SEEING THE FOREST

Agents placed the commune under surveillance and developed a political profile of the residents, discovering the owner of the house and his father "have posted statements on websites opposing the use of fossil fuels," one doc reads. Another says the owner had ties to a local chapter of Food Not Bombs, an "anarcho-vegan food distribution group." Among activities flagged in bureau docs: the father of the owner had conducted a "one man' daily protest" outside a Toyota office, was interviewed for an article called "Dude, Where's my Electric Car!?" and posted info on a Web site announcing "Stop Norway Whaling!" [emphasis added]

FYI - the person they arrested wasn't the person they were looking for.

Why is the FBI collecting information like this about Americans? Why does this profile so closely fit the profile of Ann Coulter's far-right fantasies?

Critics say such info has been increasingly collected by agents since the then Attorney General John Ashcroft relaxed FBI guidelines in 2002.

Yes, the same Justice Department that would not investigate the leak of a CIA agent's identity. The same Justice Department that demoted a prosecutor for looking into the activities of Jack Abramoff. This is pure ideological profiling from the John Birch Society, Richard Mellon Scaife wing of the far right here, as government policy. Remember, recently the IRS started an investigation of a church because of an anti-war sermon. And the FBI recently said that the top domestic terrorism threat is animal rights and environmental activists. That is how close we are. And there is no Congressional oversight, no accountability, and soon even the courts will be completely under Party control.

Will the right-wingers turn this into a crusade against what they perceive as the enemy within? There's nothing to stop them.

Watch your backs!