The Duggars Knowingly Lied During Fox News Interview

Confessed child molester Josh Duggar

I have very little regard for Fox News - or Faux News as I call it on this blog - and I have even less regard for Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar who not only protected their sexual molester son instead of immediately turning him over to the proper legal authorities.  Moreover, when these two con-artist freak show participants went on Faux News this past week to supposedly tell the truth about the ongoing sex abuse scandal involving their son Josh, Jim Bob and Michelle knowingly and deliberately lied giving further credence to my argument that when Christofascists' lips are moving, the safest assumption is that they are lying.  In Touch which first broke the Duggar scandal story has now reviewed Jim Bob and Michelle Duggars disingenuous interview on Fox News and identfied seven different deliberate lies during the interview.  TLC need to cancel their show immediately if it has not yet done so,  Here are highlights from In Touch's latest coverage:

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar broke their silence about son Josh’s sexual molestation scandal on Wednesday night, but their interview was filled with misinformation and the reality TV couple also withheld crucial facts, according to public documents, obtained by In Touch magazine through the Freedom of Information Act.

1) One of the most glaring omissions by the family concerns their statements about the 2006 Springdale Police Department investigation. The Duggars gave the viewing audience the impression that they fully cooperated, saying, “We trusted them, we trusted the police department.” But the Springdale police report, obtained by In Touch through FOIA, reveals that Jim Bob refused to produce Josh for a police-requested interview and stopped cooperating with the probe.

2) When discussing the legal situation surrounding Josh’s confession of molestation, Jim Bob told Fox News that he and Michelle were “not mandatory reporters, the law allows parents to do what they think is best for their child.” Not so. While they are not mandatory reporters, the law does not allow them to do what they think is best for their child in this situation, multiple legal experts tell In Touch.

By not reporting the at-least SEVEN instances of abuse on at least THREE occasions during a period of more than a year, they could have faced felony charges for child endangerment, with a six-year prison term. . . . . The maximum penalty for permitting this type of abuse under Arkansas Code 5-4-401 is six years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.” The new issue of In Touch magazine has complete details on the Duggars’ cover-up and how it could have landed them in prison.

3) Jim Bob suggested the records of Josh’s crimes were released because the Springdale police chief, Kathy O’Kelley, may have taken a bribe. . . . . .In Touch has a paper trail that proves city attorneys reviewed the FOI request and approved the records' release. Further, Jim Bob’s “bribe or personal agenda” explanation for the records' release loses all credibility in light of the fact that a SECOND police report detailing Josh’s crimes was obtained by In Touch magazine through FOIA. 

4) Jim Bob and sympathetic host Megyn Kelly repeatedly referred to the records as being “illegally released.” Not so, say legal experts. That claim is “disputed by the law enforcement agencies involved, the Arkansas Press Association and attorneys with expertise in public-document cases involving the state's Freedom of Information Act,” according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

5) The Duggars did not address the fact that they were investigated by the Department of Human Services after the 2006 police probe was terminated due to the statute of limitations. They have not said what the results of the DHS investigation were.

6) Megyn Kelly said that the Duggars “hadn’t gotten a heads-up” about the release of Josh’s police report and the Duggars did not dispute that. But In Touch has obtained documents that show the city of Springdale alerted them before releasing the records. The law does not require the city to alert someone before their records are released pursuant to a FOIA request.

7) Jim Bob made it clear that he took Josh to talk to the police and randomly happened to end up with Trooper Jim Hutchens. (Hutchens is now serving a 56-year-prison term on child pornography charges, as reported exclusively by In Touch magazine.) . . . .But Hutchens was interviewed from prison by a representative from a local law firm hired by In Touch and contradicts Jim Bob’s story. He said he knew Jim Bob well from his job and had even taught a couple of classes to car dealerships with him. In addition, Hutchens – who was not promised anything in return for his interview and told only that it was part of an investigation – said that Jim Bob specifically sought him out to talk to Josh. 

The take away?  Jim Bob and Michelle Duggars are liars and they lie intentinally. Sadly, they are the face of what Christianity has become in America: lying, hate filled bigots who are the antithesis of Christ's gospel message.  Yes, there are "good Christians" if you will, but like the "good Germans" of the 1930's, they sit on their hands and remain silent and allow horrible things to be said and done.  The are as a result part of the problem.  It' no coincidence that the growing exodus of the Millennials from organized religion tracks the rise of the Christofascists in the GOP.  If the "good Christians" will not speak up and challenge the Christofascists, then Christianity deserves to die.

Most U.S. Catholics Back Marriage Equality, Yet Knights of Columbus Pour $15.85 Million into Anti-Gay Efforts

I realize that I have addressed the issue of the millions of dollars ($15.85 million through 2010 - the Knights delayed filing for 2011 until after this year's elections most likely to hide their involvement in political activities) being poured into anti-gay efforts by the Knights of Columbus - an organization founded to protect widows and children through a fraternal insurance plan and social support.  The Knights of Columbus - of which I was a 4th Degree member up until the time I left the Catholic Church out of disgust over the sex abuse scandal - have betrayed the goals of its founder in many ways, not the least of which is the organization's utter failure to demand accountability and a thorough house cleaning of the Church hierarchy.  As the wealthiest lay organization in the Catholic universe, the Knights could have been a cause for good and the expulsion of bishops and cardinals (and yes even Popes) who played a role in the world wide criminal conspiracy to aid, abet and cover up for sexual predator priests who preyed - often repeatedly - on children and youths.  Instead, the Knights have continued to exhibit blind, servile allegiance to those who allowed crimes against children and fought tooth and claw to deny compensation to victims.  Father McGivney, founder of the Knights must be rolling in his grave.

But such allegiance to criminal conspirators is not the Knights' only sin against children.  The organization has poured millions of dollars into anti-gay initiatives, including anti-gay marriage efforts which, if successful, guarantee that many children will be deprived of the stability and financial security that marriage would bring if their same sex parents could marry.  And then there's the issue of the misuse of funds raised from other Catholics that is raised under the premise that it will be used to help needy children, especially those suffering for disabilities.  Hypocrites is perhaps the best word to describe what the Knights of Columbus have become under the current leadership.  A piece in Religion Dispatches looks at the anti-gay efforts of the Knights and the organization's growing isconnect from the Catholic laity which increasingly supports same sex marriage by considerable margins.  Here are some article highlights:

Quick, what organization was founded to support justice for immigrants, boasts nearly two million (all-male) members, and loves a good parade? The Knights of Columbus still support immigrants’ rights, but those sober-faced men marching down Main Street in full parade regalia are also part of an organization that was the single largest donor in support of California’s Proposition 8. 

This venerable fraternal order has taken up the anti-equality baton in a big, flamboyant way.  The National Organization for Marriage provides organizational muscle to anti-equality initiatives and legislative campaigns. What gives them that muscle is money, and lots of it, from big donors. A new in-depth report released today by Equally Blessed, a coalition of pro-equality Catholic organizations, reveals that the Knights are among NOM’s biggest supporters.

“The Strong Right Arm of the Bishops: The Knights of Columbus and Anti-Marriage Equality Funding,” documents $6.25 million in direct Knights funding to anti-marriage equality campaigns at the national level and in a dozen states since 2005—and another $9.6 million to organizations that are working “to build a conservative religious and political culture to oppose efforts for marriage equality.” According to the report, among the biggest recipients of Knights funding are NOM ($1.9 million) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ($1.2 million). The report does not include figures for 2011 because the Knights delayed filing its tax reporting for 2011 until after the November 2012 elections.

 But you’d be hard-pressed to find evidence of the millions in anti-gay spending on the organization’s website, which highlights contributions to groups like Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics. 

Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of Equally Blessed member group Dignity, . . . 

says the work “is being done under cover, using the Knights’ good name and reputation and all the good work they do in the community.” According to the Equally Blessed report, “Of the nearly $155 million donated by the Knights of Columbus in 2010, $125 million was raised at the local level through pancake breakfasts, casino nights, carnivals, and the like.”  

Duddy-Burke says most individual members of the Knights are focused on the kind of charitable work the organization is known for. She said local members have little influence over what happens at the national level.

The Equally Blessed report also notes that Supreme Knight Carol Anderson is a Republican political operative equally well connected to conservatives in the Vatican and in U.S. political circles, including William Lori, Bishop of Baltimore and head of the bishops’ anti equality efforts who also serves as the Knights’ “Supreme Chaplain.” Other right-wing groups such as the Federalist Society, the Howard Center for Family, and Religion & Society (which sponsors the World Congress of Families) have been funded by the Knights, but among the largest recipients is the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is aggressively supporting the bishops’ “religious liberty” campaign attacks on the Obama administration.

According to the report, the Catholic Church has funded more than 50 percent of the effort to write discrimination against LGBT people into the Minnesota constitution. In Maryland, cash donations from the Knights and NOM have provided more than 75 percent of the Maryland Marriage Alliance’s war chest. And in Washington, the Catholic Church, Knights, and NOM have provided more than 55 percent of the funding.

“What we have on our side is the belief of the majority of American Catholics,” says Dignity’s Duddy-Burke, noting that more than half of American Catholics support marriage equality. She says “It is not consistent with the gospel for any segment of the church to be using millions of dollars to hurt people.”

Unfortunately, nowadays, most of what the Vatican and conservative Catholics and Protestants do is not consistent with the Gospel message.  Rather, these people have assumed roles even worse and more damning that those of the Pharisees so derided in the Gospels.  Fear and hatred of others have become their principal stock in trade.  Oh, and lets not forget self-congratulation and a misplaced sense of piety.  As for the Knights of Columbus, it is far past time that their tax-exempt status be revoked.

Boy Scout "Perversion files" Show BSA Leaders Hid Abuse

I noted yesterday that the Los Angeles Times was going to release thousands of pages of documents that showed how the Boy Scouts of America - much like the Catholic Church hierarchy - deliberately covered up the sexual abuse of children and youths even  as they carried on an anti-gay agenda and expelled gay scouts and scout leaders from the organization. As noted before, the hypocrisy and disregard for the safety and well being of those in their charge is shocking.  But sadly, it is all too typical of those who claim to support "Christian values" yet show themselves to be morally bankrupt.  It is another example of the danger of giving special deference to undeserving organizations and ignoring the safety of children and minors.  Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot on yesterday's document dump:

Again and again, decade after decade, an array of authorities - police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and Boy Scout leaders among them - quietly shielded scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children, a newly opened trove of confidential papers shows.

At the time, those authorities justified their actions as necessary to protect the good name and good works of Scouting, a pillar of 20th century America. But as detailed in 14,500 pages of secret "perversion files" released Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court, their maneuvers allowed sexual predators to go free while victims suffered in silence.

The files are a window on a much larger collection of documents the Boy Scouts of America began collecting soon after their founding in 1910. The files, kept at Boy Scout headquarters in Texas, consist of memos from local and national Scout executives, handwritten letters from victims and their parents and newspaper clippings about legal cases. The files contain details about proven molesters but also unsubstantiated allegations.

The allegations stretch across the country and to military bases overseas, from a small town in the Adirondacks to downtown Los Angeles.  The confidential files include 23 entries from South Hampton Roads; only seven identify the expelled Scout leaders by name. Six of the cases were prosecuted with one ending in a not guilty verdict. Defendants in the other cases were found guilty or pleaded guilty to charges including sodomy, rape and aggravated sexual battery. The cases date from 1963 to 1999.

[A]t a news conference in Portland on Thursday, attorney Kelly Clark blasted the Boy Scouts for their continuing legal battles to try to keep the full trove of files secret.  "You do not keep secrets hidden about dangers to children," said Clark, who in 2010 won a landmark lawsuit against the Boy Scouts on behalf of a plaintiff who was molested by an assistant scoutmaster in the 1980s.

The Associated Press obtained copies of the files weeks ahead of Thursday's release and conducted an extensive review of them but agreed not to publish the stories until the files were released. Clark was releasing the documents to the public online at www.kellyclarkattorney.com; he said the website was operating slowly Thursday because so many people were trying to access it. The Los Angeles Times also documented the cases at spreadsheets.latimes.com/boyscouts-cases.

[T]the files also are littered with horrific accounts of alleged pedophiles who were able to continue in scouting because of pressure from community leaders and local Scouts officials.  The files also document other troubling patterns. There is little mention of concern for the welfare of Scouts who were abused by their leaders, or what was done for the victims. But there are numerous documents showing compassion for alleged abusers, who were often sent to psychiatrists or pastors to get help.

It is far past time that the Boy Scouts cease receiving special privileges and deference - and public financial support.  It is also time that BSA leaders involved in the cover ups be criminally prosecuted. 

Boy Scouts "Perversion Files" to Be Released

As previous posts have noted, the Boy Scouts of America seemed to have learned from the Vatican game plan for gays: slander and denigrate normal, well adjusted gays and drive them from the membership ranks while protecting and shuffling around sexual predators preying on unsuspecting children and youths.  And of course during all of this bull shit, the BSA claimed that they were merely supporting Christian values.The dishonesty, not to mention the moral bankruptcy is beyond stunning.   Now, the Los Angeles Times which dropped the bombshell of the BSA's dishonesty and pattern of protecting child rapists is going to release information from its investigative report.  One can only hope that the truth takes down many in the leadership of the BSA.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

The Los Angeles Times is set to make available online Thursday an exhaustive compilation of alleged sex offenders who have been investigated by the Boy Scouts of America over the past several decades. The files include reports listing the names of suspect employees and volunteers — some from the Washington region — whom the organization often failed to report to law enforcement authorities.

The newspaper said it would release at 2:30 p.m. Eastern about 1,200 files dating from 1965 to 1985 that were ordered public by the Oregon Supreme Court. The release marks the first opportunity for people to comb through a vast number of alleged sex-crime reports filed internally with the Boy Scouts. The names of alleged victims will be redacted.

The Times has reported extensively for the past several months on Boy Scout sex abuse cases, featuring interviews with victims and alleged perpetrators, and has already released several reports from what the Boy Scouts dubbed the “Perversion Files.”

The paper based much of its reporting on confidential files and other records from 5,000 cases dating to the 1940s. No criminal charges were filed in many of the cases. The Times said many of the allegations of wrongdoing were never reported to police.

More on this story from The Associated Press:
The court-ordered release of the files has prompted the Boy Scouts to pledge that they will go back into the files and report any offenders who may have not been reported to the police when alleged abuse took place.

That could prompt a new round of criminal prosecutions for offenders who have so far escaped justice.
The Scouts have, until now, argued they did all they could to prevent sex abuse within their ranks by spending a century tracking pedophiles and using those records to keep known sex offenders out of their organization.

Obviously, if new criminal prosecutions take place, they need to include charges against those who deliberately failed to report and/or covered up crimes against children and youths.

Would Be Eagle Scout Denied Award Because He Is Gay

As the Los Angeles Times has demonstrated in its recent investigative report , the leadership of the Boy Scouts of America has no problem covering up and protecting serial sexual predators who have molested countless young scouts.  But recognizing an honorable and worthy scout who just happens to be gay?  Well that's a whole different story.  As NBC News is reporting, Ryan Andresen who recently completed the requirements to earn his Eagle Scout award got kicked to the curb by the Boy Scouts for the simple reason that he's gay and doesn't lie about himself and cower in the closet.  The hypocrisy of the Boy Scouts represents a small scale version of the foul hypocrisy of the Catholic Church hierarchy which on the one hand is pushing an incessant  anti-gay jihad while masterminding a world wide conspiracy to enable and/or protect sexual predators.  Here are some highlights from NBC News:

Ryan Andresen had recently completed the requirements to earning his Eagle Scout award, including his final project of building a "tolerance wall" for victims of bullying like himself, but his Scoutmaster would not sign off on honoring him with the Boy Scouts’ highest ranking because he is gay, his mother said.

And late Thursday, the Boy Scouts of America said in a statement that because of Andresen's sexual orientation and that he did not agree to Scouting’s principle of "Duty to God," “he is no longer eligible for membership in Scouting.”

The Boy Scouts of America have a longstanding policy denying membership to gay leaders and Scouts, which they reaffirmed earlier this year after a two-year confidential review of the controversial ban. The Scoutmaster for Troop 212 in Moraga, Calif., told Andresen’s father, Eric, the troop's chief administrator, on Sunday that Ryan wouldn’t be able to get the award, his mother, Karen, and Eric Andresen told NBC News.

“I want everyone to know that [the Eagle award] should be based on accomplishment, not your sexual orientation. Ryan entered Scouts when he was six years  old and in no way knew what he was," said Karen Andresen, 49, a stay-at-home mother of three. "I think right now the Scoutmaster is sending Ryan the message that he’s not a valued human being and I want Ryan to know that he is valued … and that people care about him.”

Ryan, 17, came out in July. Andresen said the Scoutmaster knew about Ryan's sexual orientation and they had no idea he wouldn't sign off on the paperwork. It was “a total shock," she said, adding that Ryan was led all along to believe he would be able to get the award.

I ceased donating any money to the Boy Scouts a number of years ago and candidly, if my son were younger, I'd think twice about involving him in such a bigoted and breath takingly hypocritical and dishonorable organization.