Thanksgiving

Dear Readers and Friends:

First off; I wish to apologize for my inactivity during this month.  A combination of work requirements, personal concerns, financial woes (!), election activities and other events have kept me from the researches and articles I've been wanting to write for some time now.  My political and civic activities, in particular, have been weighing on me as a result of the recent elections and the critical issues, both local and national, in which I'm involved.

But the issues of the culture and the protection of children is never far from my mind.  It is as key and vital as ever.  In all facets of our lives (politics included!) children are being exploited as never before.  When we sit around the family feast tomorrow, let's take time to note the young faces among us.  Let's contemplate their future as we recall our past Thanksgivings as children.  What kind of future did our parents contemplate for us?  What did we foresee for ourselves?  And how has it turned out?

If we were as most children, Thanksgiving was seen as but the prelude to that glorious time known as Christmas.  But then again, we were children.  We are no longer.  Now, with an adult's hindsight- and prevision- we look ahead to an uncertain future.  For us and for those laughing little faces among us.  For them, in particular... for they are what matters. 

It's not enough to be thankful to God on Thanksgiving.  It's also a time of recommitment.  To Him, His Word, His blessing to us for the (as yet) free country of which He is the supreme, acknowledged Founder and for the great blessing of the children of our families.  May we remember this- and them- when we invoke His Name prior to our feasts.  May our children know many more Thanksgivings.  May they celebrate these Holy Days in peace, freedom and prosperity under the protection of those who love them... and be able to extend the same to the young ones who will come after them.  For that is the essence of God's plan- from generation to generation.

Let us keep this day Holy.  Let its spirit warm the hearts of God's people.  And may it extend itself to those who have fallen into moral iniquity; that they may contemplate anew and that they may look upon their own children and ask themselves, "Have I done right by them- as children- and beyond any worldly ambition?".  May we be filled with resolve to provide our innocents with a better country, one in which they can aspire to noble futures and be free from the manipulations and depredations of those who would take away that precious innocence for their own ends.  AND... may we remember that every adult is, in the final sense, a parent to every child who is known to him.  That sacred responsibility must be held as such... and embraced.  God's love for children must likewise be our own.

To my friends, relatives, readers and associates, to their children, to the children I have known and to those in who's behalf I have worked for- for all of you- a happy and blessed Thanksgiving and Holy Season to come.  God bless.

Steven Mark Pilling      

Killer Parents

Ever since the Susan Smith child murder case in South Carolina, nothing can be taken off the table from the onset of such an investigation.  Not from the law enforcement point of view.  Ask any big city cop in particular.  Killer parents DO exist... and as never before in their frequency.

Certainly, there have always been criminal parents who have neglected and exploited their children to sometimes lethal degrees.  Often, these parents were abused or neglected children themselves and, thus, had their own parental instincts muted by the experience... although this is hardly an excuse.  But never in modern times have we seen so many horrendous and seemingly conscienceless crimes by parents against their own children.  The motives tend to fall into three categories, based on those parents' outlook. 

1.  Children as sex objects or otherwise to be employed as sources of perverse satisfaction.

2.  Children who ultimately fail in their conceived purpose as emotional and/or financial crutches.

3.  Children who come to be regarded as subhuman figures who can be discarded when inconvenient.

The promulgation of these attitudes, I maintain, can be traced largely to the dehumanization of our culture.  This influence is now so widespread and readily available to children themselves that it, in effect, puts its stamp on the immature psyche and becomes solidified upon maturity.  From the baby boom generation onward, this effect has grown to ever greater degrees.  And with it, so have the instances of crimes against and by children.

If that potential is there in the parent's mind, it can take as little as a media reported child crime to set them off.  This last instance (that of little Somer Thompson) happened in Florida.  It likewise followed closely on the heels of another such tragedy and the trial of an infanticidal mother in another; both having gained national attention.  Copy Cat Crimes against children?  And by their own mothers?  Once such things were inconceivable.  Not anymore.

Certainly not to investigators, either.  These are warning signs for both police and citizens alike; whether post or PRE crime:

1.  A household with a single mother or estranged parents.

2.  Known or suspected alcohol/drug abuse by family members. 

3.  Familial police record.  (Even a string of petty crimes can be indicative of worse, underlying problems.)

4.  Previous signs in the child of abuse or neglect; physical OR mental.

5.  The family's status among their neighbors.

6.  The physical state of the home itself.  (Many tip-offs here- sometimes subtle.)

7.  Parental behavior after a child goes missing.  (Such as a wildly emotional appeals to the media, casting blame on an anonymous and stereotypical suspect type that only they claimed to have seen, a noticably "carefree" lifestyle afterward, etc.)

8.  Associates of known or suspected criminality.

9.  And, as always, a stash of pornographic material.

When a sense of personal entitlement pervails, it can grow to negate not only the higher instincts, but the fundamental ones as well.  Abuse, exploitation and even the murder of one's own children CAN be the result.  It doesn't just happen in Hollywood.

It should also be noted that the Thompson neighborhood contained an unusually high number of registered sex offenders.  They, in this case, were rapidly removed from the list of suspects during the natural first phase of the investigation.  So... who does that leave in the process of elimination?  Naturally (as in the Jaycee Dugard case) the possibility of a pervert from outside picking a "target of opportunity" is always there.  But, as is most often in all crimes against women and children, the perpetrator will be someone the victim knows.  With children; most often a family member or another close authority figure. 

Police are well aware of these facts.  Good citizens should be, also.  We're not just our brother's keeper.  We, as adults, are secondary parents to every child with whom we come in contact.  A misguided sense of "minding one's own business" should not deter us from at least expressing our concerns when we suspect that a child is being abused, neglected or exploited by parents or guardians.  Because- if it is true- that child may be in mortal peril; either in the course of that abuse or as a prelude to premeditated tragedy.        

A Warning To Parents

Dear Readers:

The night before last, a long expected event occurred.  The motion picture "Hounddog" appeared on television for the first time.  It is being run on the Showtime premium cable channel.  For how long it will appear and on what other networks it may yet gravitate is, as yet, unknown to me.  When I can discover more, I'll post an addendem to this article.  For the meantime, I'd seriously suggest that parents utilize precautions for their children if they have the means to access that channel.  Fortunately, Showtime had (at least!) the minor decency to show this film only during the nighttime.

A number of people who have seen the film via DVD have, as expected, written me to say that the movie "wasn't THAT bad".  In comparison to the standard R-rated fare from Hollywood, one might say this.  But this is superficial.  It is also what the filmmakers hope the reaction will be.  That's because what you see is only a small part of the story and the overall issue.  This is in keeping with the reasons for my long standing advocacy against the "Hounddog" film. 

Allow me to elaborate.

There are three prime considerations one must take into mind when evaluating a motion picture... especially where children are concerned:  Content, concept and condition... C3.

Content:  This is what filmmakers want you to consider as the sole factor.  It must be remembered that the final content of a film is the result of an often laborious editing procedure.  In some films, this process can be elaborate and extensive indeed.  Some are so through the necessity to "scale down" a major effort to a watchable length for audiences.  With others, it is the result of a very negative reaction to the "first cut".  This was the case with "Hounddog"... over a three year period and through three (likely four!) major edits.  When you see this in a minor independent film, that alone should send up warning flags.

The other two factors are those that CAN'T be edited.

Concept:  What is this movie trying to say?  Not only in specific words and images, but in the overall message?  Filmmakers can prevaricate or lie outright about this and, in cases of a particularly offensive and/or inept work, often do.  But the basic message of the plot is always there.  In "Hounddog's" case, the story was about child sex and adult degeneracy.  That and nothing more.  It was also aimed at a child audience, as it utilized- as its central character- the premier child actress in Hollywood at the time.  Filmmakers (especially those who have no qualms about exploiting child actors) are fully aware that children- more than adults- are drawn to familiar names in a cast first and foremost.  They are less liable to see beyond the name of a child who made some acclaimed family films previously.  Again; this was intended.  Also- and repulsively- the filmmakers were aware that this would attract a certain "adult audience" whose outlook toward children is hardly wholesome. 

Note:  The child star I refer to here is Dakota Fanning.  Dakota quite possibly had the most dramatic rise to fame and enjoyed the longest reign as an A-listed child actress of any other since Shirley Temple.  For six years, she was the undisputed and most acclaimed child star in Hollywood, with a number of truly laudable films.  Unfortunately, she had a few that weren't family fare as well.  But they were largely forgiven due to her other qualities.  But such fame also attracts other kinds of "admirers".  As I once noted to a poster, "Do you think that there's a pervert in the country who hasn't, at one time or another, dreamed of having Dakota in his power?".  With the advent of "Hounddog", the first American film to incorporate actual child pornography in its makeup, the dreams of every predator were answered. 

This brings us to the third factor.

Condition:  During the January 2007 Sundance Film Festival (where "Hounddog" was first run for audiences), that film was the source of considerable public debate.  Sean Hannity, during the two weeks of coverage on his "Hannity & Combes" TV talk show, touched on the main issue of condition when he mentioned, "A lot ended up on the cutting room floor".  Note that "Hounddog" had already, since July 2006, been edited twice.  This was the result of its early "outing" by set technicians (before it even wrapped!) and the shocked reaction of reviewers to a sneak preview just prior to Sundance's opening.  Actually, the condition factor goes beyond even the editing.  It mainly involves what was done with three child actors in the process of the film's making, both on and off camera.

Now we come to the heart of why this movie is the most despicable (and dangerous) film that Hollywood has ever produced.  Child actors, no matter how experienced or jaded by previous unwholesome works, are still children.  To turn them into vessels of sex and violence, they must be conditioned into an acceptance of personal actions that are alien to a child's nature and contrary to any decent upbringing.  True, in the case of mild "fantasy violence", a child can often be effectively shielded from trauma.  But not always even then.  In the case of gross violence and sexual themes (much less actual interaction with adults and other children) this is impossible.  It will effect their hearts and souls.  And, through their travails (and the non-imaged concepts) it will reach out to their peer-aged audiences.

"How can you do your job and day your lines if you don't know what's going on?"- Lukas Haas ("Witness"- age 9)

I could go into this in much greater detail.  However, I'll refer the reader to my many other discourses on the "Hounddog" subject for this... essays that not only include my personal evaluations, but those of many others far more involved in this issue and over a greater span of time.  Some, you may note, are former child actors themselves or otherwise long involved in the film industry.

"Hounddog" was the first (as far as I know!) American film to be conceived and executed in child pornography.  This must be understood clearly.  It also represents a moral and physical threat to every child in this country.  It first kicked open a door to an entirely new level of child exploitation, one which has since spawned a host of other child exploitive films.  None, as yet, to its level of obscenity... but close.  The fact that this movie, despite its violation of a number of child protective laws, escaped prosecution and can be accessed now is the prime reason. 

Children are vulnerable.  All children; actors and audience alike, morally and physically.  This point cannot be overemphasized.  Please exercise ever greater caution with your children during the time this movie is being featured on television.  And, while you're at it, offer some prayers for the child actors of the Industry- in all their thousands- who must so directly deal with "Hounddog's" aftermath.  They're kids, too.  And as public figures, they are, in a very real sense, our own kids as well.  God help them all.

Steven Mark Pilling 

Addendum:  Apparently- and in an unusual occurrance- the movie was only shown that one time for this week.  I assume from this that the film was shown conditionally to gauge its reception. owing to its extremely controversial content and history.  I encourage all readers to send a note of protest to Showtime for airing this work of depravity.      

Depravity's Progress

Dear Readers:  About six weeks ago, I was reviewing an online article by the well known columnist and child advocate Rebecca Hagelin.  It was entitled "Disney's Decline?" and offered her opinions about a series of occurrances that held the Disney Corporation's somewhat tarnished family friendly reputation in an even more questionable light.  One of the responses was a very lengthy one by an unabashed liberal (named Sol Invectus!) who was of the opinion that the traditional outlook toward children should be scrapped in any case.  I'd seen those kind of arguments before, having had previously debated the homosexual agenda.  I'm also aware of the mentality behind those who think that the sexual usage of children- to any degree and in any venue- is justified.  Therefore, I composed a response which became a running debate.  This is the gist of it.

Dear Sol:

It's obvious from your series of rants that you represent the Hollywood-minded-anything-is-moral-if-it-feels-good-do-it element of society.  Nowhere did I say that 1965 was the "Camelot" of decency in America.  (Camelot, by the way, was a liberal fiction woven around a licentious President.)  In fact, ever since the Warren Court's 1963 decision legalizing pornography- coupled with the rise of Kinsey related groups and the institution of the MPAA movie ratings system- the moral standards of the country were beginning a downward spiral.  And, as always, the liberal circles were quick to embrace it for political value.  They still do, as you epitomize.

It's one thing to talk about immoral public figures... who are hardly a new phenomenon in human history!  It's another to legalize and legitimize destructive conduct.  And it's yet another to publicize that behavior in the media and in entertainment as less than despicable.  That has consequences; not only in public affairs, but- in particular- in the example it sets for growing children.

In that latter category comes the greatest tragedy of all.  Since the "Taxi Driver" event in 1976- and, especially, since the outright pornification of preteen kids by Dakota Fanning in 2006- the premise of children as "little adults" and "sexual beings" has become openly promoted by Hollywood.  And where Hollywood- the face of liberal depravity- leads, the popular culture follows.  And that culture- more prevalent and intrusive than at any time in history- attacks the hearts and minds of growing children... and leads them to misery and ruin.

But this, in your world, is "liberation".  There's another word for it, though.  It's "decadency"- the fatal disease that collapses civilizations.  Civilization itself is built around the prime endeavor of all moral adults; the protection, nurturement and moral guidance of children.  When we fail (or reject!) this concept- the mandate of God's Word- we fail in all.  We fail our children when we desecrate them in public and when we turn them into objects of scorn, exploitation and sexualization.  When we devalue them to the status of sometimes useful animals- and in their own minds as well- we commit the ultimate blasphemy.

Nor am I surprised that you turn this debate into a promotion for sexual deviancy as well.  Sexualizing children so as to make them "available" is a long standing homosexual dream.  Perversion, despite what you say, is not a natural state.   Nor is it a "right".  It is a soul destroying mental obsession.

Children who are exposed to it are far more likely to be drawn into it.  Children upon whom sex is inflicted are victimized by it for their entire lives.  Children who see other children in depictions of gross violence and sexual abuse are influenced into accepting it as the norm.  So, in fact, are "some" adults.  Thus, in total, the dramatic rise (since the mid-1960's) in sexual and violent crimes perpetrated against children and BY children.

We will not allow our children to be your prey, Sol.  Neither in body or in mind.  Pass that along to your "associates".

And if one of them should be a fellow New Yorker named Deborah Kampmeier, please convey my renewed greetings to her... and assure her that I will continue to pursue her for her cinematic crimes against children for as long as I am able.  She is the one who conceived and executed the most landmark work of child porn in American history.  Only a true deviant could manage that.  Therefore, if you are not friends, you should be.  Look her up next time you're in Clinton NY.

Steven Mark Pilling

P.S.  Today marked the first television showing of the final edited version of "Hounddog", Kampmeier's obscene masterpiece.  No matter how much has been extracted from the film over three year's time, it remains the most vile of American movies.  Keep your children away from Showtime in the late hours.  Yourselves, too.  

Constitution Day

Yesterday marked the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution.  On September 17, 1787, after months of writing, debate, re-writing, turmoil, hardship and yet more re-writing, the delegates of the 13 "several states"- in the 12th year of America's independence- gathered together and solemnly signed the compact that they had labored on so hard.

How many of you knew that?

But there's more. 

Since Independence, the old Continental Congress of the Revolution had been succeeded by The Articles of Confederation.  Essentially, they were a continuation of the provisional wartime government.  They also included many of the glaring defects that had manifested themselves during that time.  Essentially, the country was a loose association of 13 smaller countries in mutual alliance.  "America" was a term, not a nation.  And it had a government without any real authority.  Having won their freedom so dearly, the states were reluctant to relinquish any real power, fearing the creation of another tyranny akin to that they had just divested themselves of.  Nor were their fears unjustified, as history before and since has proven.

It was left to this group of delegates, convened in the Confederation capital of Philadelphia, to create a new union; one which could produce an efficient national government, yet protect the rights and liberties of the states and the citizens in the process.  This was a daunting task.  In any form of rule, there is a trade-off between the liberty of citizens and the authority of government.  To strike just the right balance- and enforce it- through the virtue of a well-worded document could only be accomplished through a masterpiece of statesmanship. 

The very concept of a Constitution as the basis of a nation's existance was revolutionary in itself.  In other nations up to that time, authority derived from tradition, myriads of disconnected laws and, quite often, the dictates of monarchs who ruled by (alleged) Divine Right.  Thus, preceding republics had tended to be ephemeral.  The idea of one in authority for an extended time- and over such a large region- was a monumental challenge.  The delegates, being educated men, were well aware of how, under similar conditions, the Roman Republic had collapsed and devolved into the Caesarian Empire... and had sown the seeds of its own destruction.

Fortunately for America- and the world- a great body of talent resided in the Constitutional Convention.  George Washington, one of history's great soldiers and statesmen, presided.  James Madison, another Virginian and a close disciple of Thomas Jefferson, played a key role in its wording.  Alexander Hamilton of New York pressed for a strong, financially sound union.  Benjamin Franklin, with his unique blend of wisdom and good humor, was vital in smoothing over the turbulence between the federalist and democrat factions.

Thomas Jefferson was only there in spirit, but his words had been heeded by one and all.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have."

"The course of history shows that as government grows, liberty decreases."

And, as Madison himself put it. "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

The ultimate result of their labors came to pass on this day when, in the waning days of the summer of 1787, the 38 remaining delegates put their names on the document.  They had succeeded in that "masterpiece" of governance that had elluded so many for so long.  It was the document that would prove the foundation of the greatest nation in history and the inspiration for many other peoples beyond our borders. Together with the Declaration of Independence and the Holy Bible, it has stood as one of the three great pillars upon which rests the Edifice of Freedom.

But there was also an addendum.  The Bill of Rights.  Hamilton, as the leading federalist, had succeeded in inserting many of his precepts for a strong national union.  Madison, however, as head of the democrat wing, realized that the state governments would never ratify the Constitution without further guarantees of state and citizen protection against federal intrusions.  Thus were the ten amendments of the Bill authored.  On their basis was the Constitution (grudgingly, in some cases!) accepted by both sides.  The Bill of Rights was finally adopted on June 15, 1790 and made part of the Constitution.  Soon afterward, the Constitution was ratified by the states.

It's mystifying to me that Constitution Day, a commemoration of an event so telling in the history of America and the world at large, garners so little attention.  What political leader mentioned it?  How many of us knew?  Where was it proclaimed beyond a notation in the newspaper under the heading "On This Date..."?

There's another aspect to this event that we must forever bear in mind.  No document, no matter how well written and conceived, can endure without the vigilance of the citizens.  Since the passage of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution has been amended a mere 17 times.  Yet, far more telling on its effectiveness has been the redefinition of its meaning by congressional negligence, presidential activism and judicial fiat.  Even the most sturdy marble statue can crack and erode over time without maintenance.  So has it been with the Constitution.  The heart and soul of it remains in those sacred first ten amendments.  And it has been at them that the attacks on constitutional viability have been most often directed.

The Constitution, despite what many modern politicians and pundits say, is not a "living document" beyond the amendment procedure.  It was deliberately made sturdy in order that the mistakes of other failed republics would not be repeated.  Its precepts are carved in granite so that ambitious, would-be autocrats cannot easily deface it.  But ultimately it depends on we, the people- the inheritors of the Founders' great work- to hold true to it and defend it.

What form of government was America to have?, asked the Philadelphia lady of Benjamin Franklin.  "A republic", he famously replied, "... if you can keep it." 

That is why every public official- and every member of the Armed Forces- takes an oath that specifies the defense of the Constitution.  This document not only turned us into a single nation.  It defined that nation.  It IS America.  Therefore we, the loyal citizens, must defend it against betrayal and corruption with unceasing vigilance.  For without it, we are nothing... and freedom fails the test of time.

So let's honor Constitution Day hereafter.  And, in doing so, let's never let it devolve into a "three day weekend" as so many other commemorative days have become.  This is an important observance that, in our modern turmoil over the Constitution's very meaning- and justifiable fears for its survival- could not be more important.  Let three dates in history be held as sacred by Americans in representation of those Three Pillars of America that I mentioned.

July 4th:  Independence Day

September 17th:  Constitution Day

December 25th:  Christmas Day

Preamble to the Constitution of the United States

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.