From Carl Hiaasen - Miami Herald Apr 4 2004
So this is the new America. Our government wants to deport an Oregon woman who was convicted 11 years ago of growing six marijuana plants. Kari Rein, a Norwegian citizen, had never been in trouble before, and hadn't been in trouble since. That changed Dec. 30. She, her husband and two children were returning from a vacation to Norway when she was questioned at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport by officers of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They had run Rein's name through a computer and found the old marijuana conviction. They asked her to step into a private room. ''And that,'' says her husband, James Jungwirth, ``was the last time we saw her for three weeks.''.......(see article for more)

It is a bizarre and harrowing time in the new America. Our president defends Rush Limbaugh, a serial narcotic scammer and pillhead, as ``a great American.'' Meanwhile, the full might of law enforcement is aimed at deporting someone whose only crime is keeping half a dozen pot plants, more than a decade ago. Perhaps if Rein had her own right-wing radio show, the feds would leave her alone. - Carl Hiaasen