in town for a conference, a director of Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty is detained by TSA at the St. Louis airport because when asked to explain why he’s carrying $4,700 in cash (it was proceeds from book and ticket sales at the conference), he asks the agents to tell him what law requires him to do so. He managed to surreptitiously record his conversations with TSA officers on a cell phone. The audio is infuriating.

Via my colleague Damon Root…

Accepting a plea bargain that her attorney described as unprecedented in American jurisprudence, a 22-year-old Maryland woman yesterday agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of other defendants in the death of her son under the condition that charges against her be dropped if the child rises from the dead.

So at about 8:30am this morning, while I was in the shower, there was a loud banging at my door. I decided it couldn’t be important enough for me to cut the shower short, so I decided not to answer. The banging continued, louder and more persistent. I got out, peeked out the window, and see a bunch of Alexandria Sheriff’s Department deputies outside my door. Honest to God, my first reaction was, “Wow, this is one ridiculous April Fool’s joke.”

So I got dressed. The pounding continued. My dog was going crazy. I was a little freaked out, given that I’m sorta’ the main critic of police raids, and there are a bunch of cops banging on my door. I answered, and the cop flashed his badge. I could tell pretty quickly by the look on his face that I wasn’t the guy he was looking for. He showed me a picture of a scary-looking fellow, and asked if the man in the photo lived at my house. I said no, and that I’d lived at the house for three years. Apparently the guy either lived in the house before me, or was using my address as a decoy.

The cops were very polite and professional. They didn’t come into the house, even after I opened the door. I also got the impression that this guy was a pretty serious offender, although they didn’t say why they were looking for him. So it’s worth noting that they knocked and waited a good five minutes for me to answer. That’s worth commending, too. A forced entry would have been disastrous.

It was a little unnerving, given what I do for a living. And that it happened today, of all days. But I really have no complaints about how they handled the situation. The cop also apologized for disturbing me.

So good on them.

MORE: I’m not buying the conspiracy theories being bandied about in the comments section. Coincidences do happen. I have no reason to doubt that’s what happened here.

I basically agree with James Joyner that Eric Holder is probably making the right decision in dropping the charges against hugely corrupt Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The prosecutors’ behavior in the case was atrocious.

By the same token, this is by no means the only case where federal prosecutors have behaved atrociously. It’s unfortunate that they’ve chosen to take a stand against misconduct in the case of an obviously guilty politician.

But hey, maybe there will be more of these. Holder could start by looking in Pittsburgh.

Report from D.C. Fox affiliate here.