As more details emerge of the plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, and put her on ‘trial’ for her crime of imposing restrictive pandemic mandates that infringe upon the god-given rights of red-blooded Merkins, it appears that the plotters were, to put it gently, not the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree.

They seemed to have grandiose plans but were utterly inept at keeping them secret. They were easily infiltrated by law enforcement that recorded over 100 hours of plotting. The recordings revealed that one of their plans was to, instead of putting Whitmer on trial, simply leave her stranded in the middle of lake Michigan. This sounds like the kind of prank stupid young men play on one another rather than an attempt to strike a blow against tyranny.

What the plotters are accused of doing is undoubtedly serious but the defense is arguing that all this was just “big talk between crackpots”.

There was no real plan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but only “military wannabes” who engaged in “big talk” and played with guns in the woods, defense lawyers argued in federal court Tuesday.

As one defense lawyer suggested, the case appears to be one of “big talk between crackpots,” or “people who talk a lot … but are never going to do anything.”

“Have you ever dealt with big talkers?” defense attorney Scott Graham asked an FBI agent on cross-examination, adding: “There’s kind of a military-wanna-be theme that runs between the militias.”

One must be a little wary of the initial revelations of such plots. There are always idiots who have grand but crazy schemes. The FBI and law enforcement agencies have a history of infiltrating such groups and then encouraging them to advance their planning, even providing them with resources, before unmasking the plots in a blaze of self-serving publicity. I am not saying that that is what happened here but we have to be aware of the possibility that there is less here than meets the eye and will have to wait until more information comes out.

The danger is that while some or even most of these plotters may be crackpots who would never go through with their schemes, there is always the possibility that one or two of the people in the group may get so fired up that they go ahead and act on their own anyway.