The American Mind

The Associated Press with their inability to write factually on Iraqi violence felt the need to point out that Mitt Romney’s family has a polygamist past. That’s not surprising since he does come from a line of Mormons:

While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate’s great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.

Real people. Real success stories. Yahoo! Personals. See Stephanie and Mike’s story.

Polygamy was not just a historical footnote, but a prominent element in the family tree of the former Massachusetts governor now seeking to become the first Mormon president.

Romney’s great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, married his fifth wife in 1897. That was more than six years after Mormon leaders banned polygamy and more than three decades after a federal law barred the practice.

Romney’s great-grandmother, Hannah Hood Hill, was the daughter of polygamists. She wrote vividly in her autobiography about how she “used to walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow” over her own husband’s multiple marriages.

Romney’s great-great grandfather, Parley Pratt, an apostle in the church, had 12 wives. In an 1852 sermon, Parley Pratt’s brother and fellow apostle, Orson Pratt, became the first church official to publicly proclaim and defend polygamy as a direct revelation from God.

There’s no mention or even a hint of Mitt engaging in polygamy. The AP even notes Romney is the only candidate among the GOP big three who has been married once.

If prominent evangelical Christians put out this story I’d expect the AP to publish a story about their anti-Mormon behavior. This story is a cheap shot, a smear. It adds nothing to readers trying to learn about Romney. It does say the AP is quite pathetic to launch such a miserable, meaningless attack. To steal from Iowa Voice, “Does this mean we can start going through Hillary’s family tree? Or Edwards? Or Obama?” There’s also Kevin Hayden: “Did Kennedy get pinned with the Catholic Church’s bloody Crusades? Obviously not. If Mormonism in Romney’s adult life has any black marks against it, it’s fair to look for evidence of Romney’s support of that.”

“Romney Family Tree has Polygamy Branch”

“… And Brigham Young’s Great-Great-Great-Grandson Won A Super Bowl”