A recent attack on good friend and colleague Chuck Muth has revealed a growing popularity with a political weapon used by those who cannot face their counterparts in the arena of ideas. This evil tool comes in the form of the Child and Family Services.

Yes, CFS has done great things for many children. No, CFS is not always used for good purpose.

Such is the case with the recent political attack on Chuck Muth in Carson City, Nevada. The story begins with his first post about CFS showing up at his door. He explains in the post why this might have happened.

I don’t tend to believe in coincidences, nor do I consider it paranoia when somebody really is out to get you. And especially when my children are involved.

For new readers who may not yet fully understand my political views and philosophy, I think they are best summed up by the immortal words of late Reagan press secretary Lyn Nofziger, who famously said, “I don’t like government; it’s just that simple.”

Oh, and I don’t like labor unions any more than I like government.

Politically speaking, I’ve made a lot of enemies over the years.

Let me state two things for the record.
1) Chuck Muth is one of the greatest Americans I have EVER come across. In politics trust is hard to come by, and with Chuck I know that I can trust him with anything at any time. He’s always been there for me to go to with problems, and his mentorship has been a priceless addition to my political experience.

His stance is and has always been very clear. Less government and lower taxes. Period.

2) I’ve been around Chuck and his family for some time now. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying Christmas dinners at his place, joining the family and the dogs for outings in the park, and we’ve gone to the theater for big screen Monday night football.

The “Mini Muth’s”, as I like to call them, are very close to Chuck and Gia. The family environment within the Muth family is rock solid. In fact, it’s far better than what most families have.

So there I was around three o’clock yesterday afternoon – writing my national Muth’s Truths weekend column on the Westboro Baptist Church in the back room – when somebody knocked on our front door. A few minutes later my eldest daughter came back and said Momma Gia wanted me to come talk to the lady.

To sum it up, the lady at the door was from CFS. Read the full account here.

An anonymous “tipster” called in a complaint on the Muth’s for, get this, nobody knows! That’s right. The complaint has in no way come to light, and no one knows who filed it.

The situation got progressively worse, ending up with the Sheriffs department showing up to investigate.

My biggest fear about this whole thing wasn’t so much how this particular incident itself would play out. I reluctantly allowed the sheriff’s deputies to inspect my home and interview my kids, to their complete satisfaction. But what concerned me was that there was now a report out there, which I haven’t seen and which might some day be used against me should one of my kids fall out of a tree or otherwise hurt themselves in a normal childhood accident.

And sure enough, that’s exactly the threat a CFS supervisor issued to me in a letter I received over the weekend responding to my formal request for a copy of the complaint filed against me.

Further down the post about the police investigation, you begin to see a pattern that suggests someone in the CFS might be involved.

The supervisor first informed me, falsely, that she couldn’t release any information on my file; that it was completely confidential. She then informed me that passing an inspection by the sheriff’s department wasn’t good enough; that my file would remain open unless I subjected myself and my family to an inquisition by CFS itself. Furthermore, I was threatened that if I refused to voluntarily agree to participate in such an inquisition, then “any future reports received will be looked at in a much more serious light.”

Exactly what I was afraid of.

At first I was willing to give CFS the benefit of the doubt, recognizing they have an obligation to look into any complaint having to do with the welfare of children. But my request for specific information from them about the exact complaint which was filed against me elicited a “pound dirt” response, followed by the threat.

So much for the right to confront your accuser. So much for probable cause. So much more a presumption of innocence. Apparently, unless I subject myself to a full CFS investigation of a baseless charge and “prove” my innocence, despite the sheriff’s investigation, I am assumed to be guilty. And CFS won’t even tell me what I’m assumed to be guilty of, other than “Neglect, Lack of Supervision,” whatever the hell that means.

Read the letter Chuck sent here.

But, unlike most victims of this type of political fowl play and abuse of power, Chuck is very articulate and he isn’t at all afraid to take a stand.

Chuck is now firing back at CFS with a blistering letter and proof from the Sheriffs department that the accusations by the CFS were completely unfounded. Read the full letter here.

His final post also includes this question of the month.

Does anybody know when the Sixth Amendment to our Constitution – the one where citizens have the right “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation” and “to be confronted with the witnesses against him” – was repealed?

This kind of political warfare waged via government offices such as CFS is dangerous and must be stopped.

Am I alone?