A Travesty of a Mockery of a Sham

The wacky tax protestor is a firmly established American archetype. Despite decades of legal outcomes to the contrary, there remains a persistent belief that income taxes can be ditched without any negative consequences.

The protestor is well-versed in sophomoric, semantic arguments. One staple observes that the law that established the income tax never defines income as anything other than "income," and—guess what—they don't have any "income." No wonder these folks regularly end up owing hefty penalties to the hated IRS.

But one Karl Frank Kleinpaste has upped the ante. At his trial on tax evasion charges in Pittsburgh, Kleinpaste—acting as his own counsel, natch—managed to question himself on the witness stand.

The trial judge enforced an edict barring Kleinpaste from filibustering on the topic of taxes. "You have to ask yourself some questions here. You can't just ramble on," the judge said.

Kleinpaste, however, did not follow the lead of Fielding Mellish and avail himself of the opportunity to move for a mistrial.