You're Surprised?

Several blogs I touched on this morning have mentioned the revelation that the FBI has been spying on Left Wing organizations including the ACLU and Greenpeace. John at Americablog, and Mustang Bobby over at BBWW have posted on it. John points to Pam Spaulding and Bobby to the NYTimes.
I guess the title says it all, but I will reiterate. You're surprised that the most paranoid, morally bankrupt, dishonest, lying misadministration in the short history of the U.S. of A. would spy on it's citizens for no reasons having to do with national security or criminal activity? I guess I didn't think about it very much but I assumed that all of us on the left knew that we were being watched very closely by this pack of rabid dogs that are in charge. I know I was absolutely sure that my name had been picked up off one of the online petitions, political contributions, something somewhere that I had put my real name on and that I was on more than one list. As I have mentioned before here, I spent about 8 years in the late 60's and early 70's in the intelligence world and at the highest levels there were. I spent quite a bit of time gathering domestic intelligence when it was supposedly against the law without a warrant. I tapped telephones, monitored telegrams, you name it. We were military but that didn't stop us from working for the DEA, FBI, NSA, DIA you name it. We didn't question our tasking, we just did it.
Maybe someone without my background and aware of just how much capability there was back then and capable of extrapolating to the technology of today wouldn't be quite as paranoid as I, but you really do have to remember who you are dealing with here.
While I blog anonomously I am not kidding myself into believing that if or when someone with only some of the resources of the government behind them could figure out my real name, address, occupation and hat size in an hour or two if they decided they needed to. I have revealed enough disparate bits on this blog over time so that someone with a little diligence could ID me in a heartbeat.
Let me see...they know I live in Roswell, GA and that I travel internationally on business. They know that this year I have made several trips to Lyon, France and one to London. They know I was in the Navy stationed in Hawaii in the early 70's. Need I go on? There is a lot more that could be used but how many people match the above profile? If two people do then add one more data point like my daughter is a firefighter/paramedic or that my wife and I married while I was in Hawaii. That's if they wanted to do it the old fashioned way...Blogger can probably tell them where I am logged in from for all that I know.
Anyhow, to get back on point, if you believe you can remain anonymous in today's world then you are sadly mistaken. If you use the web or email at all. If you use a cell phone or a land line. If you use credit cards or have a driver's license. If you have voted or paid taxes or have a SSN then you are blind-folded and spread eagle on the ground and the man can examine everything you have.
It used to, in most cases, require a judge's consent and a warrant to really look under your kilt but after the Patriot Act its "Hello Sunshine" to coin a phrase. Smile your on KKKarl Rove's camera.