From the June 1998 Idaho Observer:

Lame Duck Judge Declares Open Season on Americans

by Don Harkins

Now we know, don't we? We knew that the fix was in as soon as the "trial" of FBI sniper/assassin Lon Horuichi was manipulated out of Bonner County state court and into Judge Edward Lodge's federal court in Boise. Although most of us knew that removing the federal murder of an innocent county woman to Judge Lodge's federal court would assure Horiuchi's escape from prosecution, clairvoyance did not lessen the impact of the case's dismissal when it came May 14, 1998--the day that Lame Duck Idaho Federal District Court Presiding Judge Edward Lodge essentially declared open season on the American people.

In black with reverse print in the lower right-hand corner on page 15 is a quote by Thomas Jefferson which states quite timelessly that, "A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for a second and that second for a third, and so on..." So, who's next? If the "judge" can determine that because Horiuchi takes home a federal paycheck he has the right to murder a woman who was guilty of nothing, did the judge give all federal agents license to assassinate your innocent mom? Your dad? Your son? Your daughter? Your husband? Your wife? Your friend? Your brother? Your sister?

At the risk of seeming redundant, what was it that Thomas Jefferson said? "...and that second for a third, and so on?" Is there any doubt in anybody's mind that every future federal assassin who murders an innocent person "in the line of duty" will have a coven of tax-paid attorneys who will cite the Horiuchi case dismissal "defense" as legal precedent and will, therefore, escape being held accountable for their unconscionable actions?

And who is Judge Edward Lodge? Judge Lodge is under investigation by the 9th Circuit Court over his curious relationship with what is now US Bank--a relationship that has deepened since he was allowed to rule on his own in-laws' bankruptcy while the bank, a creditor, overlooked the non-disclosure of over $1 million in assets which then became the property of his wife Patty Lodge in 1986. It is expected that the 9th Circuit investigation is going to lead to the quiet retirement of the judge to avoid messy and embarassing public congressional impeachment proceedings.

So, the lame duck judge declares open season on Americans with this dismissal. I wonder what he thinks? Judge Lodge, what remains of your conscience? After you have ruled in favor of the banks time and time again after they created default situations so that they could steal the homes, the property, the businesses and the lives of innocent, hardworking people (time and time again), how do you sleep at night? Now that you are likely about to be retiring in disgrace (with a pension no doubt), how will you live with yourself after all that you have done? And now you have capped your career by pounding a most significant spike through the heart of American history with your decision to dismiss the case against federal employee sniper Horiuchi. How can you look your neighbor in the eye after dismissing the peoples' manslaughter charges against a machine who shot (purposefully and do not tell me otherwise), in the face, an innocent woman, an innocent American woman, holding an even more innocent American infant, just as coldly and as calculatedly as if he killed a targeted enemy? How could any civilized man, a judge no less, dismiss another man who was capable of doing that?

Judge, you used to be an American. You said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning before school and chances are you even used to mean it. My guess is that what remains of your conscience is eating you alive. My guess is that you are having difficulty living with yourself. My guess is that you are already in hell. Be proud, Judge Lodge. The same brand of evil men who bought you in 1986 and helped you to become the most powerful jurist in the state of Idaho have also given you the opportunity to rule on this precedent-setting case. You and you alone get to take credit for making it legal for agents of the federal government to murder any American that they choose without being inconvenienced with facing a trial by a jury of their peers. It is the perfect maraschino cherry on the banana split of your exemplary career. Congratulations, judge. Your children and grandchildren will be proud and those of us who survive the coming storm will be sure to rewrite your epitath May 14 of every year in red spray paint to symbolize the innocent red American blood that will be on your hands into eternity.