"First they came..."

What stops the government from taking my kids away like they took away the kids at the polygamist cult compound? Nothing. The whole episode reminds me of the poem "First they came...", written about events in Nazi Germany and attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller.

"First they came for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

There is no doubt that this polygamist cult is weird, but that is not a crime. If the government wants to prosecute these people for breaking polygamy laws, then so be it. But it seems downright un-American that the government can take 416 kids away from their families without any evidence of wrongdoing by the parents of those kids. There is alleged abuse in the case of one child. If the supposed 16 year old informant was abused, then arrest her "husband" or her parents. I say 'supposed' because I don't believe that there ever was any 16 year old caller; they can't find her because she does not exist.

Child Protective Services workers are judge and jury in this case. And CPS spokesman Darrell Azar's statement to the Houston Chronicle reveals that the parents have already been found guilty, ' "Every step taken by CPS in the court has been done with one goal in mind: what is best for the children, to get at the truth and stop the abuse," Azar said. "Every time we remove children from an abusive situation, people will become upset. Unfortunately, the women who have returned to the compound have been unwilling or unable to protect these children from a pattern of sexual abuse." ' Be assured that you or I would receive the same treatment if allegations were made against us; the truth be damned.

The only good thing about this whole situation is that at least the government didn't go in and kill everyone like they did in Waco.