  There are some who would say that the Amish are abusing their children because they do not let them play video games.  The only way to rid America of the peculiar and mystifying traditions of the Amish is to wipe them all out.  They are allowed to survive because they bring in tourist dollars.  Modern LDS demagogues secretly love our region's polygamists because they make them appear and feel clean and righteous (by contrast).

It is ironic that Benson's ruling appeared at the same time as a fairly disturbing revelation from the twin border towns (that several prominent leaders are being expelled).  I don't know the details of the situation, but anything that can help people not to put their "trust in the arm of flesh" is a good thing.  Like it or not, the banks and their armies seem not to want to ignore this quiet remnant in the Rockies, so perhaps our dramas will only escalate.  One day we may want to link arms and collaborate for survival's sake.  Priesthood lineages and leadership are supremely important, but their ostensible significance may wane in a time of global war and hunger.

I think now is a time for much prayer in behalf of the FLDS people that they can have (not just their UEP Trust but also) their peace of mind and stability restored (but always in keeping with true principles of liberty and compassion).

Gaddafi's dictatorial example appears to be a painfully and ironically bad one.  He was recently heard calling his people "rats" and promising to "kill" them.

BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES !!!!

He Gets It, He Really Gets It!

The UEP trust controversy surfaced again a couple of times this week - first in the Utah Supreme Court (some FLDS bishops want to be intervenors in trust issues) and secondly in the local federal District Court with Judge Dee Benson (the FLDS want to reverse Judge Lintbag's decision to rewrite/reform the UEP trust).

I'm going to distill this topic down to the simplest possible element. WHY? because I understand that that is what Judge Benson did (in Federal Court) yesterday. Apparently the government (defense in the case = Shields, Jensen, and Richards) tried (for hours) to defend the wisdom of Judge Diseased Lintbag's actions:

"She had no choice"
"She did what she thought was best"
"No FLDS person protested the reformation"
"It's not healthy for the FLDS to honor their leaders' inspiration"
"We couldn't let Warren Jeffs control the trust; he's bad!"
"We couldn't let those poor, poor people lose their homes"
"We had to protect the disaffected ex-members"
"Poor Bruce Wisan needs a paycheck"

Arguing for the Plaintiffs (FLDS people), Judge Benson reiterated 100 times that, despite the fact that the State had a duty to go in and protect this (charitable) trust from doom and destruction (threatened by the Hischers and the Fooles), it did not have a Constitutional right to barge in and start controlling everything else about the trust, even to the point of changing the very founding language of the trust, removing its religious intents, and selling off big chunks of it to put ill-gotten lucre in Wisass's pocket. Judge Benson argued that Judge Lintbag should not have gotten her dirty fingers into this pie in the first place. He argued that, if all of Lintbag's overreaching interference constituted a breach of the people's Constitutional, First-Amendment "Free Exercise" rights, then the whole thing has to be re-wound - Laches or no Laches.

The A.G. attorneys kept trying to say that Judge Lintbag had no choice but to do what she did, and Judge Benson kept saying that it doesn't really matter one teensy weensy little bit what she thought was in the best interests of those poor, beleaguered, criminal polygamists, if what she did was JUST PLAIN DOWNRIGHT VIOLATIVE OF THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

I think he gets it - he really really gets it. Maybe Lintbag can now reimburse all those poor, poor people who have suffered loss.