FURTHERMORE...

Polygamy never drove me to drugs. Polygamy did, however, drive me to overeat, which is just as sure and slow way to death as cocaine.

Polygamy also never did drive me to become a stripper. But I might consider it if the money was good enough...

The Furies

Have any of you ever read the “Sandman” series by Neil Gaiman? If you haven’t, you should. They are haunting, disturbing and beautiful all at once. It is the one of the only graphic novel series ever to win the prestigious Hugo & Nebula awards. I read the series faithfully at least once a year.

Anyway, in it, Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is hunted by the Furies from Greek mythology. They are three women and only one at the same time. They have a horrible witch-like aspect, and they pursue Morpheus with a slow and steady wrath. Morpheus had committed a murder – a mercy killing, really – against one he loved. So the Furies take it upon themselves to take vengeance. They never question why; they merely decide that he must pay for his sin.

The Furies move through the Realm of Dreams, burning and destroying anything in their path. The first way that they attack Morpheus is to scourge and murder anyone that Morpheus loves by striking them with this really awesome whip made of scorpions. Finally, the Furies confront Lord Morpheus on this high plateau that is the last refuge of the Dream Kingdom, battered by winds and lightning. The only way that the doomed Lord Morpheus can stop the Furies from totally destroying his kingdom is to offer himself willingly to Death. Only his death takes away the purpose of the Furies’ relentless quest to destroy him, thus saving his realm.

I use this analogy for how I feel about me and the anti-polygamy movement. I feel like Lord Morpheus. Okay, Lord Morpheus was tall and thin. I am tall and fat. Lord Morpheus was pale with deep, dark eyes. I am dark-skinned, don’t sunburn and have eyes the color of poop. Lord Morpheus had wild, black hair that Robert Smith of The Cure would be proud of. Hey, so do I. Lord Morpheus was brooding, aloof and pensive. Maybe I am some of those things, but mainly I am a polygamist Geek-Boy who thinks that the best thing that happened this week was learning that Guillermo del Torro is going to be directing The Hobbit. (Seriously!)

So how are the anti-polygamists like the Furies? They are singular in their quest to destroy. They are fueled by hate. (I have always said that they are as much a hate group as any.) They refuse to listen to reason or moderation. They won’t come to the table and have discussions with the polygamists. They label all polygamists as the same. They won’t stop short of an ethnic cleansing of all polygamist parents and ripping all children away from polygamist parents. Look at the senselessness in Texas.

For instance, one of my brothers just recently wrote to Flora Jessop asking her why she had an interest in my other brother’s divorce case, since Child Bigamy wasn’t a factor. She responded. The only part that I will quote is where she talks about yours truly, Lord Morpheus:

Flora Jessop: "I also discovered your brother Moroni's name associated with a web site promoting polygamy which is also connected to Child pornography which very much puts Sarine's children at risk in their continued connection to that particular brother. That information, of course, has been turned over to the proper authorities for further investigation and hopefully prosecution which I will pursue with all diligence.

"So, how do I fit into all this? The same way I fit into all of the cases I work and that is in protecting the children. Not only Sarine's but all of the children in Apache and Navajo Counties (from Carlos) and God knows how many more throughout the United States from Moroni and his pals from their web site. "

*Sigh* Do I have to explain this again? Mike Watkiss from Arizona News Channel 3 asked me about this. I thought that I explained this away satisfactorily. I guess not.

First of all, I really don’t know Flora Jessop. We may have the same last name, but that is where the similarity stops. She is from a totally different world than me. Other than a few visits to Colorado City when I was a child so that my dad could visit some old men that were distantly related, I know next to nothing about growing up among the FLDS. When I would see them at grocery stores in Utah wearing their unmistakable pioneer dresses, I would stop and try to speak to them and tell them that my name is Jessop. But they would look at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I guess a “Jessop” with olive-colored skin is pretty foreign.

Anyway, I don’t know what Flora Jessop has experienced that has driven her to this extreme. She says that she fled a polygamist marriage. I have one friend who is former FLDS. She states that Flora is lying, and that the only thing that Flora suffered was being a promiscuous teen. And that this is all likely backlash against her upbringing. But I don’t know for sure that this is the case.

What I have read in the media is that she is known to lie, to use illegal means to kidnap underage girls away from their polygamous parents, and that she has criticized CPS in Arizona for not seizing children from the homes of polygamist parents. It is likely that she is behind the phony phone calls to Texas that instigated the raids on the El Dorado compound. Years ago, Flora lost credibility with everyone – even anti-polygamist groups. Everyone except the media, because the media generally will accept anything sensational, and Flora is known to spout the sensational and is no more the “expert” than the dog at my feet as I type. I am willing to wager that I know more about FLDS history than she does.

To go further down my tangent, I have probably had more positive and cooperative experiences with CPS than she has. I worked on a task force for DES with the Director of DES, the Deputy Director of DES, and the Deputy Director of DCYF (CPS). I helped them develop the agency’s Diversity Initiative. I was nominated for an award by both the agency and the governor for my efforts. It is my little joke that DES took a polygamist and taught him how to fight against discrimination.

And this is a case of discrimination. This is a case of prejudice. What does Flora Jessop know about me? I might as well be black and in Alabama in 1963. This is one of the last vestiges of a civil rights struggle in the USA in the 21st Century.

But I digress…

Let us speak of this Child Pornography accusation. In 2005, a young man whom I will call the Duke of Marshall decided to start a pro-polygamy forum for Christians. He had nothing to do with Mormons. He wanted to create a forum where people could talk about polygamy. Since I had known Duke from different polygamy discussion groups, I signed up at his invitation. For a while, the discussions were pretty active. There was even a place where “ministers” who believe in polygamy could register their names. I signed up, even though I am not a minister. It sounded cool. It sounded prestigious.

After a couple of months, I stopped checking this website. I didn’t have enough time, and I had too many groups demanding too much of my time. I have never checked that website since. I don’t even remember my password. Even though the whole group fell into inactivity, every time you Google my name, it brings up that Minister Database.

Last February, Mike Watkiss asked me about it. He asked me if I was aware of pornography being on the site.

“What? From spammers?” I responded.

I thought that satisfied the issue, until Flora Jessop called a friend of mine and asked if she was aware of my involvement on that site. Then in March, my evil sister-in-law Sarine Jessop submitted the website as “evidence”. The document stated that there were sixteen links to pornographic websites, including two to child porn.

I contacted Duke of Marshall and let him know about it. He told me that due to his inactivity on the website, it had been overrun by spam. It happens on any forum. I have known people who run parenting groups that are spammed by porn as well. Anyway, he decommissioned the site and moved the pertinent information to a new website (including the infamous database).

I told Duke that it was – not only ludicrous – but totally weak that they were trying to link polygamy with pornography.

“Well, then, I guess that there is a connection between polygamy and tobacco and online pharmaceuticals,” Duke said. “Because there was plenty of spam for that as well.”

So Cousin Flora has turned it in to the authorities. If a man can be prosecuted for having his name registered on a site that is spammed by porn, then I guess we are all in trouble.

It is a case of discrimination, because Flora Jessop does not know anything about me. Anyone on the polygamy discussion groups knows that I am against arranged marriages, I am against child marriages. I become combatative with anyone who advocates child marriage. (And they are out there.) If she knew anything about me, she would know that I have never, ever sought out a child. She is misinformed if she thinks this about me.

DISCLAIMER: Most of my friends and family disagree that I am even keeping this blog. They want me to state that they have not put me up to this. This blog is my own doppelganger – out to cause more trouble for me than good, I’m sure. But I need an outlet for all the tripe that is being said out there about me.

Also, I lied in this blog. The best thing that happened to me this week was not finding out that Guillermo del Torro would direct The Hobbit, although that is pretty cool. The best thing that happened to me this week was to find out that the Third Circuit Court in Austin, Texas found the actions of the State of Texas against the FLDS in El Dorado to be illegal and unconstitutional.

So anyway, back to Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman”. On top of the plateau, the Furies drive Lord Morpheus to his death. But he is soon reborn in another aspect. Because you can never truly kill a dream.

Scarecrow & Mrs. Ka-ching

Dare I blog about it? Oh, yes I do. The final divorce hearing between my soon-to-be-ex-sister-in-law Sarine Jessop and my brother Carlos. After two, long, grueling years, it is nearly over.

My brother wanted me to testify, and he also wanted my wife to testify with me. So I prepared some notes for the lawyer and put on my best (only) suit. Did I want to do it? No. Did I want to speak out against my sister-in-law? No. There is a part of me that still cares about her. But then I remember that she was selfish enough to try to come after me and my children. And as I lace my tie, it is like putting on armor, preparing to go into battle.

The hearing started in the morning. Sarine and her posse got three hours in the morning to present her case. Carlos would get the afternoon. We met my brother at the park in St. Johns. Everything is starting to turn green. Carlos said the media was there when he arrived at the courthouse. They asked him to comment as he walked in. He said nothing. He is not a media whore, like me.

He also said that Flora Jessop was there. She was supposed to be present as an expert witness on polygamy, which is strange for a couple of reasons. First, she could only possibly be an expert on her own particular group, the FLDS. And we are nothing like the FLDS. As a gag, I thought about wearing a pioneer dress myself to the hearing, but that is about as close as it gets. Second, my brother reported to me that polygamy had not really come up at all during the proceedings. This really surprised me. Flora did not even take the stand. My brother reported to me that he walked by Flora at one point. She was always tailed by some sycophantic red-headed chick who would snicker anytime Flora said something. Flora looked at my brother and whispered to her friend (probably also ex-FLDS), “He’s going
down!”

So when we got to the courthouse, we all sat in the lobby, not allowed to go into the actual courtroom during the proceedings. It was a long, boring afternoon while they did some telephonic conferences and cross-witnessed both Carlos & Sarine. The only person that they called in to testify was my sister, Marina, and she wasn’t even cross-examined.

Sarine’s entourage had vanished during the afternoon, but my brother Tony made a forage downstairs out of boredom and ran into Flora Jessop. He is gallant, and he introduced himself as “Cousin Tony”. My brother is usually very polite, but also very unafraid. I probably would have stood their cringing like the toad that I am.

At one point, I had to make a cell phone call, so I stepped outside. Flora came out the door and stood there, also on the cell phone. The first thing I noticed about her is how old she looks. She is the same age as me (38), but she looks 48. She was dressed in a leather jacket and voluminous slacks that flapped in the breeze around her skinny legs and high heels that went clickety-clack on the pavement of the sidewalk. She reminded me of a scarecrow with her straw hair hanging lank to her shoulders and he baggy clothes hanging off of her thin frame. She exuded the audacity of a bag lady, and she had the intense confidence of someone who is tweaking (which makes me wonder why she kept going to her truck so often.)

I could be wrong, but she had the look of someone who is on meth. I know the look. I was a social worker for nine years (and also a drug user during my college days).

There was a part of me who regretted being on polar opposite sides of the polygamy issue as Flora. Since we are the same age, I wondered if – in different circumstances – that we could have been friends. Or if we might find common ground in some other areas. But then I remember that she does not view polygamists as either moderate or extreme. She has made it plain that she hates us all, and wants to see our children taken from us forever.

The hearing went over an hour past the time the courthouse closed, and we went in to hear the closing statements. Later, one of my brothers pointed out something to me. The only thing that Sarine’s lawyer brought up was money. They did not talk about the welfare of the children, except where it involved child support. They argued about funds from a community property investment that my brother had, and where the money should go. They talked about alimony. It proved that my sister-in-law cares nothing about her children. All she wants Carlos to do is to “show her the money”. For cash, she is willing to destroy us all. It makes me sad.

We all dispersed from the courthouse together for an awkward moment – my family and Sarine’s entourage. So many feelings and thoughts were welling up within me. But I kept my head down and walked to my car, nodding at one of Sarine’s brothers as I passed. My brother Tony, however, waved his middle finger at Sarine and company and said, “Bye-bye!”

Psycho-Sarine & the Anti-Polyg Brigade

This is a photo of me with a smile on my face. I went to Utah this weekend and did some 4-wheeling up the slopes of the mountains. It was breathtaking and therapeutic. It relieved all of my stress and tension for a few moments. And I have had much to be stressed about lately.

On my way back from Utah, I got a phone call that my Psycho former sister-in-law Sarine Jessop made another appearance on Arizona’s Channel 12. I just had to see it, so I stopped by someplace where I could get online and check it out. Here are my observations:

1. Psycho-Sarine was giving her children candy on camera. This is because on my letter to Arizona Channel 3’s Mike Watkiss. I wrote that she was an extremist parent who never gave her children candy. This was an attempt to show that she is “normal”. She is still an extremist. She is the extremist mother who would lock her children outdoors for hours on end so that she could nap. She is the extremist mother who turned her children into little indentured servants/ slaves to do all of her housework. She is the extremist mother who emptied a pistol into my mother’s dog, because it was barking and “disturbing” her. Do something on camera to refute that, Psycho-Sarine.

2. She turns the water works on and thinks that it will make her appear sincere to the public. The sad truth is that it will. But those of us who know her can see that she is lying through her teeth. She would win no Oscar for her acting. She claps her hands and gives a fake laugh at the prospect of the Child Bigamy Custody Bill being passed in Arizona’s legislature and says that this will make her so happy. But neither she nor my brother nor anyone we associate with has ever been involved with Child Bigamy. I don’t know why they are making her their Poster Child/ Pawn, because Child Bigamy does not apply in her case.

3. Psycho-Sarine still believes in polygamy. While I was in Utah this weekend, I heard from someone in a Utah polygamous community who stated that Sarine is being “courted” by a man in that community – a man with other wives. She believes in and wants to be part of another polygamous marriage. So why is she doing this? Because she is the type of woman who will do whatever it takes to get her way. Not only is she trying to destroy my brother, but she is trying to destroy my family. It wasn’t sufficient to keep her divorce between my brother and herself, but she is trying to destroy our entire community. Simply to get her way. What a selfish bitch – I wonder if she realizes the damage she is doing in Arizona to all polygamists just so that she can get her way.

4. The news story talked about her being the “only woman to ever escape the closed community of Concho, Arizona”. What community? Oh yeah, the one topped with razor wire. Okay, let me set this straight yet again:

a. Sarine is not the first wife to leave. There is nothing that keeps women here against their will. They have their choice.

b. It is not a closed community. We are an open community. For f***’s sake, we just had journalists crawling around our “compound” for a week.

5. The news story said that Concho was a community that practiced “child bigamy”. And then they showed footage of Colorado City (FLDS) while they talked about Concho, replete with women walking in the streets wearing pioneer dresses. This is hands-down the worst case of journalism that I have ever seen.

a. They show footage of Colorado City while they talk about Concho? Come on! After everything, I have tons more respect for Mike Watkiss than I do for Channel 12. Mike Watkiss traveled out to Concho. He filmed our property. He asked us questions directly. He didn’t need to show footage of an entirely different polygamous community. That is the poorest journalism I have ever seen, Channel 12. You are a bunch of pathetic losers!

b. We have never practiced Child Bigamy. There is not a single instance of Child Bigamy in our community. Why? BECAUSE WE DON’T BELIEVE/ TEACH/ PRACTICE IT!!!!! Psycho-Sarine tells the cameras that she is afraid her daughters would get married young. First of all, to whom? One of their uncles? That is sick! The father of those girls would not have allowed those girls to marry young, and neither would their uncle. Child Bigamy is a sick practice that I don’t condone. If you want proof, look in the archives of any Polygamy Yahoo Group (Mormon-Polygamy, Mormon-Fundamentalism, quest_for_sisterwife, etc.) since I joined them in 2004. You will see that I have consistently spoken AGAINST child marriages AND arranged marriages from the beginning.

6. There is no “compound” – only a 40-acre ranchette that I live on with my mother and a couple of my brothers.

It is obvious that Psycho-Sarine has the anti-polygamist ilk muttering in her ear. There is a very real force in Arizona that wants to destroy all polygamists without probable cause and without due process, like they did in El Dorado. The same forces that are behind what is going on in El Dorado are the same forces that are backing my sister-in-law. That disturbs me. We don’t practice the atrocities that they say they practiced in El Dorado. And yet the media is accusing us FALSLEY of advocating the same practices. The question on everyone’s mind – will they come out here like they did in El Dorado? I am sure that nothing would make my evil sister-in-law happier than to see police come to my house, to my mother’s house and rip our children from us and take custody of them. I am sure that this would make her give a happy little clap – like the one she gave on camera - that she brought this kind of injustice upon us.

PS Eddie Farnsworth - you rock!! David Lujan - you suck!!!

Moroni Jessop