Am I the only one who sees the irony?

Much of the nation has been slowing down to watch the events in San Angelo, Texas, the way they would a gory accident on the side of the road. And, as is human nature, they feel free to condemn because they know they have nothing in common with polygamists who live in remote areas with one foot in the 21st century and the other somewhere in the mid- to late 19th.

But, as a writer from that earlier era, Ambrose Bierce, once said, hypocrisy is "prejudice with a halo."

First, one thing needs to be clear. Regardless what one thinks about the constitutionality of detaining an entire compound on the evidence of a caller who may not be legitimate and placing hundreds of kids in state custody, the things the Fundamentalist LDS Church is alleged to have condoned and encouraged are simply wrong. State officials now say more than half the girls aged 14 to 17 in the compound either are pregnant or already have given birth.

They call it "a distinct pattern." One may assume, from other allegations surrounding the sect, that some of these girls may have been impregnated by much older men. Child abuse has to trump the rights to freedom of religion.

But it is significant to note other news stories that have swirled in the currents of daily life while the FLDS saga played out. Chief among these were the Vanity Fair photos taken of teen sensation Miley Cyrus. The "artistic" images of her include one in which she is partially nude in a bed sheet, with bright-red lipstick, tousled hair and a "come hither" expression on her face. The photos were taken with her parents' permission. She is 15.

That story was followed a few days later by allegations that embattled baseball star Roger Clemens has had an ongoing affair with singer Mindy McCready. The relationship began when McCready was 15. Clemens was 28, married and the father of two children. McCready told the Daily News in New York the relationship wasn't sexual until a few years later. Even if you buy that, he had no business starting a relationship of any kind with someone so young.

Earlier this month, the Web site momlogic.com published its own survey of teenagers who traveled to well-known party centers for spring break. It found that more than half said either they or a friend had sex with someone they met on break. Perhaps most disturbing was the finding that 56.5 percent of the teens, ranging in age from 13 to 19, said they kept the truth about what happened from the their parents, and that more than half of the parents suspected as much.

That's another way of saying the parents condoned the activity, which also included the consumption of large amounts of alcohol and other substances.