Are you afraid of the Federal government?

[arcadian]

Have you ever had a visions of FBI or a SWAT Team knocking in your door and taking you off screaming and kicking in the night? Do you think that the government is searching through your internet habits? Reading your email?

I ask this because I was at my brother-in-laws house and he got upset with me for looking at "political websites". Said he didn't want the government thinking that he was looking at subversive stuff on the internet. He is very liberal, by the way. Makes me wonder how pervasive this is in our society, it's almost become a sort of under lying theme, that the government is looking at you.

So what do you think? Are you afraid?

[NightWatcher]

1. the government is inept. I just passed a threat assessment from DHS

haha fooled you

[rurallib]

2. yes

seriously. I make no bones about how much I hate Bush. I have had threats from wingers. I could see some trumped up charge. But I spend NO time thinking about it because I have done nothing wrong.

[wildbilln864]

3. Most definitely.

But it that ain't gonna stop me. :patriot:

[DesertFlower]

4. i'm not worried.

yikes. i hope they don't read this and come and get me.:hide:

[angstlessk]

5. I am afraid of THIS administration, not the government as a whole

I will regain my confidence once we have a Democrat at the helm!

[gateley]

6. Yes --

Like your brother, I believe they're watching us.

And like in Nazi Germany, even if they're really not, they've got us believing they are, so they've won.

I just finished a novel where a guy (former Secret Service) found a CIA op brining in heroin. They caught him on the property and tortured him. The torture described was very realistic. Sitting on the edge of a stool for 24 hours, putting him in a coffin-like enclosure, heat, cold, water, etc. When he'd ask for an attorney, they'd use the Homeland Security line and say he wasn't entitled to one.

I honestly believe that can happen and is probably happening to a certain extent - to our citizens. The police, the Feds, your attorney, nobody can help you.

[TechBear_Seattle]

7. Afraid? Not really. However...

I trust the federal government about as far as I could pitch a fit. Hell, I wouldn't trust them to give me correct change for a dollar or tell me the time!

[spanone]

8. i'm not afraid, but i'm not stupid....i'm sure they're watching

[bdamomma]

18. just shows you how cowardly they really are.

the weather cannot be controlled but these guys could be.

[undergroundpanther]

9. I had them take my neighbor away

I'm not scared of them, I just hate them.I hate them because I do not trust them,at all. And I hate authoritarians and there seems to be too many of these toxic assholes on power trips in the federal government..
I asked the nearest FBI guy that day standing in my yard what was going on,he told me some bullshit, and I told him he was bullshitting me and I knew it.And I was furious at them, thier fucking bullying crap. I hate when assholes pull the authority card.I do not trust the federal govt.and I will never submit to them because I don't think they care about anyone but obeying the ass above giving them orders.

http://www.unknownnews.org/070217a-Panther.html

[boobooday]

10. There was one study that found that the more likely people were

to think they were under surveillance, the more outspoken they became.

If we fear them, then the bastards win.

[magellan]

11. No! They should be afraid of US.

Seems they need a reminder.

[bdamomma]

20. why do you think they are watching us, and spying on us

they are the ones who are afraid. Power in numbers as they say.

[Echo In Light]

32. Exactly. Those KBR camps, the bogus "terror" legislation, the spying...

They're planning for the possibility of having to defend their positions of power.

[stillcool]

12. I think of the

federal government as the mafia. But they have no problem killing women and children.

[Greyhound]

15. and the Mafia will do what it says it will do.

That's a very important distinction.

[stillcool]

24. and you know you're insured..

when you pay for protection. What do they call that? extortion? Crazy world.

[RL3AO]

13. no

[Historic NY]

14. They're always watching, the thought police.

Hi Agent Mike:hi:

[leftofthedial]

16. hell yeah!

no habeas corpus?

the police-state totalitarian powers given to the executive branch in PATRIOT and all its spawn?

the complete lack of restraint the executive branch has shown at blatantly breaking the law?

I love Big Brother.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. The reality is they are WATCHING what you read and write

that is a fact

How you choose to deal with it is your choice

And your brother is a symptom of the success of an authoritarian state

[pinto]

19. No, not personally. Though with this Administration I can understand the feeling.

[angrycarpenter]

21. Too busy to be afraid

My heroes are the ones who stood fearless before tyranny. I live a simple, righteous life and I fear no one.

If being a progressive means that I end up in a cell, so be it.

[otherlander]

22. No

They're not going to do anything to me because I haven't made myself a threat. When I must fear for my life and wonder if the government is trying to off me, then I will know I have succeeded in doing something worthwhile.

[annabanana]

23. No. Not at all.

The Administration's apparatchiks worry me, yes.. since they seem to respect no law. The government itself is 90% good and decent people doing the job We the People have hired them to do.

[ileus]

25. skeert of tax hikes yes...skeert of having my door pounded down No.

[Crabby Appleton]

26. No. nt

[Arctic Dave]

27. Afraid? No. Distrustful? Absolutely.

[Posteritatis]

28. I half-expect my neighbors to, but not the government. (nt)

[Ilsa]

29. Yes, somewhat afraid. I have a "conservative" friend who is

very afraid of what the federal govt can do. She is retired military, believes in her gun rights, and worries that Bush has started nailing shut the coffin of our beloved country. Some conservatives are seeing the same shit that we are: erosion of personal rights and freedom.

[Historic NY]

30. The "Stazi" Ministry for State Security is everywhere.......and

they have a lot of collaborators working for them.

[Echo In Light]

33. This is what has been so disturbing - the large $cale number of enablers

[Dorian Gray]

31. No

I'm not afraid.