(AP via CNN.com)

When I wrote my original post, a case study of sorts, "Mitt Romney, De-facto Spokesman for Mormonism; Or, How the LDS Manages PR Like a Corporation," I listed the positives elements of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) communicates, as well as the things that threaten its perception from outsiders.

South Park and Big Love episodes are gnats compared to the ongoing polygamy scandal in Texas.

To their chagrin, the polygamous sect calls itself "FLDS," (fundamentalist) merely one letter away from the LDS. While the FLDS is spinning like mad to refute the findings (teen pregnancy, evidence of broken bones in the children), it appears the LDS has mostly steered clear of the news cycle.

However, the LDS church did issue a list of inaccuracies in some of the news reports connecting it with the FLDS

Polygamy was suspended and disavowed by the Church in the 1890s, essentially in exchange for statehood.

Expect the LDS, like the Vatican to look at their damage control problem in a much longer time frame than most corporations.

In the meantime, an informal analysis of the news cycle looks pretty bad: 12,300 articles on Google News with the word "FLDS" and almost 30,000 blog posts.