Here in New Hampshire, we have our share of kooks. One of them is a guy named Ed Brown, who's convinced himself that the income tax is voluntary, and he ain't volunteering any more. He's converted his Plainfield home into a fortress, and is defying the government to come get him.
Naturally, the government didn't agree. They arrested him and put him on trial. Halfway through his trial, he pulled a Cartman ("Screw you guys, I'm going home.") and stopped showing up. The trial continued without him, and he was convicted.
The US Marshal, Steve Monier, has been authorized to arrest Brown since the middle of January, but he's in no great rush to toss him in the clink. He knows that this sort of situation is touchy, so he's taking it easy. Once a day or so, he calls up Brown and invites him to come on in and get all this straightened out. And once a day or so, Brown tells him to go pound sand.
I think it's a sound strategy. Brown isn't really posing a danger to anyone while he's in his home, and he'll be arrested once he leaves. He isn't really much of a threat. And as long as he remains barricaded in his home, it's not that much different from being in jail -- without the cost to taxpayers.
It's not quite the full "Molly Ivins" solution (back during the Branch Davidian standoff, she proposed building a big fence around their compound and declaring it a new state prison), but it seems workable.
And Brown's supporters -- especially those on the internet -- are dropping daily from sheer boredom.
Permalink | Linking Blogs | Sphere: Related Content | Digg this! | FARK It!
Filed under:
Asshats
Comments (12)
Not only should they just b... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Dan Irving | February 23, 2007 8:22 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Not only should they just build a fence around his compound - they should plaster it with copies of the 16th Amendment.
While being taxed sucks, I've lived in countries where people only take home 30% of their income (Germany, England) and those memories help keep things in perspective.
1. Posted by Dan Irving | February 23, 2007 8:22 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 08:22
2. Posted by Jay | February 23, 2007 8:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Heh. We saw this on the news the other night, with the Marshal sounding so reasonable about it, and I said "doesn't he know they should just set fire to the place with everyone inside?"
2. Posted by Jay | February 23, 2007 8:37 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 08:37
3. Posted by Granddaddy Long Legs | February 23, 2007 8:54 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
A while ago, I looking into this bizarre theory: Is The Federal Income Tax Illegal? I even watched their video on the matter and found it to be the libertarian version of Loose Change. Some people just want to believe in grand government conspiracies so badly that they lay faith in all of the rumors and half-truths, and discard the full, factual story.
3. Posted by Granddaddy Long Legs | February 23, 2007 8:54 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 08:54
4. Posted by Bruce | February 23, 2007 8:55 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Wait until the Feds find out he escaped weeks ago through his secret escape tunnel (which every fortified bunker should have) and they're talking to him on the phone from Tahiti.
4. Posted by Bruce | February 23, 2007 8:55 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 08:55
5. Posted by Gayle Miller | February 23, 2007 9:42 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Okay Bruce - you win the prize for making me crack up on a cold and dismal Friday! Thank you for that.
5. Posted by Gayle Miller | February 23, 2007 9:42 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 09:42
6. Posted by philw | February 23, 2007 9:43 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Let's hope they "set up a perimeter" better than the folks on 24
6. Posted by philw | February 23, 2007 9:43 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 09:43
7. Posted by Matt | February 23, 2007 10:12 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
They can't burn the place down, there aren't enough kids in the building.
7. Posted by Matt | February 23, 2007 10:12 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 10:12
8. Posted by Duffy | February 23, 2007 10:44 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Has any perimeter on "24" ever stopped anybody?
In five seasons I cannot remember a single instance when it did.
8. Posted by Duffy | February 23, 2007 10:44 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 10:44
9. Posted by NH | February 23, 2007 10:51 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I think we should all take this as an example to tell the IRS to go pound sand.
9. Posted by NH | February 23, 2007 10:51 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 10:51
10. Posted by Oyster | February 23, 2007 11:41 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The guy's got guts. God bless him.
10. Posted by Oyster | February 23, 2007 11:41 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 11:41
11. Posted by Actual | February 23, 2007 7:10 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
OK NH, but you go first.
11. Posted by Actual | February 23, 2007 7:10 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 19:10
12. Posted by OregonMuse | February 23, 2007 8:20 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
What a pussy. If Janet "Boom Boom" Reno was still running the show, she'd have sent in a crack battalion of Treasury Agents armed to the teeth, surrounded the guy's house, cut off his electricity, played rock and roll music all night long out of a number of big ass speakers, set the house on fire with an incendiary grenade, and then when he came staggering out with his hands up, riddled him with bullets. For good measure, a few of his neighbors should also be shot, and then claim the shots were fired from inside the house.
Now that's the way to do it.
12. Posted by OregonMuse | February 23, 2007 8:20 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 23, 2007 20:20