James Inhofe and terrorism enhancement

In his personal blog at the webpage for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the staff blogger for Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) applauds Judge Ann Aiken for identifying "elements of terrorism" in the crimes committed by Stanislas Meyerhoff. Marc Morano, Senator Inhofe's "communications director," lays out Senator Inhofe's stance against ecoterrorism as follows -

These types of eco-terror acts are the reason Senator Inhofe authored the "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act," which was signed into law by President Bush in November 27, 2007(sic). The Act, which Senator Inhofe worked closely with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representative Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) to pass, received broad bi-partisan support resulting in the bill’s unanimous passage in the 109th Congress.

The "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act" is really bad law, although I believe that it was in fact passed last November given that it has already been used to charge the SHAC 7. One of the SHAC 7, Lauren Gazzola, has done an excellent job of picking apart the act as well other charges she faces. Unfortunately, she has few other outlets for her intellectual abilities at this point.

It is not surprising to find Senator Inhofe writing criminal law to protect a specific industry which contributes heavily to his campaigns and activities. It is more surprising to find that he managed to drag Senator Feinstein along, although I understand that she has behaved similarly with respect to deals that favor her defense contractor husband in the past.