Dear Readers:

I just received an email today from a local acquaintance and fellow activist alerting me to a new development here in Houston.  Leo Velasquez, Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector and a Republican, has been the target of a hearsay campaign alleging that he and others of his staff had been suppressing or eliminating from the voter lists eligible voters.  (It is part of the Tax Office's duties to maintain this list in proper form.)  Democrats habitually seek to keep as many of their reliable voters, regardless of eligibility, on the rolls as possible.  As this often involves convicted felons, illegal immigrants or the geriatric victims of dementia, diligence in this duty works against them.  Also; Mr. Velasquez is newly arrived at his post and is therefore considered politically vulnerable.  Noticeably, the media's editorials were spurred by "leaks" from the new County Attorney (a Democrat) who failed to find any wrongdoing through investigation.

This is becoming an old story nationwide.  It illustrates well how vulnerable we've all become with regard to corrupt legal officials and their liberal media allies as they put politics ahead of civic responsibility.  It's also a condition that carries out into a broad spectrum of society.  From my studies in child protection, I've developed a viewpoint on this that touches on other troubling aspects of juristic corruption.

Dear Stan:

Mr. Velasquez has it right on a number of things in his statement.  Most pressing, in my opinion, is the issue of selective enforcement of the law.  In my dealings with political, social and/or children's issues over the past three years, I've come to recognize just how prevalent this has become in present times.  Entrenched special interests (like Hollywood, for example) can create legal safe havens for themselves by making themselves the centerpiece of a local economy.  In so doing, they win the support of Chambers of Commerce, local government and, correspondingly, that of District Attorneys.  This has implications that extend well beyond political infighting.

Here's a prime example with which I'm well familiar.  Bear with me on this.

In the entertainment field's case, this legalized corruption extends well beyond the known haunts of Hollywood, Las Vegas and New York... something that few realize.  When the State of North Carolina passed its 15% rebate policy on movie production costs, they spurred the development of their state as the third largest moviemaker in the country.  That led to one of the biggest studio complexes outside Hollywood being built (and still expanding) in Wilmington- Screen Gems Studios.

The untold downside, though, was that Screen Gems also catered to those most likely to take advantage of the rebate.  The sorriest of independent producers, in particular.  Thus, some of the worst and filthiest films made in America were and are being made there.  This reached its acme with the production of "Hounddog" in 2006- the first known domestic film to (as I say) "break the childporn barrier".

This happened in spite of numerous and (apparently) explicit child labor and protection laws.  Yet, the local D.A.'s refused to prosecute, despite nationwide protests.  Nor would the State Attorney General (Roy Cooper, of Duke lacrosse infamy) step in.  Hollywood had become too big to challenge... and politician lawyers tend to think of themselves first!  This; even when local children are being recruited into R-rated productions of the lowest order.

My researches, based largely on the culture's depravity with children, also re-emphasized a stark, basic truth about the legal system that should never be forgotten.  The law is only as good as the willingness of legal authority to enforce it.  Lacking that, laws are no more than ink stains on cheap paper.  Worthless.  If prosecutors can ignore their duty for their careers' sake- even when children are being hideously exploited within their own jurisdictions in defiance of all law and decency- what else can they ignore?  What other breaches of duty can they commit in the pursuit of personal and political goals?  Just about anything, you say?  Exactly!

And that's where we've come to.  We are now a country of men, not laws... the exact opposite of where any free and decent nation should be to reliably maintain a free and decent status.  When our own children can be reduced to the throwaway tools of adult agendas, then no one is safe.  Not Mr. Velasquez, not you or I, not our own kids.  All honor is vanquished.  No one without special influence in "the right circles" can expect the Justice Before God that this nation was specifically established to protect.  Thereby do we straggle down the road to the twin shantytowns of Tyranny and Depravity, the Shining City lost to sight.

BTW:  THIS is why I'm so bitterly opposed to HB873 and SB605; the proposed state rebate for filmmakers in Texas.  It corrupted North Carolina in the most terrible way possible.  Hollywood must not find another safe haven for perversity with children in our state.

Steven Mark Pilling