A blog reader informs me about this Romney-felony thing from having signed a financial disclosure form in 1999, etc. My reaction: We are all felons now. I’d bet that millions upon millions of Americans who have submitted a tax return and signed it are perjurers too. All that this shows is that the government is way out of control. Who can take seriously huge numbers of federal laws that say that violation is a felony (other than to stay out of their way)? To me such overreach is evidence of tyranny and oppression.
To bring some common sense into this, I’ll cite an encyclopedia. It says “The term felony is a term used in common law systems for very serious crimes.” I do not regard legislative laws as even belonging to the common law. Regardless of that, “Crimes commonly considered to be felonies include, but are not limited to: aggravated assault and/or battery, arson, burglary, some instances of drug possession (dependent on the jurisdiction, often possession over a certain weight, based on the type of drug, is held to indicate intent to sell or distribute), embezzlement, grand theft, treason, espionage, racketeering, robbery, murder, rape, cannabis cultivation and fraud. A third offense for drinking and driving is also a felony in most states.” I’d eliminate the drug offenses and the cannabis cultivation. Obviously, signing a financial disclosure form is a world apart from one of these crimes. And to prove fraud, one must show intent and, I’d imagine, damages too. This felony tag applied to Romney is a joke in my opinion.
10:23 am on July 17, 2012
