A lot of things are irking me about this Save Lexi campaign.
So far, the big argument in support of the Page family is how long they were able to keep possession of her, in spite of the law and the rules they agreed to when they signed up to become a foster home. As if their ability to hold the child hostage via court for years should grant them rights to keep the child. This very same situation unfolded not long ago during the Bring Sonya Home campaign. The Hodgin family of Tennessee managed to hold Sonya legal hostage for 7, 8 yrs and the courts finally demanded they turn her over ASAP. And very much like this newest case, everyone held onto the fact that the couple managed to hold onto her for so many years and that gave them rights to keep the child. The Hodgins were referred to as Sonya's parents, just like people are calling the Pages. Those in support of the two families rally around how traumatic it was for the children to be taken from the only home they'd ever known.
And yet these same jackasses celebrated when Veronica Brown was forced to leave her Daddy to go live with entitled kidnapping strangers. She'd been with her dad for two years and was the only home she knew. She didn't remember the Capobiancos and as far as her then 4 yr old mind was concerned, these were monstrous strangers who were taking her away from her family. Supporters had even gone as far as to claim she no longer remembered her dad mere months after her kidnapping, saying she was oh so happy to be back with her "mom and dad". Delusional as hell, claiming she not only remembered the kidnappers, but was glad to be back. And yet witness accounts of the night Veronica was kidnapped said a very different story. A dark and solemn Veronica being led to the exchange point. A child who refused to pack her bags and continued to say she'd refuse to go. A confused and unhappy child being buckled into a booster seat by the female kidnapper, Melanie. And the later reports, a year or so into her kidnapping, that indicated Veronica was nowhere near as compliant and cooperative as the Capobiancos and their supporters wanted people to believe.
But where was the outrage at her removal? Why was ripping her away from her actual family celebrated? The kidnappers even have it set up to say that any trauma she suffers from them taking her can be traced back to her daddy refusing to give her back to them. They plan to blame Dusten Brown for Veronica's issues. They can't even accept blame in screwing up a little girl beyond repair. And their supporters even touted that line in the wake of it all. The big plan to blame Dusten should Veronica refuse to assimilate to her kidnappers.
People from all walks of life celebrated destroying Veronica Brown. And yet, when it's unethical adopters and kidnappers who lose and must hand the child back, it's an atrocity. They carry on about how it's the "only family they've ever known" and how horrible and traumatic it is to take them from the people who raised them for years. They did it with Sonya just as they're now doing with Lexi. But since it was taking a little girl from her REAL family, it was perfectly okay and she's adjusted and she doesn't remember her daddy anymore and thinks she's been with the kidnappers this whole time (yes, they have claimed that).
It's a big fucking double standard. Unethical foster parents and adopters can create media circuses when the child is being removed from their care or to continue to drag out their cause. They can scream and cry about how long they had the child and how it's the only home they'd ever known and how traumatic removing them will be. And these same people thought it was hunky dory to rip Veronica from all she knew and loved and forced her to go with disgusting kidnappers who have kept her isolated and hidden. It's horrible when adopters lose, but it's a-okay when the parents lose and must turn their child over. Veronica was ripped from her family, stripped of her identity and forced to live a lie with her captors. The destruction of a little girl and her heritage was celebrated by the masses.
Lexi is with her family now, where she should have gone 3 yrs ago when reunification services with her father stopped. Yes, it's family via marriage, but still family all the same. They are raising the child's siblings and Lexi will be able to be raised with them and have access to other members of her family, something the Pages most likely would have denied her if they'd been able to win at legal keep away. They go on to blame the Choctaws and Los Angeles County Children's Services for any adverse effects the removal may have on Lexi, but the blame lies with the Pages and the Pages alone. They tied it up in court, putting the child in legal limbo. They arranged the media coverage. They allowed the protesters. They broadcast what should have been a simple and quiet transfer all across the country, the nation watching as a little girl was whisked through a sea of screaming people. This was not concern for the child, this was entitlement and self serving motives at its finest. And the people are blind to it completely. So horrible to take her away. So horrible to do this to her.
And yet 2 1/2 yrs ago, 2 1/2 yrs ago this very day.....the nation celebrated when it was done to a 4 yr old little girl.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
The Save Lexi Campaign ***UPDATED***
Hello again, kiddie winkles. I know it's been a while and I do apologize. I've been rather busy with a writing project, some vacation planning, an upcoming Comicon and well, adulting in general.
Today I bring to you a case that once again oozes of pure entitlement. Rusty and Summer Page took in a little girl as a foster placement several years ago. She'd become a dependent of the state as a toddler and had been shuffled between a few homes before landing in the Page's home. They originally took her in as respite care, but that eventually turned into full fostering of the girl.
But there was a catch.
Lexi is recognized as Choctaw. And from the moment the Pages took her in, they were well aware that ICWA was dictating the child's case. The tribe permitted the Pages to continue fostering her so it would keep her closer to her father during the reunification planning. But one thing was certain, placement preference would prevail if and when adoption was put on the table. The Pages knew this and had originally agreed to this.
When reunification efforts failed, it was made clear the child would be transitioned to out of state family. That is when the Pages dug their heels in and tried to fight her removal. Sound familiar, no? Time and time again, we hear about entitled fosters and PAPs who cling to the children they take in and try to cry "only home they know". Of course, that is what the Pages are doing. A couple of years, few court hears and an appeals decison later, the child is being removed within the next 24 to 48 hours and they've managed to wrangle a circle of supporters crying foul over what they all say is an unjust law.
For those curious about the background, here is the appeals decision:
Court of Appeals
Of course, if you go to their Facebook page (they all have FB pages, don't they?), they make it sound like the child's native status is a shock, how she's only X% and shouldn't be considered native enough for ICWA to apply and boo hoo, her removal is oh so sudden.
Last time blood quantum came into question, it was when those bastard Justices in the US Supreme Court questioned Veronica Brown's native eligibility. Same shit, different case. Supporters of Veronica's kidnappers held onto her low blood quantum with an iron grip. Nearly every supporter and every media outlet who regurgitated the BS the public relations firm spoon fed them focused on how little native blood Veronica had. And now supporters of the Pages are doing the same.
Funny how a bunch of ignorant non native people clamor on about who should and shouldn't be considered native. Especially when it's a child they want to snatch for their own. They seem to forget that if the tribe considers the child eligible, then that's just how it is, regardless of how much or how little native blood runs through that child's veins. WE don't get to determine that decision. The US Supreme court doesn't get to determine that decision (they haggled over it, but ruled primarily on the Existing Indian Family doctrine). The decision to determine eligibility exists with the tribe alone.
The one thing I caught on to with the Save Lexi campaign were the familiar faces of some of their supporters. A great deal of their supporters supported the kidnapping of Veronica Brown and supported the Hodgins in stealing back Sonya McCaul. Even the Facebook page holds a striking resemblance to the Save Veronica campaign and Keep Sonya Home campaign. And the infamous Lori Alvino-McGill - who is well know for calling Veronica and her sister "illegitimate spawn" and who represented Veronica's seller in a lawsuit to dismantle ICWA - is on board with this case, spewing her usual lies. Kid you not. She posted an update on the family's Facebook support page, claiming that the family Lexi will be going to doesn't even know the child.
Everyone supporting the Page family keeps rattling on about how it's the only home she's ever known, it will be traumatic, it's not in her best interest. They said the same about the Hodgins and Sonya (the Hodgins literally stole the child and tied it up in court for 8 yrs). Funny how 2 1/2 yrs ago they were saying tearing Veronica Brown away from her dad to live a life as a hostage wouldn't hurt her at all. Tearing a 4 yr old little girl away from the only family she knew and being forced to live with people she didn't remember and only met once during a brief supervised visit. It's perfectly fine when wanna be adopters do it, but if it's the other way around, then it's the end of the world for the child and so horrible.
They just need to admit that they're thinking about their own best interest. Not the child's. The child isn't being torn away to live with strangers. She's had frequent contact with the family she is going to and had it for quite some time. Everyone involved knew the child would go to out of state family if reunification efforts with her father failed. It's not a surprise. This isn't some sudden change in placement that hit them broadside. The Pages have known for years that the child would not be theirs to adopt. They're the ones to blame for dragging this out longer than necessary. They're the ones who tied it up in court for nearly three years in the hopes they'd get a best interest ruling. They're the ones who have now turned what should be a simple and quiet transfer of placement into a big goddamned circus. People are actually suggesting they help bar social workers from removing the girl by force. They support making this child's transition as traumatic as humanly possible. How is that in the child's best interest?
3/22/2016 ***UPDATE***
On 3/21/2016, around 3:00PM PST, LA County Children's Services arrived to pick Lexi up from the Page home. Surrounded by screaming protesters, news crews and the infamous Troy Dunn, who is best known for stalking Veronica Brown at her school, Lexi was moved through a sea of cameras and screams. People rushed the car with cameras and phones, yelling at her through the glass. Summer Page and the Page children stood in the driveway in hysterics over handing the child over.
It was a horrific thing to watch. And this is what the Page family and their supporters wanted the world to see. They could have arranged a secluded and private transfer somewhere away from the circus, but no, it couldn't happen any other way.
Today I bring to you a case that once again oozes of pure entitlement. Rusty and Summer Page took in a little girl as a foster placement several years ago. She'd become a dependent of the state as a toddler and had been shuffled between a few homes before landing in the Page's home. They originally took her in as respite care, but that eventually turned into full fostering of the girl.
But there was a catch.
Lexi is recognized as Choctaw. And from the moment the Pages took her in, they were well aware that ICWA was dictating the child's case. The tribe permitted the Pages to continue fostering her so it would keep her closer to her father during the reunification planning. But one thing was certain, placement preference would prevail if and when adoption was put on the table. The Pages knew this and had originally agreed to this.
When reunification efforts failed, it was made clear the child would be transitioned to out of state family. That is when the Pages dug their heels in and tried to fight her removal. Sound familiar, no? Time and time again, we hear about entitled fosters and PAPs who cling to the children they take in and try to cry "only home they know". Of course, that is what the Pages are doing. A couple of years, few court hears and an appeals decison later, the child is being removed within the next 24 to 48 hours and they've managed to wrangle a circle of supporters crying foul over what they all say is an unjust law.
For those curious about the background, here is the appeals decision:
Court of Appeals
Of course, if you go to their Facebook page (they all have FB pages, don't they?), they make it sound like the child's native status is a shock, how she's only X% and shouldn't be considered native enough for ICWA to apply and boo hoo, her removal is oh so sudden.
Last time blood quantum came into question, it was when those bastard Justices in the US Supreme Court questioned Veronica Brown's native eligibility. Same shit, different case. Supporters of Veronica's kidnappers held onto her low blood quantum with an iron grip. Nearly every supporter and every media outlet who regurgitated the BS the public relations firm spoon fed them focused on how little native blood Veronica had. And now supporters of the Pages are doing the same.
Funny how a bunch of ignorant non native people clamor on about who should and shouldn't be considered native. Especially when it's a child they want to snatch for their own. They seem to forget that if the tribe considers the child eligible, then that's just how it is, regardless of how much or how little native blood runs through that child's veins. WE don't get to determine that decision. The US Supreme court doesn't get to determine that decision (they haggled over it, but ruled primarily on the Existing Indian Family doctrine). The decision to determine eligibility exists with the tribe alone.
The one thing I caught on to with the Save Lexi campaign were the familiar faces of some of their supporters. A great deal of their supporters supported the kidnapping of Veronica Brown and supported the Hodgins in stealing back Sonya McCaul. Even the Facebook page holds a striking resemblance to the Save Veronica campaign and Keep Sonya Home campaign. And the infamous Lori Alvino-McGill - who is well know for calling Veronica and her sister "illegitimate spawn" and who represented Veronica's seller in a lawsuit to dismantle ICWA - is on board with this case, spewing her usual lies. Kid you not. She posted an update on the family's Facebook support page, claiming that the family Lexi will be going to doesn't even know the child.
Everyone supporting the Page family keeps rattling on about how it's the only home she's ever known, it will be traumatic, it's not in her best interest. They said the same about the Hodgins and Sonya (the Hodgins literally stole the child and tied it up in court for 8 yrs). Funny how 2 1/2 yrs ago they were saying tearing Veronica Brown away from her dad to live a life as a hostage wouldn't hurt her at all. Tearing a 4 yr old little girl away from the only family she knew and being forced to live with people she didn't remember and only met once during a brief supervised visit. It's perfectly fine when wanna be adopters do it, but if it's the other way around, then it's the end of the world for the child and so horrible.
They just need to admit that they're thinking about their own best interest. Not the child's. The child isn't being torn away to live with strangers. She's had frequent contact with the family she is going to and had it for quite some time. Everyone involved knew the child would go to out of state family if reunification efforts with her father failed. It's not a surprise. This isn't some sudden change in placement that hit them broadside. The Pages have known for years that the child would not be theirs to adopt. They're the ones to blame for dragging this out longer than necessary. They're the ones who tied it up in court for nearly three years in the hopes they'd get a best interest ruling. They're the ones who have now turned what should be a simple and quiet transfer of placement into a big goddamned circus. People are actually suggesting they help bar social workers from removing the girl by force. They support making this child's transition as traumatic as humanly possible. How is that in the child's best interest?
3/22/2016 ***UPDATE***
On 3/21/2016, around 3:00PM PST, LA County Children's Services arrived to pick Lexi up from the Page home. Surrounded by screaming protesters, news crews and the infamous Troy Dunn, who is best known for stalking Veronica Brown at her school, Lexi was moved through a sea of cameras and screams. People rushed the car with cameras and phones, yelling at her through the glass. Summer Page and the Page children stood in the driveway in hysterics over handing the child over.
It was a horrific thing to watch. And this is what the Page family and their supporters wanted the world to see. They could have arranged a secluded and private transfer somewhere away from the circus, but no, it couldn't happen any other way.
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