The armed FBI agents came stealthily in the dead of the night. All the way from the Chicago office they came, to raid a house in West Philadelphia. They ran up the stairs, carrying their warrant, rousting the seven occupants from bed. They were on a mission.

This was your government in action. This was an anti-terrorist search warrant procured under the Patriot Act. You might well ask what prompted this raid. Where they seeking members of an Al Queda cell? Some survivalist, white pride, kill'em-all-let-god-sort'em out, gun-totin' loonies? The Russian Mob?

No. They were looking for a member of "Hugs for Puppies," an animal rights group that holds legal demonstrations at the homes and the offices of executives who work for companies that do animal testing.

Of the seven people who live in the house, only one was a member of "Hugs for Puppies." The others were rousted as part of the government's search for computers and hard drives related to the animal rights protest group.

Kate Zaidan, who lives in the house said, "I think that the agents with guns and dogs in a house for a group called Hugs for Puppies is pretty much overkill."

Could law enforcement officials be more foolish - or more threatening? There are genuine terrorists operating all around the world. Any reasonable guess would place both foreign and domestic terrorists on our soil. What in heaven's name is the FBI doing chasing after animal rights activists who are engaged in peaceful protest?

Hey G-men, are you willing to be held responsible for successful acts of madmen because you were too busy rousting puppy huggers?

Not so much? Then let's get the "A" team working in real problems.