Reader comments
Reid, Shurtleff 'kiss and make up'

Senate "minority" leader???????

I hope they focus their efforts on issues like statutory rape, welfare fraud, and the like rather than going after consenting adults for an unusual living/sexual arrangement.

In a nation that now generally celebrates homosexual conduct, that considers "swinging" and other sexual activity among consenting adults to be private matters beyond state concern, that is told adulterous conduct on the part of leading politicians are private matters, and that is expected to be tolerant of a host of conduct of which the majority likely personally disapprove, I see no reason why plural (spiritual/religious) "marriage" among consenting adults should even be criminal, much less actively prosecuted.

In fact, making the adult relationships themselves the subject of law enforcement will likely only lead to more seclusion and more difficulty in investigating and prosecuting the real crimes involving abuse of children, welfare fraud, tax evasion, and the like.

Give the polygamists the same respect and privacy given to homosexuals and others with alternate lifestyles and focus on the real crimes.

Yeah! Get the Feds involved! The sooner someone fixes this problem, the better. The FLDS "homes" are essentially slave compounds and it is disgusting what these people are doing in the name of God.

Ben probably just assumed that everything everywhere is as it is in Utah.

Do you think Shurtleff has been reading the comments in DN web site that have overwhelmingly sided with Reid on this issue?

Was that bury the hatchet 'with' Sen. Reid, or bury the hatchet 'in' Sen. Reid?

To: Annoymous
People like you annoy me. Harry Reid is not a leader. Senate "Majority" leader is something he has parlayed into a bully pulpit for convoluted liberal, unamerican rhetoric he and Pelosi have been spouting. He is a sour minded individual who has no productive ideas to move this country forward. The article had it inadvertantly right calling him "Minority" leader. Reid's agenda is simply wrong for America. He ought to be doing something to solve resource and other issues that have resulted in high commodity increases. Making corn into fuel is just baloney. Reid's state of Nevada has a lot more problems to address than Utah has. Reid is not doing his job in the Senate. He shouldn't even be a "minority" leader. He is not even close to being a leader.....he is simply a dour critic. He needs to rise about his long standing behavior and show some statesmanship. Nevada should be ashamed of his behavior as a major leader in this great country. Shame on you Senator Reid!

The state of Texas should also intervene for ALL chldren in Texas who are sexually or emotionally abused and have under-age mothers. If they applied these criteria for all children their resources would be overwhelmed. Is it worse to father multiple chldren out of wedlock and abandon them or admit that they are your chldren and then suport them?

I hope Reid and Shurtleff will work together and go after all the polygamist deviates.

Why in the world would we want our federal government getting involved in this issue? One of our main problems is that we continue to think that the answer to all our problems is to get the Feds involved. Seems to me that our federal gov't should be handling the things they are constitutionally bound to do, not worry about polygamists or baseball players or the like.

RE: "The state of Texas should also intervene for ALL chldren in Texas who are sexually or emotionally abused and have under-age mothers. If they applied these criteria for all children their resources would be overwhelmed."

Both the state of Texas and Utah have millions of dollars in funds which could be diverted to fight the scourge of pedophilia. Neither states resources would be overwhelmed !!!

Utah organizations should be chastized for allowing this situation to become "out of hand" over the last 100 years!

So why does it take Reid to get something started? Where are the Utah and Arizona delegations...... Why hasn't Hatch been involved. I don't care if it's Reid, Pelosi, or any Senator from back east! Having 14, 15, and 16 year old girls marry and have children is just simply wrong! They haven't even had a chance to be kids, much less create them!

quoting Shurtleff "They wouldn't be in Texas if we didn't kick them out of Utah." He's kidding when he says that right? Does he really feel like he is somehow to be congratulated after decades of Utah doing nothing on this issue? Does he think that booting people out of the state who commit crimes is an acceptable alternative to prosecuting crimes? Let's face it, Shurtleff has done next to nothing with the FLDS compared to his counterparts in Texas. They went in and within a matter of weeks did what Utah couldn't do for decades. Shurtleff is an embarrasment to the state of Utah. He's an embarrassment to himself.

I don't understand the vitrolic statements concerning Senator Reid. He is one of the most powerful men in America, a Mormon no less, and his counsel is sought by many people.

Does jealousy raise its head here?

I think so.

Perhaps God allowed these folks to come to Texas knowing that in Texas someone or many would eventually stand up and stop it.
Simply kicking them out of the state just moves the problems and the girls being abused elsewhere, doesn't address the problem. Hopefully this will do it. Keep a watchful eye so it doesn't morph into something else.

Re: Russ,
You need to realize that the FLDS men do not like Mr. Reid, because he stands against them. The FLDS also do a lot of posting on these blogs to support their evil abuse.

Are you kidding? I thought we weren't supposed to agree with someone just because they are the same religion as us...

I disagree with Sen Reid because he is sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, plain and simple. With regards to him being one of the most powerful men in America...that tells you the state of decline we are in. I can't think of many of our senators or representatives that I can honestly say have the moral leadership that I expect from someone representing me. It is too bad. The only ones we have in power today are the ones that crave that power. A normal, moral person can't stand being around the corruption of Washington for long without either getting disgusted and leaving or becoming corrupt themselves.

Imagine it's 1851 and President Young's assistant greets Brother Brigham breathlessly: "President Young... Good news! The Feds are coming to help us take care of the polygomy issue here in Deseret." My, how things have changed in 150 years.

Before you do anything, please make sure the FLDS has no money to build out of state compounds. In Arizona and Utah, you have an open community that can be entered. In South Dakota and Texas, they've built guarded compounds. Those are a lot harder to penetrate. It appears that South Dakota may be stuck with the FLDS forever.

While distributing members among the states is a great strategy for survival, it is also going to keep the FLDS in the press as each state tries to cope with the spread of this disaster.

Getting the FLDS to jump states isn't something to brag about. It only made the problem that much more difficult to resolve.

It doesn't seem like anything in Utah or Arizona has changed and that is what people are complaining about. Jeffs essentially got 10 to life and that usually means 10 plus time off for all kinds of things. At least he has a conviction.

Over the past few years, the FLDS has been tightening the screws on its members and forcing them to become more insulated from the outside world. It has become worse, not better.

Wow!I thought Indiana was a conservative state, Utah must be way out there based on the vitrolic comments about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Whether you agree with his politics or not he is trying to get investigations into the polygymous groups in the West. I fully support his efforts in that.