Lets play the pornography game

 Jim Ferris and the Tea Party crowd have declared themselves the holy guardians of morality in Payson. According to Ferris, the greatest threat facing civilization is apparently a library book. Forget corruption, lies, greed, or a  president facing lawsuits and criminal convictions — the real danger is a librarian shelving a book some MAGA dinger hasn’t actually read.

Ferris rides into town council meetings like a self-appointed sheriff of decency, waving around accusations about “pornography” in the library. He wants to decide what your children can read, what adults can check out, and what ideas are acceptable in a free society. But strangely enough, Ferris had no problem voting for Donald Trump — a man caught on tape bragging, “Grab ’em by the pussy.” Apparently that kind of vulgarity doesn’t offend the Tea Party moral police.

That is the heart of modern MAGA hypocrisy.

A novel in a library? Outrage.

A president who lies every day, mocks disabled people, cheats on his wives, insults veterans, and talks like a drunken frat boy? Silence.

The Tea Party crowd acts like they are defending “family values,” but their values disappear the second Trump opens his mouth. They clutch their pearls over books while excusing behavior from Trump that they would condemn in anyone else. If a Democratic president had spoken the way Trump speaks, the Tea Party would have marched through the streets carrying crosses and pitchforks.

Ferris and his allies want government control over books because outrage is easier than solving real problems. They cannot explain rising housing costs, threats to Social Security, healthcare costs, or why working people keep getting squeezed, so they create culture-war theater. The library becomes the enemy because it distracts the Hoopleheads from asking harder questions.

Meanwhile, Trump lies with every breath, and the MAGA faithful applaud like trained seals.

The hypocrisy gets even richer when these same people scream about “freedom” and “government overreach.” They don’t want government telling them what kind of truck to drive or whether they should wear a mask, but they are perfectly happy using government power to decide what books your family can read. Freedom for them means freedom to control everybody else.

That is why the Tea Party movement has become less about principles and more about performance art. Outrage is the product. Anger is the fuel. Facts are optional.

Ferris can posture as the defender of children all he wants, but children learn more from the example adults set than from books sitting quietly on a library shelf. And what example does MAGA set? That lying is acceptable if your tribe benefits. That vulgarity is acceptable if your side wins. That morality only applies to political opponents.

The truth is this was never about protecting children. It was about political theater for the MAGA crowd — red meat for the culture-war addicts who need a new outrage every week.

And the saddest part? While they are busy hunting for imaginary pornography in the library, the real problems facing Payson continue untouched.

Staying in the cult.

 As Trump’s behavior grows more erratic by the day, even some of the faithful Hoopleheads seem uneasy. The cult used to wear the uniform proudly — red hats in every grocery store aisle, giant flags flapping from lifted pickups, bumper stickers screaming loyalty to the King. Lately? Not so much. The hats are disappearing. The noise is quieter. Maybe the spell is wearing off.

The gas pump has always been the true church of the dingers. They can overlook the lies, the corruption, the grifting, the endless whining, and even an attack on the Capitol. But hit a Hooplehead in the wallet while he’s filling up his F-250 and suddenly patriotism gets complicated. Nothing shakes blind devotion like paying another twenty bucks at the pump.

Even some of the smarter cult members are beginning to ask uncomfortable questions. Why is Trump glorifying and financially rewarding people who smashed their way into the Capitol? Why does every “patriot” scheme somehow end with money flowing into Trump’s pocket? Why does the man who promised to “drain the swamp” surround himself with con artists, conspiracy merchants, and political carnival barkers?

The cult was never built on ideas. It was built on grievance, anger, and the comforting fantasy that every problem in America is somebody else’s fault. College education won’t usually get you into the cult because higher education tends to encourage skepticism, curiosity, and the dangerous habit of asking for evidence. The MAGA movement survives on emotion, not logic.

But reality has a way of leaking through even the thickest skulls. When groceries cost more, when retirement accounts wobble, when chaos becomes exhausting, even the Hoopleheads start wondering if the King has no clothes. Some will never admit they were conned. Pride is too powerful. But you can see the cracks forming.

The loudest people at the Tea Party meetings used to act like Trump was a cross between John Wayne and Jesus Christ. Now some of them just look tired. They still repeat the slogans, but without the same sparkle in their eyes. The carnival act is getting old. Rage can only carry a movement so far before people start asking what exactly they got in return.

Maybe the cult isn’t dead yet. But maybe the melting has begun.

Jim Ferris will protect us from Porn

If you want to become a hero at a Tea Party meeting, the formula is simple: tell an emotional story that resonates with the easily manipulated. Jim Ferris understood that perfectly when he climbed aboard his “library pornography” hobby horse during his campaign for the Payson Town Council.

The Hoopleheads love being told that books are dangerous, corrupting, and somehow poisoning society. Ferris knew that if he cast himself as the brave defender of children against imaginary pornography at the library, he would instantly become a MAGA folk hero.

What followed was one of the most embarrassing Town Council meetings Payson has ever seen. Ferris publicly accused the Payson Library of harboring child pornography and pushed the accusation so aggressively that a library employee was brought to tears. It was a disgraceful performance built on fear, exaggeration, and political theater.

Then came the vote on library funding. Ferris voted against supporting the library, joined by fellow MAGA dingers Charlie Bell and Mayor Steve Otto. Fortunately, four responsible council members rejected the stunt and voted to preserve funding.

The Three Stooges coalition is still trying to gain control of the council. If they ever succeed, Payson may discover that attacks on libraries and ideas rarely stop with speeches and accusations. History has shown where that road can lead.

Eli Crane the coward

 

One of the fundamental principles of democracy is simple: elected officials should be willing to speak with all of the people they represent — not just those who already agree with them.

That is why it is troubling that Congressman Eli Crane refuses to hold a true public town hall meeting in Payson. Instead, he appears before Tea Party groups in meetings that are often closed to the general public, where he knows he will not be seriously challenged about his support for Donald Trump and Trump’s policies.

In those carefully controlled settings, it is easy to deliver rehearsed partisan talking points without facing difficult questions or meaningful scrutiny. But real representation requires more than speaking to supporters behind closed doors. It requires the courage to face constituents who may disagree and to answer legitimate concerns honestly and directly.

If Congressman Crane held an open town hall, many constituents would ask him about the consequences of Trump’s policies, the attacks on democratic institutions, and the growing division in our country. Apparently, that is a conversation he prefers to avoid.

Public office comes with a responsibility to face the public — all of the public — not just the political base that offers applause behind closed doors.

Imaginary pornography with Jim Ferris

 

Juicing up the Tea Party is easy. Jim Ferris is the worst councilman in the town of Payson. Add to Ferris his Tea Party buddies Steve Otto, and Charlie Bell and you have the Three Stooges. Early into his first appearance at town council Ferris tried to defund the library claiming it was promoting pornography to children. Ferris did not even read the book he was protesting. However, Ferris knew how to sing to the Tea Party. The Fox News gang never questions anything. 

Little does Ferris know about the Bible he follows. The Bible is full of sex and violence, but Ferris somehow missed it. 

The Payson Roundup featured a good letter to the editor about the Ferris insanity, read it. Ferris is one of the Three Stooges that are taking Payson to the stone age. Speak up and help get new people elected to replace these luddites. 

Meet the Tea Party at the grocery store.

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The Pharmacy Bench: A Lesson in Truth, Power, and the Cost of Silence

It started with a simple moment.

While my wife finished shopping, I sat down on a bench near the pharmacy at Safeway to rest. Before long, a woman with a grocery cart struck up a friendly conversation. We exchanged a few pleasantries, and—mistakenly—I assumed we saw the world the same way.

We didn’t.

She was a committed Tea Party supporter, and before long our conversation turned to politics—specifically, the presidency and the staggering accumulation of wealth surrounding it.

When I mentioned that the current administration has seen personal enrichment exceeding $4 billion since 2025, she didn’t hesitate.

“Fake news,” she said.

That response told me everything I needed to know.

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A Judge’s Perspective: Evidence Still Matters

I spent 25 years on the bench. In a courtroom, “fake news” isn’t a defense. Evidence is. Facts are. Documentation is.

So instead of arguing politics, I reframed the discussion the only way I know how: as a case file—a “Docket of Enrichment.”

If we claim to believe in limited government and constitutional principles, then we should examine the record not as partisan rhetoric, but as entries in a ledger of public trust:

• World Liberty Financial (Crypto): $1.1 billion (Forbes)
  Personal profit tied to federal policy shifts

• Foreign Gift (Qatar Luxury Jet): $400 million (House Judiciary records)
  A direct conflict with the Foreign Emoluments Clause

• General Business Revenue: $3.0 billion (The Fulcrum / CREW)
  Unprecedented private gain while in public office

• G20 Summit at Doral (Miami): Millions (CBS News)
  Taxpayer funds directed to a personal resort

• IRS Lawsuit Claim: $10 billion (U.S. District Court)
  Suing the government for personal financial gain

Then I asked her a simple question:

If a local mayor accepted a $400 million jet from a foreign government and then awarded that same government a city contract, would you call it good business—or a bribe?

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When Ideals Meet Reality

The Tea Party was founded on the belief that government should not serve as a “piggy bank” for the powerful.

Yet here we are—watching the machinery of government, diplomacy, and even federal agencies used to build a private fortune measured in billions.

At some point, this stops being about politics.

It becomes arithmetic.

In my years on the bench, I learned something simple: you can ignore evidence for a while, but eventually the bill comes due. For American taxpayers, that bill now stands at roughly $4.5 billion—and rising.

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When Truth Becomes Optional

But the encounter didn’t end there.

There is a deeper issue—one that goes beyond national politics and reaches into our own community.

In some circles, truth has become whatever people want it to be.

Consider this: Donald Trump has made over 30,000 documented false statements. On multiple occasions, he has even admitted to lying. Yet for many, facts simply don’t matter.

I’ve seen that same pattern play out locally.

Years ago, Gary Morris, then head of the local Republican Party, circulated a claim that I had been arrested twice for assault in North Dakota.

It was false.

The truth? The incident involved me defending a young mother in Mandan, North Dakota. Morris left out every relevant detail and replaced them with fabrications. He repeated these claims in restraining order filings, adding more falsehoods—including that I carried a handgun. I did not.

Even after being told the claims were baseless, he continued.

Anyone can verify the records. Morris had confused me with a different individual—another Michael D. Quinn—from Stanton, North Dakota. I lived in Hazen.

He even claimed in court that the The Washington Post was his source. The actual article said the exact opposite.

Eventually, his pattern caught up with him. In front of an unbiased judge from Scottsdale, the truth came out. Morris was exposed as a serial fabricator—and he resigned the following week.

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The Closed Door Problem

Despite all of this, I’ve repeatedly offered to present the facts publicly—to stand in front of the Tea Party and explain exactly how these lies were created.

The answer?

No.

When I asked the woman at Safeway a simple question—“What exactly has Mike Quinn done that would justify banning him from attending?”—there was no answer.

The same pattern exists with KMOG. When confronted with facts, the line goes dead. The fallback response is always the same:

“He’s disruptive.”

That’s not a description. It’s a code word.

It means: he challenges us with facts we don’t want to hear.

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Two Rooms, Two Standards

Here’s the contrast that matters:

At Democratic meetings, anyone can attend. Anyone can speak.

That is not how the Tea Party operates locally.

If you challenge misinformation or confront conspiracy theories, you’re stopped at the door.

I’ve personally attempted to engage with individuals like Steve Otto and Michael Heather. Each time, the response was the same: refusal to engage, followed by claims that my attempt to speak constituted “assault.”

Only one person—Inga—was willing to listen. We disagreed on many things, but she allowed a conversation. That alone earns respect.

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The Real Question

So here’s the question no one seems willing to answer:

Why not let me speak?

Why not allow me to stand on that stage and explain, point by point, how these claims were fabricated?

The answer is simple.

Because the truth would expose the lies—and the people who spread them.

And that is something they cannot afford.

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Some good people

Some good people have stepped up to turn Payson around. The younger people running for office in Payson have a view of the future anyone can embrace. Payson needs young vibrant people unafraid of the future. The old guard caters to the old ideas, and they fear the future. Progress does not come from standing still and clinging to the past. Why let those with a short future control the young with much more at stake. It is time to vote the old guard out, and bring in fresh ideas with fresh people.