One of the words we see come up time and again when discussing immigration is “illegals.” This is a word used to dehumanize the people who cross borders into other countries without going through the lawfully recognized process to do so.
The people who use this word paint themselves as holding the law above all else. They don’t care about decency, morality, or humanity. They care only about law and order. At least, that’s what they claim.
Join us for a series where we peek at the family histories – and interactions with the law – of Nebraska’s most virulent and hateful white Christian nationalists.
Meet Lisa Pitts
Lisa Pitts is a 41-year-old realtor in the Omaha area who lives in Elkhorn, and also owns property in Plattsmouth. Ms. Pitts foamed at the mouth about masking for public safety during the pandemic, harassed supporters of the LGBTQIA community with expletive-laden voicemails, and told her elderly neighbors (one of whom is a retired Air Force veteran) she wished they would die. That is just one of a number of protection orders Lisa Pitts has been party to.
Her Facebook profile is locked down because she’s afraid that, one of these days, all the years she has spent embarrassing herself will come back to bite her on the butt. She mostly loves to harass the ACLU by responding to their posts with insults, and bizarre and baseless attacks. She’s currently on probation for a misdemeanor offense, which she tried to appeal. The conviction was upheld.
As with all who display symptoms of Dunning-Kruger effect yes, she believed herself competent enough to represent herself in the criminal case against her. We hope the ACLU will block her from their page, because freedom of speech doesn’t mean you have to put up with hate speech, especially from someone who is mentally unbalanced and has a documented history of violence.
Why is she the way that she is?
The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree
Lisa is the daughter of Sue Bayliss, another realtor with the same takes on gender identity, politics, and more. For example, she claims Trump voters are peaceful and the left is hateful… never mind the fact that her daughter screams at elderly veterans and breaks the law. These views appear to be religiously-motivated. She and her daughter appear to be cut from the same cloth as our old friend, Terri Cunningham-Swanson.
Sue Bayliss is in an ongoing legal spat with her brother, Steve Clason, of Furnas County. What’s interesting about that spat is that a decision from the Nebraska Court of Appeals (Case No. A-17-270) states that their parents – F.W. Eugene Clason and Ruth E. Clason – had a Trust drafted in 2008 that disinherited 3 of their 8 children, as well as any descendants of those 3 children. Why such a heartless move? And why, then, after Eugene’s death, did Ruth draft a new Trust in 2011 that included the 3 disinherited children?
Disinheriting or disowning a child isn’t just a red flag. It’s a glaring indicator of significant family dysfunction.
By the way, even after profiting from her mother’s estate to the tune of $154,647.24 in personal representative fees, as well as receiving a significant inheritance on top of that, Sue Bayliss thinks if you don’t work for something, you shouldn’t have it. White wealthy privilege in action, folks.
So Lisa is just your everyday privileged white woman who commits crimes and then projects her multitude of shortcomings on others. It turns out her fascist tendencies are inherited from her mother and seems likely her mother inherited them from her own possibly heartless parents.
And isn’t it interesting that Sue’s brothers, Jim and Lee, were not among the 3 children disinherited in the family trust… but also were charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine (a case that was dismissed and, upon appeal, found to have been erroneously dismissed)? What, exactly, does it take to get disinherited from this family, if not that?
Considering the dysfunction of these two women, we would love to hear the stories of the 3 disinherited children.
There is no love like Christian hate.
Maybe Lisa and Sue can’t help but behave badly or make poor choices because it runs in the family. After all, hurt people hurt others and – in the case of Lisa Pitts – take great joy in it. It’s also possible that they were open to the brainwashing of the Christian nationalist movement because of a lack of love from prior generations. It’s hard to tell.
It is our hope that by digging into these family histories, people will recognize the cycle of abuse and hate that they’re perpetuating and find a positive way to move forward.