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As readers read a heartwrenching story about a young boy who had been separated from his mother by Hurricane Katrina and wanted a happy Christmas, readers were moved to tears. They contributed money to help the child and others profiled by the paper, who would otherwise have no Christmas.

While it was a moving story, it was entirely a work of fiction, thought up by caseworkers for Child Protective Services in Brazoria County, outside of Houston to increase collections for their annual charity drive. They were "outed" when a TV news reporter began researching the story, hoping that by interviewing the child, they could reunite him with his mother.

The use of lies and half truths to promote the CPS agenda is not new. In fact, the very BASIS for the modern CPS movement, a young girl in New York City named Mary Ellen, who had been abused and neglected by her mother near the turn of the 20th century, was in itself a half truth. You see, Mary Ellen's "mother" was a foster care mother with whom Mary Ellen had been placed by the New York Board of Orphans after her real mother had given her up, unable to provide for her care in rather bleak economic times.

While we have grown accustomed to government deception, it is absolutely unthinkable that we should condone it. The CPS agents who cooked up this story should pay with their JOBS as a reminder to the public coworkers that, as stewards of a public trust, they are responsible for veracity.