Saturday, April 13, 2013

Amish prosecuted because scissors 'crossed state lines'


Amish prosecuted because scissors 'crossed state lines'
Posted By: Tholidor [Send E-Mail]
Date: Saturday, 13-Apr-2013 12:31:59
 
I have to admit that, other than noticing some of the headlines in the mainstream media, I haven't given much thought to this case. As this author points out, the Amish beard-cutting case happened a long way from where I live and, being a seemingly internal squabble within the Amish community, didn't seem to affect me or my family.
But in retrospect the flimsy justification used by the government to insert itself into this matter is truly chilling. Despite the headline, it was actually a Wahl hair clipper that was used in the attacks. The governments justification? Although purchased locally (at Walmart), the offending clipper was manufactured in another state and crossed state lines before the eventual sale.
Think about it! Virtually anything that we buy was made somewhere else before being delivered to whichever local outlet made it available for sale. Therefore almost every item which we buy, if used in a manner that is deemed illegal, is an open invitation for the federal government to insinuate itself into the proceedings. Combine that with the fact that the feds see almost anything which might be considered offensive to someone (other than a white male of course) as a hate crime and we have a recipe for disaster.
If you hold up a sign critical of a political point of view for example, and someone seeing the sign feels offended by it, you can be federally charged with a "hate crime" because that Magic Marker you used to make the sign as well as the cardboard upon which you have written were both made in another state.
In my opinion, it is far past time to reign in the runaway federal government and it's intrusion into every facit of our daily lives. To allow our "public servents" to continue down this path is to invite tyranny, like the proverbial vampire, into our homes. The time to draw that line in the sand is now - even though it may very well be too late!
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What does the federal hate crimes law inspired by the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. have to do with an internal dispute among the Amish in which the beards of men and the hair of women were forcibly sheared?
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U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach, of the Northern District of Ohio, argued in the indictment that the “Wahl battery-operated hair clippers” used in the assaults “were purchased at Walmart and had travelled in and affected interstate commerce in that they were manufactured in Dover, Delaware.”
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Read the entire article at:


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