Remember the "Farm Crisis"?

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And just how crazy the rhetoric is remains to be seen.  Not everyone in the legal community scoffs at the Freemen's claims.  Famed attorney Gerry Spence--who represented Randy Weaver, a survivor of Ruby Ridge--said that at least some of their interpretations of constitutional law are accurate.  It will be years before the court system manages to sort out the truth from the myth, and only then if it is willing to scrutinize itself--something it historically has shown little stomach for.

Christian Identity offers a similar, but even more dangerous, way out for stressed farm families.  Identity teaches that Caucasians and Native Americans are God's chosen people and that Jews are the seed of Satan.  Identity believers see a conspiracy of "Satan's army of Jews" taking control of banks, governments, media, and major corporations and destroying the family farm in order to control the food supply.  They believe that we are at the beginning of a holy war in which Identity followers must battle these international forces of evil and establish a new and "just" government based on the principles of the Old Testament as Identity interprets it.  Failing farmers become soldiers in a holy war, under orders not to give up their land or money to the Jewish enemy.

It's an explosive combination: the Identity message plus an already psychotic personality who blames the government for the loss of a farm or a loved one.  "You can't imagine how much mental energy it takes to live that way," says Wallace.  "Should I end it all or should I get even, end it all or get even, over and over again, for days and months on end without sleep.  It becomes impossible to make rational decisions.  Then someone comes along and tells you God wants you to get even and you believe them."

The anti-government groups offer more than an apocalyptic vision of the connection between government and economics; some also propose an alternative system of "jurisprudence."  The renegade legal system known as the "Justice" movement is now estimated to be active in more than 40 states.  It seems to have as many variations as the fractional anti-government movement that created it.  Some followers hold common-law courts; the press and those accused of crimes are invited to attend.  Sentences from these publicly held trials usually result in lawsuits, arrest warrants, judgments, and liens filed against public officials. 

Colorado attorney general Gale Norton has been one of the targets of these courts; millions of dollars worth of bogus liens have been filed against her.  Across the nation, thousands of public officials, including governors, judges, county commissioners, and legislatures have been the targets of this new "paper terrorism."  In most cases they are found guilty of consorting with the enemy:  the federal government.

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