Something Scary

In my efforts to diversify this blog, I'm posting this column from Bruce Schimmel, a terrific journalist at the Philadelphia City Paper. We're fortunate in Philly to have TWO wonderful independent weeklies. If this story doesn't scare you, I don't know what will:

What's in Your File?
By Bruce Schimmel

A quiet crowd of 50 gathered recently in front of the courthouse in Media to protest domestic spying, and I found myself wondering which of these folks were working secretly for the FBI. Maybe the snitch was the middle-aged woman holding the sign that read, "Bush: Don't spy on me." Or the tall, young Asian couple in long dark coats. Hell, maybe the spook was the wizened, white-haired lady yammering about Eleanor Roosevelt from her wheelchair.

Paranoia makes for strange notions. But sometimes fear is the only reasonable response. Especially after hearing what an ACLU spokesperson was telling this crowd as they shivered in the dusk. The FBI is now actively spying on people just like them; the feds are targeting peace activists. The FBI may say that it's on the hunt for terrorists. But here they're pursuing the least likely people to ever pick up a gun.

This week, the ACLU is releasing FBI documents (www.aclu.org/spyfiles) they say confirm that the agency is investigating the Pittsburgh-based Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Justice. The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), strongly suggest that this pacifist group has also been infiltrated by an FBI mole. The ACLU says this is the first time that peaceful political activities are being targeted by the FBI solely because they express an anti-war sentiment.

Actually, it's not the first time. Thirty-five years ago, at the height of Vietnam, local activists snuck into federal offices in Media and purloined cartons of papers (available at http://www.brandywinepeace.com/) that showed how the FBI was infiltrating groups opposed to the war. It was clear evidence that the agency was not being used to protect Americans, but to repress political speech.

In 1971, this revelation caused a major furor, and set off a chain of events that arguably led in 1974 to Richard Nixon's ouster for spying on his political opponents. And if you're hoping, like me, that history will repeat itself, consider this even more terrifying irony: In 1978, an outraged Congress passed legislation that specifically prohibited the president from spying on American citizens without first obtaining a warrant from a special court. This is the very law that George W. Bush continues to defy today, saying he can ignore the law because we're at war.

So how can you stop the feds from peeking at your e-mail and tapping your phones? How can you help George find another job?

File a FOIA on yourself. You've likely checked your credit report. You've probably Googled your name. So why not exercise your right to find out what the federal government has got on you? If you're an environmentalist, an animal rights activist or a social justice organizer, if you write letters to editors or are just in the habit of speaking out, you should file a FOIA. Not just to find out if you've been spied on or not, but to assert your right to do so.

You can do it; the ACLU will help you, free. (Visit their "File a FOIA" workshop on Wed., March 22, 6:30 p.m., at the American Friends Service Committee at 15th and Cherry streets.) Civil rights, like muscles, need to be used regularly. And in the fight against a government that's terrorizing its own, exercising civil rights is the best weapon we have.