Well, New Hampshire's little mini-Waco standoff ended last week, with not a shot fired and no one injured. And all it took was a little old-fashioned chicanery.

To recap, Ed and Elaine Brown are a couple of those nutjob "the income tax is voluntary!" kooks who decided they didn't want to volunteer to pay it. They got hauled into court, but halfway through their trial decided THAT was optional, too, and retreated to their home in Plainfield, New Hampshire. There they declared that they'd never be taken alive and sent out the word for a national movement in support of them.

I think maybe a dozen other whackos eventually showed up, and a couple of them got their asses tossed in jail.

The US Marshal for New Hampshire said he was in no rush to take them into custody. They blocked off the house, cut off all the utilities (electricity, phone, water, internet), and said they'd wait them out.

But they didn't.

There's an old saying that one of the three most common lies is "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you." (The other two are "the check's in the mail" and one a bit too vulgar for me to repeat, but it's one men tell women a LOT.) Well, law enforcement officials decided to try that one, but they omitted half of it.

A couple of them sneaked up to the Browns' front door, knocked on it, and said "we're here to help you!" The Browns, whose support has been waning of late, came out to greet their guests on the front porch -- where they were promptly arrested.

I dunno if Marshal Monier followed my advice or just did what common sense told him to do, but he's a good guy in my book.

I'm just relieved that this whole mess was settled now, and not after the next election. Considering the chances that Hillary Clinton might win (shudder), and what her husband's Attorney General did in a similar situation, I think it's safe to say a major disaster might have been averted.