Texas GOP discusses Cliven Bundy

Texas Republican leaders were quick to defend Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, even before the librul media called him "sort of a welfare queen in a cowboy hat."


Rick Perry said that he couldn't say much of anything, on advice of counsel retained over the Public Integrity Unit veto, lest he be misinterpreted as intimidating somebody.

Ted Cruz said that the Bureau for Land Management reminded him of Castro's Cuba and therefore it was socialistic for trying to deny Bundy the right to freely appropriate land in the most libertarian of ways, by paying nothing for it. As for Bundy's talk about lazy Negros vs. hard-working Hispanics with better family structures than many whites, Cruz said, "Duh, look at me!"

John Cornyn said what Ted Cruz said because, per Lyndon Baines Johnson, Cornyn has voluntarily put his pecker in Cruz's pocket.

Louie Gohmert said "BLM? Blacklands Management? Black Land Management? Black Lazy Malingerers? Oh, yes, I agree with Bundy."
But he then qualified that, saying Hispanics only pretended to work hard until their first US-born anchor babies arrived.

Greg Abbott tried to claim the BLM was in the process of stealing millions of acres of Texas land when it actually has almost zero land in Texas. He then promised that questions about eminent domain for Keystone XL was just a trick by environmentalists to get him to mention that Earth Day was this week. He claimed that questions about seizure of the YFZ Ranch, knows for its previous fundamentalist Mormon ownwers and their underage marriages, was just a trick to remind people of Ted Nugent and underage girls. He then promised to tell even more lies about the BLM as preparation for his next suit against Obama. When asked about how he could have such apparent double standards, he said it was a dirty liberal trick to talk about him and a  "stand"-ard for anything.

He did add that Bundy was totally right about Hispanics. He said the Mexican-American wife he had recently discovered he had after 30-some years of marriage was proof of that.

Dan Patrick said Bundy was wrong about Hispanics. Although continuing to ignore his own getting some Ill Eagles to do lots of work for cheap, he said he knew that they stink and were contaminating America. Patrick said "no comment" if he had personal knowledge of the "contamination" from contracting venereal disease from a Hispanic.

David Dewhurst said he agreed that Hispanics were hard workers at every country club where he was a member. He said he was unfamiliar with Cliven Bundy, and wondered if he was related to Peg or Al Bundy.

Jerry Patterson promised to defend the Red River against Oklahoma and the BLM with the hogleg in his boot. He then invited Bundy to Texas, as long as he brought all his guns, and said he'd find Bundy land in the Christmas Mountains.

Ken Paxton touted his under-the-table financial genius, saying he would incorporate Bundy's ranch and sell stock to investors.

Joe Straus said to himself that he wished someone would let the air out of Abbott's wheelchair tires.

Warren Jeffs burned the governor’s mansion!

C’mon now. He had motive. He had nothing to lose. Torching the governor’s mansion in Austin was just a warning shot, a shot across the bow to Rick Perry to get CPS to back off.

It all makes perfect sense!

Perry finally opens mouth on FLDS and says nothing

That’s the nickel-version analysis of Gov. Helmethair finally breaking his silence on what happened at Eldorado.

First:

The governor said he hopes state law enforcement officials and prosecutors "continue to send the message" to the sect that child sexual abuse won't be tolerated.

That means he presumes that sexual abuse DID happen. If any cases ever go to trial, you can bet defense attorneys will raise this.

Will Jessup, a Utah-based elder for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, agrees:

“It's an outrage that he would even make such gross and broad allegations,” Jessop said. “He’s listening to people that tell lies about the FLDS.”

Perry then said he hopes CPS and the FLDS “work together.” Translation?

Judge Walther, push the envelope on how much you rule CPS can do in the way of drop-in visits.

But, it’s all for the KIDS! Because any good Republican is for the KIDS, except when they’re poor, on welfare, without health insurance, etc.:

“I am substantially less interested in these fine legal lines that we’re discussing than I am about these children's welfare.”

Uhh, those “fine legal lines” include U.S. Constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

I also find it “interesting,” at the least, that Perry made his first in-depth statement in weeks when out of not only the state, but the country, in France.

Will Texas CPS learn from Supreme Court FLDS ruling as Act I ends?

The Texas Supreme Court today upheld the Texas Court of Appeals and said that Child Protective Services had no legal grounds to separate Fundamentalist Mormon children from their mothers, as the Yearning for Zion ranch case now officially ends Act I.

The opinion was unsigned, meaning the high court saw this as a no-brainer decision.

That said, three justices had a concurring opinion, in which they said CPS did have some evidence of the possibility of prepubescent sexual abuse, but failed to consider less-obtrusive options than mass removal. For example, CPS could have taken DNA samples of all men, all women believed to be under a certain age and all children those women birthed.

Now, as the story notes, CPS has options. It can restrict the movement of children reunited with their parents.

But, with $4/gallon gas and CPS workers already weeks behind in state travel voucher reimbursements, can CPS even afford to monitor something like that?

As for CPS’ fear the group would flee the state – to where? They’d have to fly WAYYY under the radar screen to hide themselves, and would soon be rediscovered again. Their Mexican counterparts don’t want them south of the border, either.

But, right now, all CPS will say is that it is “reviewing its options.”

We can only hope it does more than that. Unfortunately, the curtain will likely raise on a discombobulated Act II.

Texas CPS will appeal FLDS appeals court ruling

How much more money does the state want to waste?

Plus, in the case of the inevitable lawsuits, does this leave the state open to charges of gross or deliberate behavior?

$21 mil on FLDS raid

Our budget-minded Texas Gov. Helmethair, aka Rick Perry, remains silent as the taxi meter spins ever faster on how much money the state of Texas is blowing on the aftermath of the ill-conceived raid on the Yearning for Zion Fundamentalist LSD compound.

The estimated annualized cost? A cool $21 million, and you know that’s an underestimate.

Plus, that doesn’t factor in the private costs, such as gas costs for mothers to visit children scattered out to multiple foster parents.

And, per GOP-style calculations, it also doesn’t figure in lost time and wages, efficiencies, etc.

Texas gets FLDS foster care even wronger on child custody

How can you put eight siblings in eight different foster homes, then require mother Nora Jeffs, and others, to fulfill a family service plan?

Jeffs is lucky, at least. Some FLDS moms from Eldorado still don’t know where their kids are.

In the real world, that’s called either kidnapping or false imprisonment, if you want the more legal phrase.

Jeffs says travel to eight different places mean she hasn’t even had a chance to look at the plan yet.

Plus, if those kids are separated by a number of miles, how much gas is Nora Jones burning? How much money?

Texas lies over Eldorado Mormons grow – put down the shovel, CPS

The latest lie is that Mental Health Mental Retardation staff never objected to separating even special-needs children from their mothers. That’s despite this:

Removing children from a polygamist sect's West Texas ranch was unnecessary and traumatizing, several mental health workers sent to aid the families wrote.

In a set of unsigned written reports, workers with Hill Country Community Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center said that the Child Protective Services investigation of suspected child abuse and its decision to ask for state custody of all 464 children punished mothers who appeared to be good parents of healthy, emotionally normal kids.

First, you know you’re in for chickenshit, stonewall, and “story management” time when someone, in this case, CPS, says it will only accept and respond to submitted written questions.

That’s followed by this wundebar comment from CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins:

“We have received no complaints from Hill Country MHMR. However, we will be looking into what are obviously very serious allegations, and sharing these allegations with other agencies as appropriate.”

Since the statements are unsigned, and submitted by individuals, I guess they don’t technically count as “complaints from Hill Country MHMR.” Man, CPS looks stupider the more this drags on.

Oh, threatening to arrest an MHMR employee definitely is not good PR.

And, aren’t we at the one-month count on Rick Perry as AWOL on this issue?

Texas officials ‘admit’ FLDS call was hoax

The Texas Department of Public Safety has dropped an arrest warrant for Dale Barlow.

He is the 50-year-old man that Colorado Springs, Colo., prank phone caller Rozita Swinton claimed sexually abused her in Eldorado, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ West Texas compound/commune.

Colorado court records show the calls made to a San Angelo domestic violence shelter were made from prepaid mobile phones previously used by Swinton, who has been charged with making a false report in Colorado and is on probation there for a similar offense.

But, the boys at DPS refuse to say why they dropped the warrant, let alone that the bogus phone call is the reason why the warrant never should have been filed in the first place. DPS spokesman Tom Vinger did admit Swinton is still “a person of interest.”

Hmmm, what’s that I smell? The first Eldorado lawsuit? For wrongful arrest?

Meanwhile, this issue is now going interstate. Texas claims statutory rape charges could be pending based on the age of girls/young women at Eldorado; it is pretty much refusing to accept sect members’ claims, and paperwork, on the women’s ages.

So, they’re fighting back:

In Utah, members of the polygamous church have asked the state’s governor to intervene in its fight with Texas authorities over the custody the children.

A letter written by FLDS elder Willie Jessop says Texas officials are rejecting Utah-issued birth certificates and other documents as “fake.”

The letter asks Gov. Jon Huntsman to exercise his executive authority to assist in protecting the civil rights of native Utahns and FLDS members. FLDS parents claim they have been denied their due process by the Texas courts.

“Without your leadership and personal intervention in this matter, the parental rights of every Utah family is at risk,” Jessop wrote.

Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelly said the governor has been in contact with Jessop and was reviewing his request.

Speaking of governors, our own Gov. Helmethair, Rick Perry, continues to be hugely AWOL on this issue.

Perry remains AWOL despite testimony at a Texas Senate hearing that
A. Much more manpower and resources are needed; and
B. This could take years to sort out.

Why? As I’ve said before, it’s a religious liberty issue, and he’s running scared from the Christian Religious Right.

My professional take – FLDS, Army cases challenge us on religious liberty

From my May 1 newspaper column:

They look different from us. They dress differently. They’re standoffish. They have weird religious beliefs and social customs.

How many of these statements and more crossed the minds of many Americans in the days and weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, thinking about Muslims in America?

By actions if not words, we’re hearing or seeing the same beliefs today — over a splinter Mormon group right here in Texas.

It seems that the state of Texas, including the overworked and understaffed Child Protective Services and District Judge Barbara Walther are acting on presupposition and prejudice in how they have acted from the moment of raiding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, compound in Eldorado.

First, the phone call itself that led to the April 3 raid on the FLDS compound.

Colorado court records show the calls made to a San Angelo domestic violence shelter were made from prepaid mobile phones previously used by Rozita Swinton. The Colorado Springs woman has been charged with making a false report in Colorado and is on probation there for a similar offense.

Teenagers, especially ones who are mad at their parents or other adults, do that. But, CPS and the Texas Department of Public Safety didn’t show much responsibility or initiative in trying to determine whether or not the call was legitimate before making the raid.

Then came further actions by CPS, many substantiated by Judge Walther, followed by other actions of her own.

First was the decision to separate the children at Eldorado from their mothers. If fathers at Eldorado had forced mothers unto either underage or polygamous marriages, of course, CPS would be right to separate both mothers and children from the men.

But, nobody has charged the mothers with any wrongdoing.

Instead, a surface interpretation of CPS actions would be that the state wants to deprogram these children out of their “weird” beliefs in an “extremist offshoot Mormon cult.”

The idea that the state wants to “deprogram” these 437 children is only furthered by Judge Walther’s actions.

She refused to take the time or effort to treat each child as an individual. Instead, in a temporary custody hearing on whether to keep them in state custody rather than return them to their mothers, she had one giant hearing for all children. She even called it a “cattle call” afterward.

If either polygamous marriages were celebrated, or statutory rape was committed, at the YFZ Ranch, then perpetrators need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Ditto if reports of broken bones or other, lesser child abuse against boys at the compound were committed. Even if the broken bones are not from abuse, but healed poorly due to lack of medical care, then child neglect charges should be filed.

And, even on that issue, The Dallas Morning News notes the injury rate of boys at the compound is in line with other rural areas:

While physical injuries can be an indicator of abuse, checks by The Dallas Morning News suggested broken bones for 9 percent of a group of rural children is not out of line.

According to the Web site of the Seattle Children's Hospital, about half of all boys and a quarter of all girls break a bone sometime during childhood. In 2001, about 16 percent of youngsters under 20 living on farms suffered an injury – the most common being broken bones, a federal study says.

Meanwhile, the story indicates that Child Protective Services is continuing to invent ideas first, then fish for justification for them afterward.

Carey Cockerell, head of the Department of Family and Protective Services, parent agency of Child Protective Services, has claimed that boys at the compound were sexually abused, but at a Texas Senate panel hearing Wednesday, had no proof to offer.

But, the FLDS members, especially before any indictments have even been issued, are entitled to the presumption of innocence just as much as anybody else.

Unfortunately, the state of Texas isn’t acting that way.

Beyond the legal presumption of innocence, all FLDS members, whether fathers, mothers or children, are entitled to their First Amendment rights, protections and freedoms. So, too, are Jews, the Muslims stereotyped after 9/11, the Hindus and Buddhists who moved to our shores later, the American Indians who still practice ancestral religions handed down for hundreds and thousands of years before Europeans came here, and even the irreligious.

At the time that amendment was drafted and ratified, America had more than just Christians. A number of cities had Jewish communities. A number of the Founding Fathers weren’t Trinitarian Christians, but rather Deists, the forerunners of today’s Unitarians. And through French and British philosophers, ideas of agnosticism and atheism were well-known.

Indeed, John Adams said, “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

From where I sit, though there really haven’t been a lot of legal test cases, the First Amendment includes protection of freedom from religion, too.

Spc. Jeremy Hall, a real, live atheist in a foxhole as an Iraq vet, is suing the Army over that very proposition.

Hall came out of the secularist closet last year, after being involved in a firefight as a gunner on a Humvee that took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.

“I said, ‘No, but I believe in Plexiglas,’” Hall said.

The issue came to a head when, according to Hall, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn threatened to bring charges against him for trying to hold a meeting of atheists and other secularists.
Welborn claimed Hall dishonored the Constitution. I think Welborn had his finger pointing in the wrong direction.

Likewise, let’s not prejudge the FLDS. Remember, the Pilgrims came here for religious freedom. Remember also that if you try drawing First Amendment lines to exclude one belief, you’ve lost the right to object when somebody else wants to exclude yours.

Fake IDs and pregnancies latest for FLDS Mormons and AWOL Rick

Texas Child Protective Services claim 31 juvenile females from the YFZ compound at Eldorado, age 14-17, are pregnant.

The FLDS disputes the claims; a spokesman says at least 17 of that number are actually adults. The state, in turn, disputes that, saying it disputes custody.

Meanwhile the state’s guarantee of individual custody hearings by June 5 is a crock. That’s seven weeks away.

Meanwhile, Gov. Helmethair, the man formerly known as Rick Perry, continues to be hugely AWOL on this issue. Has he said more than half a dozen words on this issue in the last two weeks?

What next on Texas Mormon compound case?

By now, most the country has heard about last week’s Texas raid on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in Eldorado, including the removal of more than 400 children.

Unless the state of Texas and Child Protective Services in particular get their acts together quickly, I predict the state is going to be in a bunch of trouble, including some lawsuits against it.

This USA Today column summarizes some points for national readers. After that, I’ll add local points cleaned from Texas newspapers and my own knowledge, and offer up why I think the way I do.

• Did Texas have any option short of taking the children from their families for weeks? This is the largest child custody case in Texas and U.S. history, and the seizure of so many children is both extreme and extraordinary. Authorities said they raided the compound — belonging to an isolationist group called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which is known to practice polygamy — after a call to a domestic abuse hotline from a 16-year-old seeking help. The caller wasn’t found, but child welfare officials said they saw several teenage girls who were pregnant or with young children. That prompted them to remove all the children.

• Did the state infringe on the group's right to practice its religion? FLDS members have invited fear and suspicion by cutting themselves off from society. It is likely that the sect built its isolated West Texas compound in 2004 to avoid outside interference. In recent days, FLDS mothers have appeared on TV wearing prairie dresses and old-fashioned hairdos. Different, yes, but the Constitution protects religious freedom, as long as it's practiced legally.

• Did anyone inside the compound violate statutory rape, child molestation or other laws? Whatever the group’s beliefs, the age of consent in Texas is 17, and the age of marriage with parental consent is 16. On TV, at least one FLDS man said he did not know Texas law prohibited sex with adolescent girls. If the law has been violated, the girls should be protected and offenders prosecuted.

• What is in the best interest of each child? What's right for one child might not be right for all 437. Appropriately, a judge has ordered that the case of each child be heard by June 5. DNA tests are being conducted to sort out tangled families. In the meantime, the emotional toll on the parents is evident. How the children are faring can only be guessed. They are being transferred to temporary foster care after being held in a coliseum in the town of San Angelo.

Now, some Texas-level observations, some of which will provide further explanation to USA Today points.

First, we can go beyond “the caller wasn’t found.” Though nobody will say anything on the record by name, it’s pretty clear this was a prank call. Without excusing anything that may have happened at the Eldorado compound, parents know that rebellious teenagers, in some cases, will make prank calls against their parents to authorities.

The state’s failure to adequately investigate that possibility before the raid could be a matter of legal liability in any lawsuits the FLDS file.

And, things like a state district judge treating the children like cattle and not having individual hearings on their custody status will only add to that.

Second, and unsurprisingly, Gov. Helmethair, aka Rick Perry, is AWOL on this issue. Why? For the same reason that folks like the Rutherford Institute are jumping in with both feet — Rick doesn’t want to alienate the Religious Right, especially now that he has announced he will run for re-election in 2010.

Third, it’s no crime to be a pregnant teen, or our jails would be even more bursting than they are now. (I think I first saw this in a Steve Chapman column.)

Fourth, as other FLDS-type cases have shown, unless this is tried very carefully (assuming criminal charges result), you run the risk of generating a Stockholm Syndrome situation where teen brides side with their non-caffeinated sugar daddies. My confidence Texas will try this, and a judge will hear it, with that level of skill? Right now, about 10 percent.

That’s especially true on statuatory rape charges. After this fiasco, good luck to the state of Texas on proving those charges.