Harry Reid is calling for a federal investigation of polygamy in the wake of Warren Jeffs arrest in Nevada, Reid's home state.

"For too long, this outrageous activity has been disguised in the mask of religious freedom," Reid said. "But child abuse and human servitude have nothing to do with religious freedom and must not be tolerated."

I am wondering what Reid's motivations are here? Reid is a Mormon convert, having joined the LDS church will attending university in Utah as a young man (I am told you can be Mormon and Democrat, although I remain somewhat dubious about the harmony of such a mixed marriage).

Polygamy has gotten a lot of press lately for a variety of reasons. Law enforcement has been stepped up in recent years as anti-polygamy activists, almost all of them formerly involved in the practice, started organizing and agitating for redress of their concerns for the abuses allegedly common in the polygamous lifestyle.

Previous to the existence of Tapestry Against Polygamy and other organizations, polygamy was romantized to a degree by the large mainstream Mormon populations in the western states. Many Mormons have polygamous ancestors. The revelations of child brides and wide spread sexual abuse provided both the political impetus and legal strategy for prosecuting polygamists.

Coincidentally, gay activists advocating gay marriage, have hit on polygamy as a lever to advance their own agenda.

Big Love was created by a pair of gay-marriage advocates, who use the show to highlight the analogy between same-sex unions and polygamy. And Big Love is merely a hint of things to come. Radicals have long seen same-sex marriage as a lever with which to break the grip of monogamy. Should gay marriage be safely legalized, the radicals will emerge in force. Mainstream liberals like Sanford Levinson (who has a soft spot for experiments in multipartner marriage) openly advise the gay marriage movement to distance itself from marriage radicalism until after gay marriage is legalized. Big Love notwithstanding, that advice is largely heeded.

Polygamy rearing its "ugly head" has been an inconvenience for Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts and descendant of polygamous Mormon ancestors. Supporters openly worry that voters may get confused about Romney's mainstream Mormonism and Warren Jeffs "fundamentalist" Mormonism. Romney has taken it all in good humor, making polygamy jokes on occasion (I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman, and a woman, and a woman....)

For Harry Reid, Mormonism is politically a net positive, allowing him to cross-over to the substantial Mormon Republican vote in Nevada, yet the Big Love perception of polygamy has yielded to the child-sex abuse image. Reid is probably worried that some of that might get on him if he isn't careful.

By calling for the investigation, Reid establishes a public record that he is against child sex abuse--always a good idea.

In truth, a federal component in the prosecution of polygamists for taking child brides is probably a good idea. Utah AG Mark Shurtleff's investigation has yielded information about new communities being established in states with no previous history of polygamous communities. Texas in particular has a developing presence, and signs point to communities being established in the Dakotas.

Transporting minors across state lines for immoral purposes is probably still against the law...