My Opinion on the Manson-Burton Marriage. Assuming it ever happens...

Personally, I don't have any problem (at all) with this engagement/marriage.
In fact, I really don't see the big deal.

Where does all the shock and outrage stem from?

Let's look at the big picture:

--First and foremost, the couple can't have conjugal visits. And heck, Star already visits Manson constantly anyway.

--As for "getting Manson released" (at 80 years old)... it ain't gonna happen. That's a non-factor.

No matter how many documents Star has access to... and no matter how many documents she reads... Manson will never be released. The finest New York lawyer, couldn't help Charles Milles Manson gain release (at this point). It's too late in the game.

In essence, this marriage (if/when it happens) will be symbolic. Nothing is changing here folks.

Doris Tate put the kybosh on conjugal visits. From that point on... it was game-over for a real marriage. (That's basically what Star's Dad said, in so many words).

Who really cares if Manson and Star play checkers and chess on the weekends, and dream of his release (as husband and wife)??? It seems to me, they're not hurting anyone.

As I said, I just don't see the big deal.

Beyond my personal opinion...

It's our own laws that allow criminals to marry... and moreover, it happens all the time.

Why do people gripe when Charles Manson exercises his legal rights? Hundreds of inmates marry (from behind bars) each year, and no one cares. Should we write separate laws which apply to Charles Manson only?

The fact is folks... we have no room to gripe.

It's the voting public who overturned the death penalty... not Manson.

It's the voting public, who permits marriage in prison... not Manson.

WE make the laws... NOT the criminals.

If folks have a problem with this couple marrying, they should work to change the laws... just as Doris Tate did.

As for me, I think Doris Tate already succeeded in this area... and the job is complete.

Without conjugal visits, this couple is essentially friends... and I don't have a problem with that.
Every human being, has the right to friends.

--As for Star making money on this situation, here's my honest opinion:

Let's face it folks... people much seedier than Star, have tried to make a buck off this case. You know it, and I know it.  I won't mention any names, but you know who they are, and the list is long. Okay... I'll mention one name: Bill Nelson. As you well know, there are certainly others... both past and present.

If Star makes a buck... and she doesn't break any laws doing so... (once again) we have no gripe. We live in a capitalist society. Our entire system is based on free enterprise.

In addition, every wife has a right to their husband's "estate". If Manson does in-fact have an "estate", Star will have every right to it (if/when they marry)... whether the public likes it, or not.

We can't celebrate our laws, only when they suit our taste. Laws apply to everyone (even Charles Manson), until they're changed.

Charles Manson and Star are doing nothing wrong here, and we really have no cause to grumble.

If the kid is happy wearing Manson's ring around town (and into the prison), more power to her. I personally don't care.

And for the record, I think she really loves the whackjob.

Peace... Lynyrd

Bad Decisions versus Bad People

“Even as kids reach adolescence, they need more than ever for us to watch over them. Adolescence is not about letting go. It's about hanging on during a very bumpy ride.”
                                                                   -Ron Taffel

Excerpted from "The Enquirer":

The killer’s future mother-in-law, Melissa Burton, 47, admits she doesn’t know why her daughter, Afton, 26, hasn’t tied the knot with the infamous killer yet, but the Illinois mother of four told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview: “I prefer that they not get married. “This is not the life that we chose for our daughter, by no means, you know,” said the devastated mom. “I had other hopes and dreams for my first child, but you can’t dictate the course that they take. They choose their own lives.” 

Manson spent the 45th anniversary of the brutal 1969 murders – which left seven dead including director Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife Sharon Tate – at Corcoran State Prison in California. Afton moved to the area seven years ago to be closer to the coldblooded killer. Her obsession with the 79-year old maniac blossomed in high school when she learned of Manson’s environmental beliefs. She then began exchanging letters with him, her mom told The ENQUIRER. Afton was only 19 when she bolted from her home to be near Manson, who gave her the nickname “Star.” “People can think I’m crazy, but they don’t know,” the defiant Manson worshipper told an interviewer. “This is right for me. This is what I was born for!”

You can read full article here if Trash Mags are your thing:
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/true-crime/wedding-off-charles-manson-obsessed-fiancee

Saint Circumstance weighs-in:

So…. I am flying home from a weekend of hanging with my home-boys on the Jersey Shore. I had already finished my Sports Illustrated and the Graham Nash book- “Wild Tales”. I see a copy of the “National Enquirer” on the empty seat next to me, and I still have about 40 minutes before we touch down in Fort Lauderdale... so I sigh deeply, and then pick it up. What do you know, it turns out they have an article on Star. It seems the “Wedding” to Charlie is off. Well that got me to thinking, and the nice lady with the trash bag happened to be coming through the aisle, so I deposited the "Enquirer" where it belonged, and then pushed my seat back, closed my eyes, and thought long and hard about Star….

I think it was right here on the LSB3 blog, the first time I debated with my old friend AC about Star and our polar opposite feelings about her. I am quite sure there were several people who told me at the time, that Star was a normal and bright young woman who had the support of her family, and was not a Charlie “worshiper”... just a like-minded person with interest in the environment.

I guess we can close the book on that debate. When it came to my attention over the last year, that Charlie and Star had become engaged, I did not feel surprised in the least... but I still found myself just as disgusted as I felt the first time I became aware of Star, and her situation. How can something like this happen after all these years, and with all the hindsight? It is one thing for the girls in 1969 with no information, to make that mistake. But for a young woman today to become aware of a man who is known to her only as “The Most Evil Man Alive”, and to be turned on by that... to the point where she develops her entire life and existence around him???

I used to ask – where are the Parents? Parents who allow this to happen, can make the argument that she is an adult who cannot be stopped from making her own choices. I can make the argument that at 19, she made a choice born from the previous 18 years of nurturing and guidance. But after much more thought, and with the benefit of time- I can also wonder what is in the heart of this young woman as well…

There were some girls in the family like Ruth, Diane, and Sherry who went along for the ride because they had no options, or were in it for the fun... but got out or fled when it got ugly. There were also some girls like Patricia, and Sandy, and LULU who seemed more interested in the ugly and darker parts of the family experience. Maybe some just have something inside of them, or are seeking something darker in life, that others do not?

I guess my question for today old friends would be this:

Is Star the victim of a bad upbringing and lack of positive role models and influences in her life?

                                                                   OR

Is this just a bad egg who would have found some other dark outlet to spend her life on, if she hadn’t come across Charlie?  I mean at the end of the day- as she grows older and more mature- how long do we make excuses for this woman, and start to hold her accountable for her own choices?

Makes you wonder huh???

You’re Favorite Saint

"I Roll the Nickels"

http://www.mansondirect.com/

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Star and Gray Wolf have shaved their heads

and "X'd" themselves.

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A really beautiful photo of Manson and Star.

A friend sent me this photo, so I figured I'd post it for everyone's enjoyment.  Feel free to view and comment, but please do not unnecessarily reproduce this photo, as it's copyrighted material.  Please be respectful.  
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