Guilty No Matter The Intent

Editorial - May 9th, 2010 - Washington Examiner

In May of 2004, federal agents in a black sport utility vehicle ran Krister Evertson off the road, piled out of their vehicle in full SWAT gear, trained an automatic weapon at his head, and arrested him. Evertson's crime? He failed to put a federally mandated sticker on a UPS package. A jury acquitted Evertson of the charges, but the feds later charged Evertson for "abandoning" hazardous material. Evertson is an award-winning scientist working on fuel-cell technology, and the chemicals were both properly stored and necessary for his work. Nonetheless, he spent 21 months in federal prison.

Chances are that you, too, could become a federal criminal like Evertson.

Government bureaucrats are the evil consequence of the statist mentality of both Democrats and moderate Republicans. They think the state is a fine solution for any problem they perceive. No matter how many times the unintended consequences of a law destroys the lives of innocent citizens, the statists cannot see the evil. They only see their arrogant self righteous belief they can tell people how to live their lives and do a much better job at that than the individual.

The hatred of this government domination and the desire for freedom is behind the huge growth of the TEA Parties, at least from the perspective of TEA Party members. Yet liberals (or progressives - whatever they call themselves this week) cannot conceive how their good intentions can be so misunderstood. They know they are "good" people. They know they have "good" intentions. They know that their government dictates are "good" for people. So they reject the unintended consequences they cause as not being something they can or should be held accountable for. In fact they go even further. They are angry and outraged that anyone doubts their sincerity. That means the TEA Parties must be evil. So they hate the TEA Parties and its supporters with a passion that is unbelievable.

Incarcerated 21 months for no reason other than the incompetence of a law? This is not how America is supposed to work. I read this article and I want to tear some liberal into pieces for the evil they have inflicted on an innocent citizen. They read this article and are simply indifferent to the evil they have caused. Two different perspectives which are at the heart of our nation's current conflicts.