Ben Stein is a Wingnut and Everyone Knows It

Now that we have pretty much gotten to the bottom of what went on in the Texas polygamy case, and you'll have to indulge me here, because this kind of "twittery" really isn't my style, we find out that:

More than half the teen girls taken from a polygamist compound in west Texas have children or are pregnant, state officials said Monday.

A total of 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 are in state custody after a raid 3 1/2 weeks ago at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado. Of those girls, 31 either have children or are pregnant, said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar. Two of those are pregnant now, he said; it was unclear whether either of those two already have children.

"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," he said.

You read that right. And, yes, the age of consent in Texas is 17.
But what did serial wingnut Ben Stein say on Sunday morning?

What the heck is going on in Texas with the kids caught up in the polygamy ranch disaster?

Look, I am not a fan of polygamy. For one thing, it's all any man can do keeping up with one wife. For another, it's against the law in this country.

But the polygamists that have been in the news have been operating for decades. The authorities knew about it, and them. They didn't do a thing about it for all those years!

Then, on a totally unsubstantiated telephone call about sex abuse - which apparently did not come from anyone even connected to the polygamist compound - the state closed down the compound, and (what is totally incomprehensible) took the small children of the settlement away from their mothers and fathers.

Why? What crime had the kids committed? Why are they being dealt the most drastic punishment imaginable - separation from their mothers and fathers - for no known reason?

The state of Texas has not found one single crime against these children yet. Even if they do find one or two, how can that be a reason for taking dozens, maybe hundreds of children away from their mothers?

Now you know, Ben. Now you know. Rarely is someone smacked down harder than that, and I suspect the state of Texas had to let the information out because of wingnuts like Stein who were questioning whether it was necessary to separate so many children from their parents.

In fact, Stein went so far as to bring Mr. Godwin into all of this:

Look, I am a huge fan of Texas. I have many friends there and love being there. But what is the attorney general of Texas doing? This is an Orwellian nightmare. For no reason except what looks like a crank call, the lives of these children have been turned upside down and into a screaming horror movie.

Can't someone say the obvious here? That in this case, it's not the Mormons who are the criminals, it's the government of Texas.

Governor Perry, wake up and give those kids back to their mothers until you have some compelling, proven reason to do otherwise. What your state is doing here is Gestapo tactics pure and simple.

That crank call may have prevented a whole hell of a lot more abuse, so thank God for it. I know you didn't want to hear that answer, Ben, but thanks for asking. Now, if you could just shut the hell up...



...and let the state of Texas do what it needs to do in this tragic case, well, we'd all be better off.

I mean, what more proof do we need that you don't know what you're talking about?

The AP Gives Us a Healthy Dose of Twittery

I can't think of a more appropriate example of "bad news judgement" than the publication of this article, which is disguised as news but is really, without pulling any punches, a terrible piece of faux news wrapped up in a thin verneer of twittery and ridiculousness:

For a society accustomed to the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, the images of the women from the polygamist compound in Texas are almost shocking in their understatement: Ankle-length dresses, makeup-less faces, hauntingly uniform hair.

And while no one would accuse the women of making a fashion statement, the pioneer-style outfits are a rare example of how in an age of overexposure, modesty, too, can give pause.

The puff-sleeved, pastel dresses worn by the women in the sect are a combination of original 19th-century wear and 1950s clothing that was adopted when the church took a conservative turn, according to Janet Bennion, an anthropologist who studies polygamist women.

The dresses are meant to show modesty and conformity: They go down to the ankles and wrists, and are often worn over garments or pants, making sure every possibly provocative inch of skin is covered.

John Llewellyn, a polygamy expert and retired Salt Lake County sheriff's lieutenant, says the women cover themselves "so that they're unattractive to the outside world or other men."

Shame on you, Associated Press. Given that the initial reports speak of widespread child abuse and allowing men to procreate on a terribly unhealthy scale in the name of "religious freedom," exactly what we don't need right now is an examination of the "fashion sense" of women who are being investigated along with their "husbands." We're not accustomed to the twits you speak of--we have them shoved down our throats by your ignorant employees.

Anyone who lives in what they call "flyover" country is well aware of various non-polygamous sects that favor old fashioned clothing--the Amish, for starters. There's nothing wrong with people dressing different. There's something seriously wrong with the AP for thinking it merits a story or a cutesy-poo examination of the length of the dresses. Are they trying to soften the blow for people who are uncomfortable with brazen polygamy? It ain't working.

Funding a polygamist cult on your dime

By now you know that hundreds of women and children were removed from a fundamentalist Mormon compound in Texas after an anonymous call was made, reportedly by a 16 year old girl claiming to be held against her will at the compound, having been forcibly married to a much older man who beat her, and reporting she was pregnant with her second child.

Three days after the anonymous call was made to child protective services, search warrants for records relating to the birth of a child to a girl of 16, and for records of a marriage between a girl of that age and a man of 50. From the initial warrants a massive investigation was launched and the compound, founded four years ago by Warren Jeffs, who is serving time for being an accomplice to rape for his role in marrying off another teenager to her cousin, is now effectively shut down.

But did you know that your tax dollars funded this sick and perverted lifestyle?

The ability of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, to operate and grow is largely dependent on huge contributions from its members and revenue from the businesses they control, according to a former accountant for the church, and government officials in Utah and Arizona, where the sect is primarily based.

One of those businesses, NewEra Manufacturing in Las Vegas, has been awarded more than $1.2 million in federal government contracts, with most of the money coming in recent years from the Defense Department for wheel and brake components for military aircraft.

A large portion of the awards were preferential no-bid or "sole source" contracts because of the company's classification as a small business, according to online databases that track federal government appropriations.

NewEra, previously known as Western Precision Inc. and located in Hildale, Utah, also received a $900,000 loan in 2005 from the federal Small Business Administration, the data show.

The president and chief executive of the company is John. C. Wayman, identified as an FLDS leader and a close associate to Warren Jeffs, the sect's "prophet," who was convicted last year as an accomplice to rape for arranging the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin.

When Jeffs, who was one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, was arrested in the summer of 2006, he was driving Wayman's late-model red Cadillac Escalade, government officials say.

On the companies web site the "mission statement" signed by Wayman lays claim to honor and patriotism (final proof, as if it was needed, that that trait is indeed the last refuge of a scoundrel) but there is no disclosure of the connection between the company and the freaky religious cult.

However, my computer comes with this fancy, newfangled feature called 'Teh Google' and it is amazing! I typed in "john c. wayman" and FLDS, and voila! 1,020 items in 1.13 seconds! And I learn that bloggers and local Vegas media has been trying to get someone to pay attention to the fact that our government funds these freaks and their fucked-up, women-are-property-and-brood-mares lifestyle.

Which leaves me pondering the obvious question - when a google search pops up the fact that the fugitive Warren Jeffs was arrested in his vehicle, why didn't anyone during the procurement process google his ass? Didn't the FBI do a background check before his company was granted a contract to supply the DoD with defense materiel?

Congresswoman Kay Granger, a Republican representing Ft. Worth, and who sits on the House Appropriations Committee expressed surprise that the government is doing business with a group accused of mistreating women and children. "It makes me very uneasy," Granger said. "It needs to be investigated without a doubt." To begin with, she added, federal authorities should look into NewEra's financial records.

Um...congresswoman...you sit on the appropriations committee! It is your job to approve spending priorities! Protest from feckless congressional representatives are going to fall on deaf ears where I am concerned. She was in a hell of a lot better position to do something about it than you or I were, and she didn't even invest 1.13 seconds in a Google search? Sorry - the hand-wringing display doesn't pass the smell test.