Double Standards

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.