thoughts, whims, and delusions of a middle aged mama

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Brooke Adams, The Plural Life, and the FLDS Community

Okay. I've had a gazillion emails about this. I've read about it. I've blogged about it. Mary Batchlor has gotten hammered about it. Bill Medvecky hammers about it.
As Mary Batchlor did last night, I am going to say my piece and then that's it.

Most of us have read reams and reams of reports and news articles about the FLDS, and their detractors. And Brooke has always been the blog author and reporter we have 'come back to'. Now that I have stopped posting on her site, and have a little distance, I have realized the reason I always gravitate back to Brooke, it is her lack of bias.
Even with the Jeffs' dictations, she did not publish them. She did not link to them. She took out small portions that directly related to topics she had written on in the past, and used the dictation information to "fill in the blanks".
As wrong as the release of the dictations was, and as personally offensive as their release is to the FLDS community, they were released, and they are part of the public collection of documents and information. They are newsworthy from that perspective.
Each of us has to decide for ourselves whether to read them, or not. Each reporter has to decide to what extent they will use, or post them.
Brooke doesn't write to make anyone happy. She doesn't write to make friends, or enemies. She writes the truth, as best as she can glean it from everything that is out there. She does her best to also write the "back story" on her blog about many of the aspects of this mess that make the news. For many of us she gave the FLDS community a personal face when all the rest of mainstream media made the community out to be a collection of robots in prairie dresses and blue jeans.
I am sorry she didn't write anything publicly about the angers and hurts that the papers' release has caused in the FLDS community. On the other hand, I don't get to tell Brooke, or anyone else what to write. And also on the other hand, she has been quite judicious in her use of the papers.

No one is going to be happy with everything she writes. This story is so big, and has so many twists and turns, she is going to displease everyone at one time or another....but for me, I'm glad there is a Brooke Adams writing. I'd hate to leave the telling to the Watkiss ilk....
Now this doesn't herald a return to her blog, for me...I will go and read the posts...probably not the comments...
Because as much as I have calmed down toward Brooke...and realized how much I value reading her "take" on things...I really, really dislike the nastiness and ugliness of the new 'regulars' on her blog...so I'll steer clear, thank you very much!

51 comments:

Kathy G said...

ditto for me

Hugh McBryde said...

She does have a bias Rericson, and she does have an agenda. I've encountered it.

I believe we owe Brooke a great debt but she is not unbiased. I think this is evidenced by by the inclusion of links to blogs of anonymous haters.

Personally, if she's going to be unbiased, and honest, she should cite her sources, even her blogging links.

For the most part the bloggers on the "FLDS Supportive" side are broadcasting in the clear. We put our names on our work. Heck, mine is in my blog's web address, clear as day.

Bill Medvecky is who he is. Al Holm is who he is, and so on.

Coram is run by an anonymous hater. Brooke links to it. I have a very hard time with that. I continue to link to her blog because it has value, and she is a leading reporter in this ongoing story. The only love I get back from the tribune though, is the use of their articles, and to tell you the truth, some of my research ended up in one of their more important early ones, and I wasn't given credit. I don't think Lisa Rosetta even told anyone at the trib where some of her basic research came from.

TxBluesMan said...

The Pharisee misstates my position yet again.

I do not hate the FLDS. I do expect for them to obey the law. If they don't, they have to pay the consequences of their poor choices in violating the law.

One of the reasons that we don't use our names is the actions of people that support the FLDS. Posting phone numbers and addresses. Threatening to 'out' people for publishing their opinion. The inability to see that other people may have differing views. The inability to accept that both sides have a right to say what they think, whether by name or anonymously.

The history of being anonymous and commenting on public affairs has a long history in this country. Ben Franklin did it (as the American Guesser, in Dec 1775) or the many members of the Sons of Liberty.

Pharisee, you need to either state things truthfully or not at all.

rericson said...

I'm not going to get into a pissing war with anyone over this.
As far as the blogs Brooke has on her site, five out of the six are either pro FLDS specifically, or pro polygamy, in general. Coram is a site that offers the "other side", without the cussing and really nasty name calling that many of the anti FLDSers often offer...perhaps that was the reasoning behind Brooke's choice. I don't know. I don't really care.
I have all sorts of blogs listed because I happen to like them, I didn't consult with anyone....

And frankly, I think there are far more important fights to be had, or points to be made, than to take issue with the blogs she lists....
Hugh, you often make very good points, but you don't get to set the rules for blogging....
I had wanted to post this blog without allowing comments, the way Mary put hers up, I just didn't know how to do it that way....

I like Brooke. I disagree with a choice she seems to have made....it doesn't effect her credibility as a reporter....maybe it says something about taking very literally the idea of avoiding any slant...I don't know...

But I don't think her having bluesman's blog up is any big deal.....

Hugh McBryde said...

I didn't start a fight Rericson, at your blog, so do not try to spread the blame to me please.

I wasn't tangling with blues, and won't here. I was pointing out that he is anonymous, and the only evaluation I made was that he is a hater.

I'll stand by that. But that was not the point.

The point was and is, that Brooke is sourcing a deep throat that she may not know what the motivations and qualifications are behind that source.

I think that says something.

It is LAUGHABLE, LUDICROUS and HILARIOUS even to be dressed down for truthfulness by an anonymous troll.

Pliggy said...

To be honest, the posts that bothered me were the ones by those commenting on Brookes blog, mostly. Especially the ones with peoples names. That really bothers me, and I cant for the life of me see how Brooke and Trent leave that stuff on their blog.

And then she was not just telling the story she was accusing of things she had no clue about.

The reason I don't go there is because it is none of MY business. I won't dignify such despicable acts with an "argument". They raided a sacred building and broke into the safe, removing documents that none of the FLDS even knew about, and they were supposedly looking for "Sarah"?

America, where did you go?

Silver Rose said...

Pliggy,

I think the LE/CPS crew thought the FLDS folks had SARAH stashed in the vault...

:)

lol

I will read Brooke's articles, but I have left the comment area for the most part. The haters have taken it over and I'd rather their hatred not rub off on me.

Hatred is generally blinding.

rericson said...

Pliggy, you make a really good point about why you, and others from your community, are staying out of the fray on the issues raised by the documents. Unfortunately, they are "out there" and they are news.
For my part, what I would like to try and use this blog for is to take the rumors and false beliefs and bring them out in the open and tell the other side of the story. If some of the "pieces" of a false belief come from the papers, well, we'll just have to figure out how to approach those things as they come along.
Your community and the FLDS people have all sorts of wonderful sides. Yours is a community rich with practices and beliefs that put many of the ways we do things on the outside to shame, You have known this all along, you grew up in the community, but most of us are just learning...it is a process for all of us...
For folks in the FLDS community there is an opportunity to learn that there are good people out here...and that there can be a balance between living apart, yet interacting to some extent, without compromising your faith. For those of us on the outside, there is an opportunity t learn how wonderful your culture is. To understand that the Floras and Lauries and Carolyns are not the FLDS. Nor are their stories true depictions of your community.

So we're all learning...and I don't think learning can happen in the middle of fighting and name calling and everyone feeling defensive....
So I'm simply drawing a line and saying that the crap has to stay behind the line....

rericson said...

And....Bluesman....
You're not innocent in this!!!!!
Like your line..."One of the reasons that we don't use our names is the actions of people that support the FLDS."
You could have said, "...is the actions of some people who use knowledge of people's personal identities inappropriately."
You could have pointed a finger at the bad behavior that has been demonstrated by folks on all sides of the issue....but you singled out FLDS supporters, unecessarily. That is shtirring....not good!

TxBluesMan said...

Regina,

You are correct, I probably should have used better phrasing in discussing the issue.

I have posted much the same thing on my blog about pro-law posters contacting peoples employers, etc. My position has always been that it is not appropriate, on either side.

There are those on both sides, that if you don't agree with them, you are automatically labeled a bigot or hater. There are anonymous posters on both sides of the issue. Renn Oldsbuster seems to be an example from the pro-FLDS side, and he is articulate, but it doesn't seem that the Pharisee is all that concerned about his blog - I wonder why that is?

One of the reasons that many pro-law posters don't want to be identified is due to the actions of some pro-FLDS posters in publicizing home addresses, phone numbers, etc. It is my understanding that there have been a number of complaints against a number of people involved with their licensing or regulating body.

I don't know if you are in a position that is required to be licensed in Pennsylvania, but would you like to have to go through a disciplinary hearing based on a complaint made by someone with no standing in the case, when you are not actually involved in the case? I don't either.

As a further point, Brooke has never used me as a source for any information that she has written about on her blog. The only contact we have had have been about matters that have not been connected with the FLDS case.

This is not the first time several of the pro-FLDS individuals have been upset that a newspaper referenced my blog.

Pliggy said...

"For folks in the FLDS community there is an opportunity to learn that there are good people out here...and that there can be a balance between living apart, yet interacting to some extent, without compromising your faith."

Mom, I have known that there were good people "out here" all along, I was taught that by Warren Jeffs. And we have always had to interact with outsiders. That is an economic reality.

BUT we have never had people who would PUBLICLY defend our faith like we have had you and others do since the raid. You have no idea how grateful we are to you, Bill, Hugh, and the many posters and bloggers who have "dared" to stick up for such an unpopular religion. VERY GRATEFUL!! You have no idea how many prayers are for you each day.

And we are grateful even to Brooke, for her "trying" to be unbiased. No one else has put as much effort in. But she is still a reporter. Entertainment is part of the purpose of her job, and "sex" sells.



"For those of us on the outside, there is an opportunity t learn how wonderful your culture is. To understand that the Floras and Lauries and Carolyns are not the FLDS. Nor are their stories true depictions of your community."

Absolutely; before the raid every blog on the internet looked like Kindred Bigot chat sites. I would sometimes waste my time on them, and it was absolutely pointless until the raid. Only after outsiders attack and steal children do people "see" what kind of people the FLDS really are. If your blog was up BEFORE the raid, looking for understanding, you would have had some FLDS people commenting as you do now. But prior to the raid, even you had a different "expectation" of who the FLDS were. Right? That is certainly something that has changed for the better. And I certainly hope it stays this way. The Mike Watkiss's, Laurie Allen's, and Carolyn Jessops of the world make more money than the Brooke Adams's do, bigotry is often a lucrative career move, even for politicians.

Pliggy said...

"One of the reasons that many pro-law posters don't want to be identified is due to the actions of some pro-FLDS posters in publicizing home addresses, phone numbers, etc. It is my understanding that there have been a number of complaints against a number of people involved with their licensing or regulating body."

You are blowing smoke again, bluesy. The only publicizing from the FLDS supporters have been of GOVERNMENT who were ACTIVELY persecuting the FLDS. No blogger has been attacked, no "pro-tyranny" blogger has had any
PRANK calls against them. That is just plain bull.

But of course I know the opposite is not true, hell, even girls diaries are published by the BIGOTS. And supporters have felt their digging. Even I have had the government come after me for crap. But I expected it, it is Bigot M.O., Rozita is on your side remember?

The only reason the FLDS have not had a public face, is it is tiring to have to defend yourself from such rampant bigotry. "Good law" is not "good law", it is bigot law, no matter how pervasive it is believed.

Ron in Houston said...

I don't know. You guys are free to structure your online lives however you wish, but you certainly aren't going to win any hearts or minds by keeping to your own little cliche and patting each other on the backs.

I think each one of you contributed a distinct voice to the debate. Regina certainly made a strong case for sensitivity to different lifestyles. Pliggy (although he way, way overplays it) often exposed bigoted viewpoints for what they are. Hugh makes his case for the way he feels the constitution should be interpreted.

We certainly all disagree. Heck, I even disagree with Blues that just because adult polygamy is a crime on the books that it should be enforced.

Brooke's blog is now dominated by a few highly vocal individuals. I certainly understand each of your viewpoints as to why you don't post. Regina didn't like the emotional drain so much negativity had on her personal life. Pliggy feels that discussing the dictations creates too much collateral damage in the lives of folks that are dragged unwillingly into the limelight.

Sure there are folks out there who have set views that will never change; however, there are also those folks who are trying to grasp the issue and are trying to form opinions on the issue. If you guys boycott Brooke's blog, those who come there mostly will get only one side of the story.

Just my $0.02

Ron in Houston said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hugh McBryde said...

Ron, I hate to break it to you, but the only people who care what Blues, or you or anyone that's on the "Not So Happy With the FLDS side" are the people on that side of the issue.

Quite frankly I make a mistake and everyone on the Pro FLDS or FLDS sympathetic side of the issue makes a mistake to think that you're anything other than your own fan club.

I know that sounds snippy, but so be it, I know of no other way to break it to you.

For anyone that follows the issue the veracity question is OVER. The vast majority of those expecting to get the truth, or the news or perspective of any value do not go to your blog, or Coram, or even BROOKE's blog.

They go to the Truth Will Prevail FIRST, they go to me SECOND, they go to Bill next, and from time to time they go to Bill second and ME third.

I used to be in broadcasting. The general rule was that the more widespread the appeal of a talk show, the less anyone called, as a percentage of the total audience.

The more narrow the appeal, the more numerous the callers and the more shrill the tone.

It's generally a mistake to think that because there are comments on a blog, there is interest in that blog. There's just a huge noisy choir, talking to each other.

You can do your own research and verify what I just said, or you can just keep yakking.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I spent 5 years in the "Custody" of the State of New York (81D283)after having the audacity of winning a foster child away from them in the Supreme Court. I was charged with stealing a loose leaf book.

After I saw what was going on in Texas viv-a-vis the children, I became involved using my own name, since after all, I have nothing to hide and I'm not ashamed of my stance on the subject.

At the same time, I KNEW that I would become a target of the flag waving crazies who follow their government no matter how bad the stench, so I even posted my past on my site.

It wasn't long before I was warned that the "Law and Order" crowd started digging into who Bill Medvecky was, but weren't smart enough to simply read the blog.

None other than TBM himself stood at the forefront of the "Outing" of Bill Medvecky as a "Convicted Felon!" (like Oliver North and G. Gordon Liddy)

To TBMs horror, not only do I openly admit I am a convicted felon, I wear it as a high badge of honor. It shows that I do NOT bow to tyranny.

For TBM to claim he is against "Outing" is hypocrisy of the highest order on his part, read his record.

Once he failed to discredit me with the FLDS which knew about my past all along, he has shifted to the argument that I have an "Agenda" against CPS and all government. This comes from a schmuck who believes that taking a picture of a dead soldiers coffin is treason against his government.

And spare me the flag waving bull crap bluesy, my 23 year old son is in Iraq with the Texas 1st Cavalry, where's yours? What deferment did you get for Vietnam?

As to Brooke: I have admitted I think she has been more fair and balanced than almost all MSM has.
But that doesn't take more than occasional smile.

The bottom line in the whole argument is not her reporting of the facts, but her blog, which portends to be about the plural life. Her audience are polygamist's. As a blog, it is either pro or con FLDS, there are no "Fence sitters" with no opinion one way or the other. If she wants to bash the plural life, FINE! Just change the name to "Bashing the plural life" and I have no problem with Brooke, AND NEITHER DOES THE FLDS.

But this chameleon stuff wears real thin after awhile. In today's episode of "Beat them Down", we have her blog discussing Warren's use of a tanning bed. Does she honestly believe that the next time she wants to sit down with the FLDS as a friend and break bread,she'll be eating with anyone?

Those people have opened their houses to Brooke when doing so was against everything they were ever taught about the media. They have been betrayed, and not only Bill Medvecky is now coming to that conclusion. The TBMs and the Cleo's can have her blog, but that's all that will be posting there if we can't come up with something a little more relevant than warren's tan lines.

Bill Medvecky

Ron in Houston said...

Blues said:

I don't know if you are in a position that is required to be licensed in Pennsylvania, but would you like to have to go through a disciplinary hearing based on a complaint made by someone with no standing in the case, when you are not actually involved in the case? I don't either.

While I admire you guys that put your names out there for all to see, this is just too real of a possibility for most of us.

Heck, I was following some atheist vs. Catholic discussion and someone got someone fired by being an asshat and contacting an employer.

If you ask me, there are way too many wack jobs in the world to not be anonymous when posting on the internet.

However, I guess to each their own.

Ron in Houston said...

Hugh

I'm not saying you're wrong and I don't see you as being "snippy." Perhaps you're right that all those on Brooke's blog are simply the squeaks in the same old chair.

I do think you're full of crap that those who don't have opinions start in the order you specified. I think the curious are naturally going to be drawn to Brooke's blog.

Ron in Houston said...

Bill

Hold on now - how can you be "outed" on something that you make no bones about other folks knowing?

Whether you're a convicted felon or not makes little difference to me. However, you must be living a clean life because after posting Walther's home address I'll bet you had more than a few law enforcement types with their noses up your rear end.

I haven't decided if you have really big cajones or not. Either way, it certainly got you a lot of attention.

TxBluesMan said...

Pliggy said
"The only publicizing from the FLDS supporters have been of GOVERNMENT who were ACTIVELY persecuting the FLDS. No blogger has been attacked, no "pro-tyranny" blogger has had any
PRANK calls against them. That is just plain bull."


You are incorrect. Malonis is/was not a government employee. The foster parents are/were not government employees. Some of the pro-FLDS-tyranny crowd have gone after both of those.

Is this another example of FLDS 'truth?'

If so, I'll pass.

Hugh McBryde said...

Ron,

I would have though that Brooke's blog was by far and away the leading blog on the subject.

Until she broke it out from the Trib's URL and it stood on it's own. Perhaps her decision to do that late in the game didn't give us a true picture as time wore on, about how much real readership she had.

Nevertheless, now that she has posted her blog to a URL outside the Trib's domain name, it shows as a separate data set when inquired upon.

It may change, but right now, I kick her backside. So does Bill.

Apart from the raw news stories that the press are in a position to generate, not many people go to the Trib, or to the San Angelo Standard Times, or to any other media outlet when they want input on how to think about the news. When they want to form opinions and bounce off someone for how to read the news, they go primarily to the Truth Will Prevail, and next to me or Bill.

That's just the truth. My pushpin records are all over the google map as to where my visits come from in the United States.

Outside the US I have a reader or two in Germany, I have a blogger in London that uses me to find out where to look for breaking news, and have a few readers in Australia and in Mexico.

Texas, Arizona and Utah by far and away are the biggest states for blog hits, but I assure you, they're from every state in the union. They also represent more unique or individual visitors than anyone else independent of the FLDS has right now.

You guys have to post in places like this, to get attention, that's all there is too it. Otherwise, you're just talking to yourselves.

TxBluesMan said...

The Pharisee said:
"For anyone that follows the issue the veracity question is OVER. The vast majority of those expecting to get the truth, or the news or perspective of any value do not go to your blog, or Coram, or even BROOKE's blog.

They go to the Truth Will Prevail FIRST, they go to me SECOND, they go to Bill next, and from time to time they go to Bill second and ME third."


Not exactly true. According to Alexa Tracking (looking at the last week for the Reach and Rank, and 3 months for the increase/decrease), the first one they go to is Brooke's blog - her old site still shows a Reach of .0102% and a Rank of 11,444 which is by far the highest of any of the listed sites.

Second is Truth Will Prevail, with a Reach of .00023% and a Rank of 456,680. Reach has shown a drop of 50% and Rank has dropped over 159K places.

Third is The Modern Pharisee, with a Reach of .00014% (3% increase) and a Rank of 660,446 (134K increase).

Fourth is Coram Non Judice, with a Reach of .00012% (increase of 230%) and a Rank of 710,109 (over a 4.8 million increase).

Fifth is Free the FLDS Children, with a Reach of .0001% (down 63%) and a Rank of 977,168 (down over 445K).

If you take into consideration that Coram had no posts for the college football season, it didn't take long for it to move up past Bill's site, almost even with the Pharisee's site, with the most growth of any that were listed.

Thanks for telling us to do our own research...

Hugh McBryde said...

As usual, Blues distorts the facts. Prior to the change in URL, you could not break out Brooke's blog, now you can. I am open to correction on this but I'd like the hard evidence.

Here's the link to where Brooke's blog ranks. Look to the bottom for how the blog ranks in the United States.

The difference between a blog that ranks 238,000th and one that ranks 113,000th is not a linear scale, it is exponential. That may mean that a blog ranked 113,000th may have 40 times as many readers as the one ranked 238,000th.

To go from 113,000th, to 99,999th represents a quantum leap increase in readership, not a mere movement of 13,000 places. The gaps between places in rank represent huge changes in volume as you near the top of the scale.

Increases hardly mean anything either. If you check "Just Ducky" it shows large increases. That's because Rericson didn't post for three months.

There was a similar three month gap at Coram. Once you start posting again, you show movement in the millions. That's because when you're on the bottom, any movement at all represents a huge percentage of increase. Moving the needle after you've gotten somewhere is a lot harder.

Ron in Houston said...

Awe crap

I'm going wading in that lake that averages 3 feet deep. Wish me luck.

Hugh McBryde said...

Sometimes there's a spring in the middle of such lakes, watch your step.

Anonymous said...

It's not a case of Chutzspah Ron, it's a case of the Truth Prevailing.

As for fearing being looked at by the goons, I've seen their list of "Enforcers" that they are so terrified of.

It was an embarrassing joke. And as far as barbie is concerned, if she does not want her address and phone number known, get it out of the phone book.

If CPS doesn't want me to know where Merrianne lives in foster "Care", stop telling the world in un redacted Court papers.

The McDaniels family have a right to their privacy, tell that to CPS, not me.

81D283

Ron in Houston said...

Bill

I may not agree with your methods, but you definitely have your points.

I often wonder since the goons are fear based whether doing things that heighten their fears are a net positive or not.

Anonymous said...

FDR had a few words on "Fear".

Thomas Jefferson had a few more words on "Tyranny".

I will agree that LE are to be greatly feared, but I'll pass on that one... Something about Colt comes to mind.

:)) GB

Hugh McBryde said...

Ron,

Such people are a danger to us all. In my way of seeing things, it would be far better that a few 13 year olds got raped by old men, than it would be for the state to have so much invasive power.

This is not to say that I approve of anyone's rape. I am completely against jail sentences for ANYONE, but that means my solution for rapists is a bit permanent.

One need only to look to Iraq, and the brothers Hussein to see what power, at the extreme, in the hands of the lawless, does to women's rights and children's rights.

I for one do not think we will eradicate crime and abuse and rape, so I seek to minimize it. Granting overwhelming power to the state in the hopes of righting every wrong dos more harm, much more harm, than it does good, and it has the noxious result of institutionalizing abuse on a national scasel.

Hugh McBryde said...

Or...scale...

Anonymous said...

It's OK Hugh, we know things are getting cold up there.

I know the feeling, I don't think it's going to get higher than 76 today.

:)) GB

Anonymous said...

Brooke Adams blog is still under the trib's rules and regulations. She emphisized that the first day of the change over.
I would be willing to venture every person on this blog has read most if not all the dictations of Warren Jeffs.
It's human nature, regardless how moral or immoral people or private.

Hugh McBryde said...

If the Tribune, and Brooke, see themselves as obligated to report certain facts, there are certain facts they have been remiss in reporting.

To the distress I am sure, of my FLDS friends, I don't think Brooke could have justified not publishing or referring to published sources of Warren's dictations. I also don't see those dictations as harmful, a feeling not shared by the FLDS.

If what Warren did was not truly prophetic, he's a kook and everyone's image of him that sees him that way is merely reinforced. If he is a prophet, then his dictations come true. An example of this would be found with the crowd deriding Samson as he readied himself to destroy the temple. No one took him seriously until the building came down. The proof is in the pudding.

What bothers me about Brooke right now is that she could be reporting on loose ends or investigating those loose ends to a conclusion. She hasn't chosen to do so. The pattern is that if it's salacious and hurts the FLDS, she's been all to eager to report on it of late, and if it's something that might help them, she's seemingly written it off.

The prime example is Ms. Swinton. There is more to that story, something significant in all likelihood. Brooke isn't chasing it. In her defense, she's not the only one. Ultimately what might be found at the end of the Swinton rainbow may not be a pot of Gold for the defense, but it's a story.

A 34 year old woman with a history of putting the lives of others in danger, deserves to be put under the microscope. She doesn't deserve to get out in a year with a diagnosis of mental illness, only to learn how to pull off her next hoax so well, that someone get's killed this time.

For all we know, that's already happened and we just didn't find her on the other end of the mystery phone call.

Prof said...

Greetings Regina, et al.

Not being a prolific "surfer," I only discovered your blog today and thought I might add the occasional tidbit to keep you in line.

I was tempted to respond to some of the comments regarding FLDS education brought up on Brooke's blog recently but declined due to the acidic nature of some of the respondents. It would be akin to having a stink fight with a skunk--a no win scenario.

rericson said...

Prof, I would be honored to have you comment!
Comment, correct, delete, whatever your contribution, it will be for all of our benefit on this learning journey!

If you want to write about something, I'd be pleased to put it up under your name....

Anonymous said...

"You are incorrect. Malonis is/was not a government employee."

who solicited Malonis's serevice?

Anonymous said...

"I would be willing to venture every person on this blog has read most if not all the dictations of Warren Jeffs."

I have not, care to venture more?

Anonymous said...

Neither Have I :)

Anonymous said...

I once admonished my wife for reading our daughters diary. Certain things are private and need to be left that way.

Some people take a sick kind of pleasure in digging into people's
underwear. Indeed, CPS was fascinated by the children's and even made the younger ones wear short sleeve shirts and shorts.

I did not read any of Teresa's Diary, and I wasn't interested in reading any of Warren's either. I think it's just a matter of common decency, something the peepers lack.

Bill Medvecky

Pliggy said...

bluesy
"You are incorrect. Malonis is/was not a government employee. The foster parents are/were not government employees. Some of the pro-FLDS-tyranny crowd have gone after both of those.

Is that pot, or payote? Either way I didn't inhale that either.


"Is this another example of FLDS 'truth?'
If so, I'll pass."


Of course, I expected that. You haven't gotten it right yet, so why change?

Anonymous said...

Those looking for the truth need to take a look at the latest on "Truth will Prevail".

Were the MH workers also lying?

Was that Doctor in the Emergency Room lying?

Plain and simple, this was a human tragedy that no decent American should support regardless of the "Reasons" for the Raid.

Bill Medvecky

Headmistress, zookeeper said...

I'm an anonymous blogger, too, and I won't apologize for that. I have my reasons, and they existed years before I heard of the FLDS or started blogging about the Texas/CPS fiasco. I have never seen a compelling argument for why I should be obliged to reveal my name and location to anybody online just because I blog.

However, Blues, I have to say I find this rather mind blowing:
"One of the reasons that we don't use our names is the actions of people that support the FLDS."

I suppose that happens, but Blues, for one thing, you were anonymous before anything like it had happened, and you are the only one I personally have seen try to drag the names of people with whom you disagree through the mud. You tried to 'out' Bill Medvecky for his previous entanglement with CPS and you tried to fling a goodly bit of mud against Regina by googling her name and sharing what you found with a good bit of unnecessary rhetoric and personal 'color' that wasn't based on full information. When I saw you do that, I was pretty disappointed in you, and I was glad that you and others could not subject me and my family to the same thuggish tactics.

As for Brooke, she does have a bias- it's to report, as fairly as she can. She's human and she's a reporter, not a public relations employee, so sometimes that's going to be pleasing to one group, and sometimes to another. In regards to her publishing details from documents taken from the ranch, I am in agreement with Mary- I don't think those documents should have been released, but I don't blame a reporter for reporting on what has become public information through no doing of her own. She's a reporter. Reporters report, and they do not have a responsibility to ignore information being published by rival papers, rather the opposite.

That's not to say I think the FLDS who will not read those items are wrong- I think if I were FLDS I would also not read the items- I've tried to think what I would do if police broke into my church building and took documents written by our church's elders out of a safe and shared them with the public, and I think I would probably not read those reports, either, for much the same reasons that Pliggy gives.

Hugh McBryde said...

Except Headmistress, I happen to know Brooke is sitting on at least TWO stories.

rericson said...

Hugh, She's probably sitting on more than two. It's her right to sit.
Lord knows, I would love to be the one who tells everyone what to do, how to do it, and when....
Thing is, that job has already been taken....

Hugh McBryde said...

It's WHAT she sits on. Besides her ass.

Headmistress, zookeeper said...

Pharisee, so you say, but we don't know that, and we don't know why. She may actually be quietly investigating. She may have gotten further than you realize and either found something that renders those stories not such a big deal after all, or she may have found something that makes them a MUCH bigger deal requiring more time. Her editors may have told her to hold off. She may be chasing a different story and can't spread her energies and attention as thin as you think she should.

She doesn't walk on water, she isn't perfect, and I am sure she has her own biases that sometimes color what she sees and how she phrases things. I think she guards against that as much we can humanly expect anybody to, and I think the personal attacks against her are unseemly and a waste of time.

Ron, the point Bill is making is that while Blues didn't actually succeed in 'outing' him as a felon, that wasn't for lack of trying. Blues did not realize that it wasn't a secret because he had not read Bill's blog carefully and for understanding. His full intention was to marginalize, embarrass, and humiliate Bill, and it failed because he hadn't done his homework. It was really not an episode which gives Blues any moral standing whatsoever for criticizing others for sharing some background information on Malonis, of all people, who actually was hired by the state and worked in tandem with the state.

Hugh McBryde said...

So say I, and I'm not speculating. The length of time to investigate some of these things approaches that of Texas, investigating Sarah.

I repeat, it's what she's sitting on.

rericson said...

Hugh, She may be sitting on a keg of dynamite. But until, or unless, it blows up, so what?
If you are so interested in what she is or isn't doing, take it up with Brooke, or her editor.
For the rest of us, we are trying to make peace with the whole issue. We are all recognizing that her's isn't a perfect world anymore than any of ours is...
Brooke is going to continue to write about the FLDS and other polygamous communities, so better to appreciate the efforts at fairness she does make than back her into an ugly corner...
If you have a story you want out there, write it yourself if the mainstream media won't...
there are plenty of avenues for publication...

Hugh McBryde said...

Regina,

I know more than you think. I'm a brighter bulb than you give me credit for. I'm too loyal to go any farther than I have.

What I'll say is this. There was two weeks worth of silence. It's indicative of what the media wants. It is to satisfy everyone's best case scenario.

One, the kids go back to mom.

Two, the dads go to hell.

That gives most of the supporters of the FLDS what they will accept. Kids with moms.

That gives most of their detractors what they will accept. Dad's in jail. A good deal of the FLDS supporters are only supporting the moms and their kids, so they essentially switch to this side, once the kids are home.

The stories that are left to tell are stories that might turn the dirty rotten child molesting kiddie humping geezers loose. Frankly most of the FLDS supporters will turn a blind eye to further injustices that are done to the men. As a consequence, so will the press. No one wants to turn Chester the Molester free.

rericson said...

Hugh, I by no means think you're not bright. I just think you're beating a dead horse...
Brooke isn't going to succumb to pressure, especailly public pressure like this, to write anything....
There are other avenues.....
And, as H.M. said, we have no way of knowing what Brooke is doing, or not doing.....

Hugh McBryde said...

Whooooooosh.....

About Me

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First I am a mother, and grandmother....that is probably the single most important aspect of my life. Then I am a family advocate for a large, national advocacy organization. I work primarily in "systems advocay", helping to identify needs and change policies in children's behavioral health. And I love my dogs, my garden, my pond and fish, and trashy murder mysteries and the occasional shot of good scotch.... Fell free to post a note in whatever the most recent entry is...I love meeting new people!

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