Every last Utah resident should be cheering for Juab County Attorney David Leavitt in his pursuit of one Tom Green through the criminal justice system.
Ah, yes: the ubiquitous Tom Green. Every time some talk show wants to make Utah the laughingstock of the nation, old Tom's right there on parade with some of his adolescent "wives." He always seems to find time in his schedule to provide a sideshow for the nation, despite the demands of keeping four or five young girls perpetually pregnant and at the same time finding new ways to stick it to U.S. and Utah taxpayers.If you've followed old Tom over the years, you've noticed that he's constantly culling the herd and replacing the mature women with new barely fertile stock, but I doubt his primary interest is in adding to the world's 6 billion population. Those 30 some-odd kids are merely the byproduct of Tom's favorite sport, and I think it's fairly obvious that he's more interested in the journey than the destination.
Many of the state's polygamists feel very justified in letting the taxpayers ("gentiles") foot the bill for their activities, and so far the taxpayers generally seem quite willing to mostly shut up and just pay. Let's just look at the medical aspect alone: In 1990, our Medicaid budget in Utah was $270 million, but this year it will be nearly $800 million, with 28 percent of the medical costs of Utah births being picked up by the taxpayer.
I think Green's "religious freedom" should end where my checkbook begins. But maybe I'm a narrow-minded bigot, and maybe he's actually an inspired man of God rather than a lecherous, parasitical opportunist. You're paying, so you be the judge.
Joe Taylor
Salt Lake City