Now we're all Federal criminals

If you think the piece on the Patriot Act was scary, check out this one from the Washington Times: A Texan named George Norris suffered a Manna Storehouse-like raid from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to complete some paperwork relating to the importation of orchids. It should be noted that Mr. Norris is an elderly diabetic with coronary complications, arthritis and Parkinson's disease. He was convicted. The judge's idea of sympathy: "Life sometimes hands us lemons."

The Norrises' nightmare began with the search in October 2003. It didn't end until Mr. Norris was released from federal supervision in December 2008. His wife testified, however, that even after he came home, the man she had married was still gone. He was by then 71 years old. Unsurprisingly, serving two years as a federal convict - in addition to the years it took to defend unsuccessfully against the charges - had taken a severe toll on him mentally, emotionally and physically.

We need what The Cato Institute's Timothy Lynch called "a clean line between lawful conduct and unlawful conduct." A person should not be deemed a criminal unless that person "crossed over that line knowing what he or she was doing."

I mentioned earlier about games that federal prosecutors play. Those games are being played with our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. This blog has catalogued, under the rubric "Attacks on Constitutional rights" a chilling chronicle, all from reliable sources, of Federal contempt of the rights of Americans. Those games have to stop. Until they do, the policeman will be correct when he said "it ain't America anymore."