When skepticism leaves town - 'Witch Hunt' on MSNBC

[onager]

May be old news to many, but I just saw the documentary "Witch Hunt" on MSNBC. Sean Penn pushed to get it made, and provides the narration.

http://www.witchhuntmovie.com/

It's a fascinating look at what happens when skepticism is completely absent, even in our supposed "watchdogs" like the media and the legal system.

From 1983-85, rural Kern County, California, was terrorized by a ring of Satanic child molesters. Well, no - terrorized by a headline-hogging Republican district attorney and his minions, aided by the usual suspects:

Populated by the ancestors of Dust Bowl refugees who still make their living off the land, (Bakersfield) feels closer in spirit and landscape to Oklahoma than California...

What you will find is a bleak moonscape of oil fields; a chorus of radio-talk-show hosts ranting about illegal immigrants and welfare moms...and, along the highway that leads into town, a billboard of a radiant Jesus that urges be an organ donor, give your heart to the lord...

Teen births and high school dropout rates around Bakersfield are among the highest in the state.

http://www.truthinjustice.org/ed-jagels.htm

One complaint - the documentary doesn't tell us how this hysteria got started. I did some googling and still don't quite understand that part. Apparently one child's grandmother was pissed at the parents and reported them for molestation. Those kids, I think, then implicated other parents and the whole thing snowballed.