New Spying: J. Edgar Hoover Lives Again

An article in today's Washington Post reveals that the FBI has been investigating reputable organizations in supposed "terrorist" probes. The focus of the article is on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). While I personally think they are a little off the mark, they are not terrorists, nor should they be investigated for terrorist sympathy. Also targeted are Greenpeace and the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. The spying on domestic non-profits and community organizations is wrong. It brings us back to when the FBI spyed on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Paranoia inspired extra-Constitutional measures that stretched and broke the rule of law, at least in terms of government activity. There are far more important subjects to investigate in preventing terrorism. These organizations are as related to terrorism as the exposed breast of Lady Liberty that John Ashcroft had covered up.