Hunter Gray / Hunter Bear - Organizer
[Mi'kmaq/St. Francis Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk]
AT OUR FAR UP HOME IN EASTERN IDAHO
CONTEMPORARY PHOTO BY THOMAS GRAY SALTER
POLYGAMY FIRES [CONTEMPORARY AND WITH MUCH COMMENT] HUNTER GRAY SEPTEMBER 3 2006 -- ALSO LETTER TO SENATOR HARRY REID [NEVADA] -- WITH COMMENTS AND MUCH 2008 UPDATE ON TEXAS
See also, http://www.hunterbear.org/IDAHO%20and%20the%20wild%20west.htm
THIS IS A PAGE ON SOME ASPECTS OF POLYGAMY IN THE AMERICAN WEST -- AND IT ALSO FEATURES MANY PIECES AND SOME COMMENT ON THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION IN TEXAS. I HAVE CONSISTENTLY HELD, THROUGHOUT MY LIFE, A STAUNCH POSITION SUPPORTING CIVIL LIBERTY AND DUE PROCESS. I AM NOT INCLINED TO TAKE THE OPINIONS OF LAWMEN AND MAINLINE MEDIA AT FACE VALUE. AND WITH REGARD TO THE POLYGAMIST COMMUNITIES, I DO HAVE SOME UP-CLOSE AWARENESS SINCE I AM VERY MUCH FROM RURAL NORTHERN ARIZONA. [I AM, MYSELF, A ROMAN CATHOLIC.]
THIS STRONG CIVIL LIBERTARIAN POSITION OF MINE HAS LED TO SOME SHRILL CRITICISMS, ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF SEVERAL DISCUSSION LISTS. HERE IS MY RESPONSE TO THOSE [APRIL 17 2008] HUNTER GRAY / HUNTER BEAR
A SIGNAL VICTORY FOR US ALL [HUNTER GRAY / HUNTER BEAR MAY 23 2008] THIS HAS BEEN WIDELY CIRCULATED AND PUBLISHED BY MY TOWN AND BY THE MASS CIRCULATION PORTSIDE.
And, May 29 2008, the Texas Appellate decision was upheld via a 6 - 3 vote by the Texas Supreme Court.
National media coverage of the Texas Raids travesty has come a very long way indeed from the lurid and denigrating portrayals of the polygamists so widely and breathlessly featured less than two months ago when this Texas-initiated and tragic train of events rolled ruthlessly -- and sanctimoniously -- into the kidnapping "under color of law" of almost 500 young people and their dispersal all across the Lone Star State.
Three quite conservative appellate judges of the 3rd Court, sitting at Austin, ruled unanimously and in super strong caustic language. explicitly and implicitly against all of the Texas "levels of authority" involved in this massive miscarriage of justice -- doing so with very broad and deep implications. They've ordered the State to return the hundreds of victims to parents and homes and community; and, while Texas may appeal, it's going to have to have vastly more than the thin and vaporous "evidence" it produced for the obviously very skeptical 3rd. The Texas Supreme Court isn't likely to overrule an extraordinarily strong unanimous decision like this one.
So, if Texas is smart, it won't appeal -- and will seek to restore the pre-raid status quo just as fast as it possibly can.
A SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZER'S THOUGHTS ON LEGAL DEFENSE AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION [HUNTER GRAY APRIL 21 2008]
In our successful Native American Church case in North Dakota in the mid-'80s, we had to bring in expert witnesses who, along with other testimony on behalf of the defendants from other witnesses, could explain -- broadly and lucidly -- the origins, development , and contemporary nature of the Church. That dimension was obviously directly central to the case. But few in the general public knew anything about NAC. There, we all did much community education on the matter long before the trial actually began. [This case is discussed much further down on this page.]
For understandable reasons, the polygamist communities are withdrawn and secretive. They've usually been burned by any media contact they've had. Again, the nature and character of their Movement needs to be known -- to the Four Directions. I noted very early on the morning of April 20th that, on a re-run of an obviously very recent Larry King program, he spent 45 minutes discussing, with the church mothers, their powerful wish to regain their children. They were all sitting together in one of their community buildings -- and there was also a substantial tour of children's rooms, the kitchen, etc in more detail than I've yet seen via any media. Even Larry King was obviously empathetic, to a point.
That's a start. And the media generally are finally beginning to present the cruel realities of this Texas tragedy in something of an objective fashion. But there has to be much more. The polygamists, obviously, are facing an oppressive wall of ignorance -- frequently bigoted in nature.
Hunter Gray / Hunter Bear [John R. Salter, Jr.]
JOHN SALTER, oldest son of Hunter Gray, has written to a number of people of good will:
The silence of those we'd expect to speak out is troubling. Hunter has mentioned his involvement in the Warner Native American Church case in the 1980s. Hunter has never taken peyote or been a member of the NAC, but this was an important civil liberties matter for everyone, not only Indians. Back then you had University of North Dakota faculty whispering in the hallways about how supportive they were, yet these same people were nowhere to be seen (or heard) when the case went to trial. The federal courtroom was packed with out-of-towners, out-of-staters, yet Hunter and one or two students (usually his children) were usually the only local spectators. Hunter was the only local voice out on the steps, so to speak. That takes courage. I'm amazed that some of you, so brave when it comes to other issues, so ardent in your defense of obscure political theories, are so wary of speaking out now.
Now we have not only silence, but people on other lists attacking Hunter in most juvenile, ad hominem manner imaginable. These shrill, catty voices would be better suited to the Jerry Springer show than a thoughtful forum for the exchange of ideas. Let's see some substance, please, and not ridicule of a name.
What's happening in Texas--door to door searches, confiscation of children, mandatory DNA tests, internment camps, armored vehicles--is really a microcosm of what our worst fears should be in America. To shrug this off as "cult" activity or "Mormon craziness" is to display a frightening myopia.
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION STATEMENT ON TEXAS RAIDS
On April 3, 2008, Texas law enforcement officials obtained a search warrant related to the suspected sexual assault of a child and then conducted a raid on the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch near Eldorado, Texas. The search warrant was reportedly based upon a telephone call placed by a female who identified herself as a 16-year old resident at YFZ who was the mother of one child, pregnant with a second child, and who claimed she was being physically abused by her husband. The YFZ Ranch, which is more than 1000 acres in size, apparently housed more than 700 people (men, women, and children) who are associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), whose practices include forming families with more than one wife. Although the original search warrant identified only one case of suspected sexual assault, law enforcement officials have now taken into custody all of the approximately 462 children formerly residing at YFZ. The available evidence now suggests that the original call that served as the basis of the warrant was probably made by someone who had never resided at YFZ and that the accused “husband” was at the time residing in Arizona (and may never have lived at YFZ). Since that time, the media, including internet blogs and listservs, have been filled with reports about YFZ and the FLDS that describe forced marriages, marriages involving underage girls, forced sex with children, and other abuses. There also have been reports of young children suffering trauma caused by the forced separation from their parents.
Although all of the facts are not yet known, the governing principles are well-established:
- First, children have a right not to be abused (sexually or otherwise) nor forced into marriages by their parents or by any other person.
- Second, parents have a constitutionally protected right to the free exercise of religion and to raise their children in their own faith.
- Third, children and parents have the right to be together unless it is determined, applying the proper legal standards adopted by the state and consistent with the United States Constitution, that temporary or permanent removal is necessary. Children may not be separated from their parents based solely on the state’s disagreement with a group’s thoughts or beliefs, religious or otherwise.
- Fourth, all persons, including children, have the fundamental right to due process of law. Due process rights for both potential victims and parents accused of neglect or abuse must be respected, and the law must afford each family notice of and the opportunity to contest allegations related to custody in a timely manner.
Based upon news reports and other available information, the ACLU has serious concerns that the state’s actions so far have not adequately protected the fundamental rights at stake. Specifically, the ACLU is concerned that:
- The initial raid at YFZ was prompted by a single allegation of abuse now reported most likely to have been made by someone who never resided at YFZ. Law enforcement officials have since removed every child who was living at the ranch, regardless of age or sex, and the state has justified that decision, in part, by explaining that all children at the ranch were at risk because they were exposed to FLDS beliefs regarding underage marriage. Religion is never an excuse for abuse. But, exposure to a religion’s beliefs, however unorthodox, is not itself abuse and may not constitutionally be labeled abuse.
- Parents have been separated from their children without individual, adversarial hearings and without particularized evidence that they ever engaged in abuse or were likely to engage in abuse. Children from YFZ have since been dispersed around the state, compounding the harm of forced separation of children – particularly infants – and their parents.
- Court-ordered DNA testing has been ordered for all children without having any specific evidence that the parentage of all children was actually in dispute. Parents have been pressured to consent to DNA testing if they wish to be reunited with their children who were forcibly separated from them.
- State officials have an important obligation to protect children against abuse. However, such actions should not be indiscriminately targeted against a group as a whole – particularly when the group is perceived as being different or unusual. Actions should be based on concrete evidence of harm and not based upon prejudice against religious or other communities.
Under these circumstances, it is essential for Texas officials to provide fair judicial proceedings that respect the constitutional rights of all involved – children, parents, and religious communities – while ensuring at the same time that children are protected against abuse where there is credible evidence of such abuse.
The ACLU will continue to monitor the unfolding
events and will work to ensure that Texas officials act
in a manner that is consistent with the important
principles set forth above, including making our views
known to the Texas courts at appropriate points in the
judicial proceedings.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON BAD DAYS -- AND GOOD
[HUNTER GRAY] APRIL 17 2008
There was something about yesterday that carried the ring of the
title of the old Western social justice film [with the admirable Spencer
Tracy as crusader], Bad Day at Black Rock. There have been a number of
these Bad Days lately.
For me, yesterday began with an e-mailed message from our youngest son,
Peter [Mack] -- a top editor with the Lincoln Journal Star and with its
parent Lee Enterprises as well -- indicating that a mutual friend and
journalist, Dorreen Yellow Bird [Mandan/Hidatsa/
She wrote back appreciatively and immediately -- and with empathy: "I
have heard of it [Systemic Lupus] and I hope you too can out run it."
I like that. Dorreen and I have, on a very few occasions, disagreed. But
we've always remained good friends. A very old friend of ours -- of many
decades -- Susan Kelly Power of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, and
daughter of one of one of its most notable tribal chairpersons,
Josephine Kelly of legend and yore, occasionally remarked as she noted
various human events, that "The white people, when they fight, always
seem to try to destroy. I don't think we Indians are cut-throat." And
she's quite right.
Anyway, yesterday progressed -- if one can aptly use that term. The
Supreme Court carried us back another step toward barbarism [a word I
don't use lightly] with its basic reaffirmation of the death penalty.
The "Iraq War" and its kin continued their obvious resurgence while what
passes for our president genuflected, figuratively and hypocritically,
in front of the Pope, with whom my disagreements as a Catholic are
several, but who has staunchly opposed the death penalty and war. Texas,
now caught in a huge legal and procedural briar patch, moves closer to
its Inheritance of the Wind in the context of profoundly disrupted
families and its precipitous en masse seizure of children.
If there was a bright spot yesterday, it was that Barack Obama handled
himself, not surprisingly, very well in his latest with Hillary Clinton.
We are quite sure he'll make it to the top of the mountain.
I "own" [the official term, but a presumptuous one] four e-mail
discussion lists. Three of those I and friends initiated. Essentially
these are congenial. The fourth, an avowedly Left group, is not
un-congenial [usually] but can be challenging. I inherited that one from
a younger friend. One of the many members of that group became very
briefly enmeshed in the ugly "discussion" on the SNCC list of last
weekend and, last night, passed on a communication he'd received from a
woman who, obviously a critic of mine, and apparently not all that
committed to civil liberty, told him in part:
"I read nothing by Hunter Gray Bear Red Rover or whatever his other
"names" are. He has become such a fanatical right wing sick soul that
who would bother. The only reason I read his stupid analysis of what
happened in texas when hundreds of women, girls and children were
finally rescued from daily rapings, sexual abuse, mind washing, and
being forced to have children at ages as early as 12, is that I wanted
to get a response from the SNCC list serv folks as to his positions.
After all, many young people and others doing research on the civil
rights movement should know that people in SNCC would never support such
the imprisonment of women, girls, children, and probably some men in a
terrorist situation where females of any age are subjected to rape and
sexual torture, and god knows what other kinds of physical and
psychological abuse.
Clearly, you do not know John Salter or who he has, most unfortunately,
become. But he is one sick puppy who should be barred from this list
serv."
Our list member, Brother _____ was not at all impressed with her
missive. Nor, of course, am I.
And, as per the apt observations of Susan Kelly Power, I have never
tried to destroy people with whom I disagreed. In the heat of the now
long gone Sovereignty Commission case, I could certainly be critical of
a few protagonistic individuals -- but in consistently very measured
terms. Since the ending of that bitter odyssey, I have said virtually
nothing about it. Our huge Hunterbear website, now into its ninth year,
is not designed nor set up for personal diatribe. Its long page on the
Sovereignty Commission [the only page we have on that amidst our
hundreds of social justice pages] mentions only a few individuals by
name, and those matter-of-factly -- certainly not in pejorative fashion.
[Click and See, if you haven't already:
http://www.hunterbe
Of course I am, and have been since childhood, a strong advocate of gun
rights -- and the Second Amendment. And I never make any secret of the
fact that I've been a member of the National Rifle Association since my
mid-teen years and a Life Member of NRA for most of my adult life. [So
is Howard Dean, to drop the name of one of the four million who belong
to NRA.] Perhaps that bothers some ostensibly liberal folk.
And I also belong to several organizations of the democratic Left which,
like myself, are perennially optimistic -- despite the vicissitudes of
the Bad Days. As the also attacked by one or two in the recent SNCC list
discussion. Leslie Dunbar -- late of the Southern Regional Council and
the Field Foundation and other good causes -- once said, "You'll always
have a Wobbly heart, John" -- a reference to my mentoring by old time
members of the IWW [Industrial Workers of the World] when I was a barely
21 year old embarking on the Save the World Business.
http://hunterbear.
And, like the good Dorreen Yellow Bird, who draws great sustenance from
her native Badlands and rivers, buttes and wildlife, so do I draw much
from the mountains of the Intermountain West, its rivers, its great
array of wild-life. -- and from the turquoise sky, the glowing sun and
moon, the winds.
Looking right now out my window to the snow-covered mountains just to
the east, I note that the sun is bringing us close to Dawn.
I think this will be a good day to Live.
In Solidarity,
Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And, for the church and the families and children, there is always, of course, the right of appeal.
It is clear that, unless Texas retreats from its tangled Briar Patch -- hell, morass --, the legal fight, on several fronts, will go on for a long time.
__________________________________________________________________
IT'S A BIG CREATION [HUNTER GRAY / HUNTER BEAR] APRIL 19 2008
A few quick thoughts to your quite good question,
Edward.
The "easiest" response would be to simply say that we don't
know the facts. All we are hearing are flamboyant "charges"
from the Texas version of Child Protective Services. These
are the same folks who gave the media and the country the
lurid hype from their "affidavit" based on fraudulent and
malicious and anonymous telephone calls. One could also say
that, if something of concern were felt by Texas
authorities, they could have gone in a quiet and
conventional fashion to the church community. Instead, they
went as an army assault force.
So, at this point, the immediate focus for many of us so
concerned, lies in the realm of civil liberty and due
process.
But I feel obligated to go further. I argue that the
polygamist communities with their churches and land -- there
are a number in the Southwest and the Intermountain West --
have to be seen [and I've used this term before] -- as
quasi-tribal. They've been in existence in various community
group contexts since the 1890s and their traditions also, of
course, go even further back into the old Mormon epoch.
They're insular and communalistic and, while they interact
selectively with the "outside world," they are cautious
about taking things, tangible and non-tangible, from the
so-termed mainstream. While some polygamists are in
relatively large urban areas [Big Love isn't too far off the
mark], their roots and loyalties lie in their back-home base
communities in rural settings.
But to come to the point, they have something much more than
simply a sub-cultural variant of mainstream American culture
-- they have by now their own culture, their own quite
distinctive way of life.
And, again as I've remarked before, as Old Entities [and
culturally distinctive ones at that], they also have by now
their own accrued sovereignty and self-determination rights.
They have their own social controls. Mainline American
"missionary" ethnocentrism [cultural prejudice and
discrimination] appears to see "rape" in what, by the
cultural yardsticks of the polygamist groups, is normal and
expected behavior. The term "incest" is being tossed about
by their critics; that's a universal taboo and I much doubt
there's any of that anywhere in the world of polygamy --
globally. I doubt as well that there are many, if any of the
alleged "child marriages" -- if you use the low minimum
marital age of say, Arizona and Utah -- and even Texas until
very recently.
And it's also becoming quite clear that the Texas bigots are
simply out to smash the Polygamist Faith. And, very likely,
to try to seize their very substantial land holding with
full water rights.
After all, polygamy is widely practiced around the planet as
perfectly conventional practice. [There is quite a bit of
functional -- not cultural -- unbridled polygamy in
"respectable" mainstream America.]
I think we should leave the polygamists alone, not just as a
matter of "tolerance" but bona fide respect as well --
respect for a hardy people who have struggled in
hard-scrabble country to survive with their faith; and who
are doing so against some of the most vicious forms of
contemporary prejudice and discrimination ever exhibited by
"Free America."
And the polygamists will survive. They always have. And they
always will.
We have two pages on this in our massive Lair of Hunterbear
website. One is the newer Polygamy Fires, presently much
being visited.
http://hunterbear.
The other is Idaho and the Wild West, a compendium of things
which include Mormonism and the polygamist breakaways.
http://www.hunterbe
And from the latter, I have this from just one of my own
up-close encounters with The Polygamists:
Once, at Camp Townsend, ca.1951], an early day type trailer
park and grocery store not
far out of Flagstaff on northbound Highway 89 [to Utah], I
was visiting with
an old family friend, venerable Andrew Jackson Townsend, the
proprietor, in
his adjoining gun shop. [An old cowboy, he had learned to
drink literally
boiling coffee during brief round-up breaks and, in his very
advanced years,
still did.] Suddenly, a caravan of vehicles -- many of them
old-time
vehicles -- appeared from the north and swung into the Camp.
Jack stepped
out and walked over. I followed. The leaders, dressed in old
dark suits
rather than Levis, and wearing Stetsons, walked to us. We
all -- including me -- shook hands formally. Jack Townsend
asked no questions, simply explained
the organization of his Camp, welcomed them. But, by now, he
and I both
noted a revealing dimension. In the people of the caravan,
men and women
and kids, now out and walking about, there were many more
women than men.
Jack and I returned to his gun shop but, later when I left,
I saw a Caravan
kid my age, and walked over and visited with him. He was
quiet, shy. But,
saying nothing about polygamy, he volunteered that they were
going to
Mexico, "to set up and live down there for good." His face
glowed as he
said this. I wished him well -- and I still do. . . .
For my part, live and let live. It's a Big Creation and it's
got all sorts
of wondrous things in it. I'm like Andrew Jackson Townsend
-- and the old
Indians. I don't ask questions. As long as the arrangements
follow the
basic organization and teachings of the old utopian Mormons,
I'm on their
side. As I told the kid my age at Camp Townsend so long ago
-- he who was
off and far beyond to Mexico and who had a vision in his
eyes -- "I wish you
luck."
Yours, Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear]
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MUCH ON WESTERN POLYGAMY -- INCLUDING LOTS ON THE TEXAS SITUATION
NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR: [2006]
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hunter responds:
legislate acceptable forms of what Engel's calls romantic love, though
with our Puritanical obsessions (whatever one thinks of Clinton,
impeachment over an affair?), I don't doubt it will continue to do so.
Anything that is without harm to any involved party and is mutually
agreed to should be left to the choice of free adults.
Meredel LeSueur, the great novelist (her novel The Girl is something
of a feminist version of The Grapes of Wrath), thought the churches
were the center of communal consciousness for the working classes. On
the other hand, McGrath, our revolutionary poet, had little time for
the institution of religion, largely because of its reactionary
politics (though in South America we have observed the opposite). It
might be useful to separate the hierarchy of the church (whichever
denomination you want to consider) from the congregation itself, which
has always seemed more communal (therefore spiritual) to me than those
in charge, some of whom Dante assigned to his Infernal.
By the way, a thought: have you considered collecting and editing some
of your writings on various subjects into a book? It could be
arranged by topic or time period or any other "section" heading that
works. Your thoughts are erudite and informed and with the right
selection and arrangement should make for an interesting book. God
knows there are plenty of books that don't fit any of these criteria.
Just a thought on the breeze from Grand Forks (I know the wind travels
the other direction, so I am being atmospherically incorrect). Dale
Bill Mandel comments:
not know of his poetry. I remember LeSueur mostly for
shorter things in New Masses, nor is she a feminist in my
memory, but that's probably my fault.
McGrath is indeed terrific.
Yesterday, I received in the mail a novelist by an up and coming novelist, one John Salter. I look forward to reading it.
sam
JS
intriguing and has a wonderful title and which, I note, is endorsed by
Jim Harrison.
It is only on the strength of the one novel, The Girl, that I call
Meridel LeSueur a novelist, though I believe it to be a masterpiece.
Her social political history, Crusaders, reads with the same quality
as a novel, but you are right, Bill (I presume to call you as Hunter
does), she was primarily a short story writer. No question about her
feminism, however, (her book Ripening was published by The Feminist
Press and she saw the oppression of women as a consequence of
patriarchy, though she saw patriarchy as an expression of class, not a
singular disease). She was hardly a politically correct feminist,
though. In an interview, (past 80 then) when she was asked what she
thought of the magazine Playboy, she said she thought it was great
because it broke down our puritanism and allowed us to recognize our
bodies as our own space and admit our sexuality. Knowing her, I was
impressed with her faith in the essential humanism of working class
people, her fundamental belief in the inherent communal qualities of
the working class. She admired the Wobblies very much. All best to
you. Dale Jacobson
To Senator
Harry Reid [Nevada] from Hunter Gray [9/28/06]
I was much saddened to hear your comments on CNN last night
regarding the
polygamists of Arizona and Utah and environs. Your call for a
"Federal Task
Force" seemed, somehow, reminiscent of HUAC and Pat McCarran's
so-called
Senate Internal Security Subcommittee.
I am a Native American -- and a native Northern [I emphasize
Northern]
Arizonian, now living in Eastern Idaho. I am 72 and, for all of my
adult
life, have been a community organizer and professor active on behalf
of
social justice. My history is laid our pretty well in our large and
well
established seven year old website, www.hunterbear.org. Most of the
folks
in those polygamist communities appreciate and like their culture. I
am
personally very skeptical of the more spectacular grievances given
to the
Eastern [and Phoenix] media. Warren Jeffs not only does not speak
for the
great majority of polygamists -- but is simply a transitory crackpot
in a
long context which has traditionally featured responsible leaders. I
was a
kid in the US Army when the profoundly infamous raid on Short Creek
was
initiated by Republican Governor Howard Pyle -- and that dark shadow
continues to hover over that corner much as the far better known
Bisbee
Deportation of 1917 still colors labor relations in Arizona [and
some other
parts of the Mountain West.]I wish you well in your effort to
maintain some
national sanity -- and to expand that beach-head. Speaking as an
American
Indian and a Real Westerner [and you are certainly among the
latter], I hope
those people can simply be left alone to enjoy what peace they can
find in
this tortured world. Cordially yours, Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear]
From John Salter to Hunter:
UPDATE ON HARRY REID [HUNTER GRAY] MAY 3 2008
|
Harry Reid who, a couple of years ago did not
respond to a courteous letter from me [it's on our
website in Polygamy Fires] objecting to his proposal
for a Federal task force to investigate the
polygamists, has once again indicated he wants
that. He received some support from the [Repuiblican]
AG of Utah -- but none from the U.S. Attorney who,
based at Salt Lake, said there was no evidence to
justify a Federal investigation -- basing this on
some previous and fairly recent Federal probes.
Arizona was cool to the idea of the Feds'
involvement. The task force idea seems stalled and
probably dead. In a RBB post the other day, I
commented on that:
.
"In fact, we even have Harry Reid calling for a
Federal task force to investigate polygamy, This, in
addition to being in the spirit of one of his
predecessors [Pat McCarran of Nevada who gave us the
infamous Internal Security Act], is coming from a
guy who can't fight Bush even with a Democratic
Congressional majority and who has consistently
waffled on the Iraq War and much, much more. But
he's going to go after the polygamists! And a Texas
increasingly concerned about the rising price tag of
this adventure is now seeking funds from its
legislature -- as Bush seeks war monies from
Congress." [H.]
_________________________________________________________________________ |
From John Salter to Hunter:
Well, get ready to have your phone tapped again and your mail
rifled.
JS
From Hunter to John Salter:
Well, as you know full well, Beba, those and many more things of
such ilk
have been happening to us with some consistency since the middle
'50s. For
the benefit of our readers, I recall [as you do so well and
personally]
that, immediately [within 15 minutes] after your visitation
appearance with
your fine family in August '99, various police were driving back and
forth
in front of our house in this normally isolated neighborhood, one
stopped
and tried to talk with a neighbor across our street [who tried to
close her
door], and our own [ostensibly unlisted] telephone began ringing off
the
hook -- with no one on the other end. You and I went outside and the
parked
cop drove off pronto. Those were the days it took a week to ten days
for
Priority mail to reach us and, when it finally did [e.g., the copies
of
Mainstream from 1960 -- with my short story and Mine Mill article --
which
you had found via Net at a bookseller and sent as a gift], envelopes
were
consistently mangled and torn open. That was the Billy Clinton era
and
things, obviously, are even worse. That's why my brand of socialism
contains a strong libertarian dimension -- which I think everyone
should
enjoy. In Solidarity, H
______________________________________________________________
AN UPDATE NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR: APRIL 6 2008
Regards, Lois
AND HUNTER BEAR YET AGAIN [APRIL 6 2008]
________________________________________________________________
MORE, LIKE THERE ALWAYS IS [HUNTER BEAR] APRIL 7 2008
THOUGHTS BY HUNTER BEAR: April 7 2008
This is not an effort to resurrect, at least at this point, the interesting discussion [ generally congenial] of yesterday which focused on the Texas raid against the polygamist community. [People will comment, of course, just as they wish.] National media reports this morning remain confused while knowledgeable people in this Intermountain region are increasingly drawing comparisons between this current situation and the badly scarring Short Creek raids. [Several of us in this family, at least, see some similarities with the sanctimonious "politically correct" rush to judgment in the Duke Lacrosse matter.] Be that as it may, the fact is that the "complainant" in the Texas situation has still not been, as far as we know, located. No Amber Alert has been issued. More than two hundred women and children are presently incarcerated for all practical purposes, sans any bona fide due process. Marriages sanctified by this particular polygamist church denomination are variously referred to as "rape" and "abuse."
Hildale and Colorado City worry over Texas raid
Deseret Morning News
"Everybody's talking about it," said ex-FLDS member Isaac Wyler, who lives in the border towns.
As he drove through the towns formerly known as "Short Creek" on Friday, Wyler told the Deseret Morning News he was watching a flurry of activity. Outside an FLDS-run private school, he said dozens of cars were parked there.
"I'm sure everybody's having little meetings," he said.
Reminiscent of the infamous 1953 raid on Short Creek, where polygamists were rounded up and put in jail and their children put in foster care, people on both sides of the polygamy debate were worried about the impact of this latest action in Texas.
"It seems like a huge, massive step for law enforcement to come in like that and raid this community," said Mary Batchelor of the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices. "It's terrifying."
Ross Chatwin, another ex-FLDS member, feared the Texas raid would serve to further entrench and isolate the FLDS from the outside world.
"Warren (Jeffs) and the leaders, they're wanting something like this to happen so they can fullfil a prophecy that it will turn into another Nauvoo or '53 raid," he said. "My biggest fear is we're playing right into their hands."
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff also worried about how FLDS faithful would perceive the Texas raid. In an interview with the Deseret Morning News on Friday, Shurtleff said, "Heavens no!" he would not raid Hildale and Colorado City.
"We have no evidence that there are more child victims (in Utah) since Warren Jeffs disappeared," Shurtleff said. "The difference between the two places is Colorado City and Hildale have been opened up. They know they've been under scrutiny. In Eldorado, they were in a compound and feeling pretty secure."
Ironically, Shurtleff was in Texas last month at a speaking engagement on polygamy. He spoke alongside Carolyn Jessop, who chronicled her flight from the FLDS Church in a best-selling book.
"Texas is not going to be a state that's as tolerant of these crimes as Arizona and Utah have been," Jessop said. "In Eldorado, the crimes went to a whole new level. They thought they could get away with more."
Jessop's ex-husband is Merrill Jessop, a leader in the FLDS Church who is now in charge of the Texas compound. At age 18, she said she was forced to become Jessop's fourth wife and had eight children with him.
"My ex-husband would be the person who would be performing the marriages. He's managing everything and controlling everything," she said.
On Friday, polygamists, activists and bureaucrats met in southern Utah for a meeting of the Safety Net Committee, a group created by the Utah Attorney General's Office to foster relationships between polygamous sects and government while reaching out to those suffering from abuse and neglect. Some who attended said others expressed fear and a little paranoia.
"Law enforcement officers aren't interested in going after people because they're polygamists; they're going after people who are hurting children," said Paul Murphy, the Safety Net coordinator. "If you want to protect your community, then when cases of child abuse are coming up, report it so it can be handled directly and like any other community."
Marlyne Hammon with the pro-polygamy Centennial Park Action Committee said if abuse was happening, it was good for some action to be taken to stop it.
"If the girl was experiencing a problem, it's a good thing for her to call someone," she said Friday. "It's not right to harbor something like that."
SHORT COLLOQUY: APRIL 7 2008
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COMMENT BY BOB GATELY:
RESPONSE BY HUNTER BEAR:
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JOHN SALTER:
Well, nice to see all the men are being held at the compound without being charged with crimes. Even murder suspects are afforded the ability to exercise their rights. Some here have pointed out that family values are not just men's values. That's absolutely true. But these particular men aren't being allowed to fight for their own families against a steamrolling system which is getting a hell of a head start.