Friday, June 23, 2017

Big Brother really is watching

A friend of mine posted the following on facebook today: (language warning)
So I have decided to quit posting on FB. It seems like prospective employers, government agents, anyone who you may enter into a financial arrangement with and the police can look at your page and find out all kinds of shit about you. I knew that, but after recently receiving a notice that the Secret Service was looking at me because of some of my anti-trump postings, I decided, fuck it. I tried but now, me, a humble little fisherman from 61 degrees north latitude, seems to be the focus of a right wing inquisition. I'm only paranoid because everyone is trying to kill me. So from now on all you're gonna get from me me is tales of my kids exploits and pictures of cats. And I hate cats. And once and for all, Fuck trump!!! He's an idiot and will be the death of our nation. Hit me with your best shot asshole.
Now this one of the toughest guys I know.  He has hiked and climbed and paddled his way across much of Alaska and much of the world for all I know. I remember once telling him I wanted to see the Southern Cross under sail. He said he had sat in a place where he saw the Cross and the North Star at the same time. The peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. What I am saying is this guy is not easily intimidated.
He has been outspoken about the current administration as have many of us, but apparently he has been singled out by the Secret Service with a warning that Big Brother is watching him. Now as far as I remember this fellow never made any kind of threat toward the president or anyone else. His criticism was strong and sometimes profane but never stepped over that line into the dark area of advocating some kind of harm to anyone.
I mean this is a guy who told me his greatest experience in kayaking was finding a case of beer on a beach and spending an extra day there. The storms and bears and other hardships barely registered compared to that fortunate discovery of beer.
As rugged looking a person as you could ever find, his demeanor is mellow and almost quiet, but quick to laugh at a joke or a funny story told around a campfire
Knowing him I have to ask why the Secret Service doesn't have better things to do than watch this guy instead of maybe the militias and militants around the country advocating civil war and blood in the streets, not to mention the people who have carried out those threats. I am asking for instance how many members of that Bundy gang are in prison after two gunpoint standoffs with federal officers?
Is this the beginning of totalitarian secret police, attempting to quiet discourse. It is no crime to criticize the government or the president even to the point of profanity. Is this the very thing my friend was attempting to warn us about, that we have a president who is determined to dismantle our government in favor of an oligarchy. 
Given the amount of hatred and vitriol spewed at the Obanas during his administration, including assassination threats, you have to wonder how many of those people received warnings from the Secret Service. Even if there was some surveillance it sure didn't have much effect because that hatred is still being voiced against the former president and his family.
The fear of course is whether this is normal for the Secret Service or has Trump issued some kind of order to ferret out his critics and silence them? Given the threat my friend feels, you can't really blame him for pulling back a little. But if Trump's people can discourage such a rough and tumble individualist as this guy, what are the rest of us going to do? Is this yet another indication of the danger posed in the posting right below this one? Election result opens a vision into a dystopian future

 Of course the warning may not have come from the Secret Service at all. Could be just a Trump troll attempting to intimidate the opposition.
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1 comment:

  1. Commander ZaiusJune 24, 2017 at 2:04 AM

    Yeah, I'd have to know more to really attribute that message to the actual Secret Service. One possibility is that while he never said anything threatening about Trump, some supporter might have called the Secret Service and lied.

    On the other hand, yes free speech is being stifled by pure extremists on both the left and the right. I really dislike Ann Coulter and hate her propaganda but I cringed when I learned of reports she was chased away from speaking at Berkley. Such actions by my fellow liberals only feeds the fires of our polarized society. Anyway, I was always taught it is far better to shed as much light on those types of individuals.

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