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Big Brother is watching me.

On Monday I posted a story about a video Ammon Bundy released.  He denied the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in January 2016 was a conspiracy planned in advance along with Washington State Legislator Matt Shea.  Last week Shea was accused of “domestic terrorism”.  Shea’s colleagues (he’s a Republican and most of them are Democrats) had hired a firm to investigate his actions of the last half-dozen years.

I don’t know Shea.  I’ve heard Mr. Bundy speak.  He’s allowed to talk publicly.  It’s his God-given right and is enumerated in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Four hours later, when I was off-air, the story had vanished from the Google search engine.  Down the memory hole!

At no point in Monday’s post did I advocate for anybody.  At no point did I call for revolution.  At no point did I propose violent solutions for our country’s ailments.

What I did say is I’m a skeptic.  When it comes to investigations all we need consider is the Steele Dossier.  Fiction can get a lot of traction.  I don’t have an issue with news media covering the Shea story but said media also needs to ask some questions of the investigators, although.  As we’ve learned when it comes to the President, the media types won’t pose those questions if they burn with group animosity against a personality.

After posting Monday’s story, I did a quick Google search and found a link to my work.  Four hours later, when I was off-air, the story had vanished from the Google search engine.  Down the memory hole!  I haven’t found it since and as of Thursday had done several more searches.  It’s as if someone doesn’t want you to read about skepticism.

It was Tuesday I noticed an unusual friend request on Facebook.  "Security risk with NSA, FBI, CIA, DOJ, FBI and the Democrats. Oh yeah HOMELAND SECURITY. Dog snob,” reads the guy’s profile.  He’s pictured next to Gary Sinise.  I can get as many as a dozen connection requests in a week and maybe 2 are legitimate.  I did nothing when it came to approval.  This one didn’t pass the smell test.  It looked like a set-up.

Thursday morning, I had a LinkedIn notification.  Someone had been looking at my profile.  He is a "Government Watch Officer" at Homeland Security.  Whatever does a Government Watch Officer do?  To me, it could appear a subtle form of intimidation.

These men aren’t from around here, according to their social media profiles.  They shouldn’t have seen my Bundy post, unless someone is monitoring some of the conservative media pages where I also linked the piece.  And for one moment I don’t doubt some bureaucrats are huddled somewhere in an office scanning the same pages and taking notes.

You might believe I’m making too much of this but a decade ago I was probed by Homeland Security.  There was a proto-Tea Party organization in the county where I was then working in talk radio.  The very nice people invited me to some meetings and even had me speak on a couple of instances.  The group’s logo was a pair of crossed muskets.  At the time, I had suggested they could find something a little more palatable for the general public.  They smiled and told me no thanks.  The guns stayed.

One afternoon I was at my office when a former co-worker telephoned.  Her father-in-law had once been Chairman of the Republican National Committee and briefly served in the U.S. House of Representatives.  She told me she had good sources.  The organization where I had been invited to speak was under investigation by Homeland Security and I was also a target.

I suspect the spies (and one came to a few meetings and even gave advice on organizing before he vanished) discovered the members were regular church goers and spent their waking hours selling hardware, milking cows and listening to talk radio.  You know, the dangerous stuff all revolutionaries frequently find engaging!

I’m an itinerant broadcaster who doesn’t have 2 nickels to rub together.  It’s because much of what little I’ve earned is confiscated to cover the plush retirement benefits of bureaucrats.  I’m on vacation this week and had planned to stay away from politics but there are moments when you need to vent.  I do it with words.  Apparently, letters of the alphabet are considered dangerous when bluntly configured.

I love my country.  I still tear up when I see old veterans parading the flag.  But my country often isn’t the one we were promised in our school textbooks.  Most mornings I get out of bed and believe it can still be what I was taught in class 50-years-ago.  If not for the surveillance state.

Lastly, I want to offer a thought on the Malheur Occupation.  When indigenous people take over a Wounded Knee or Alcatraz, or when socialists occupy city parks, media gives these people a pass.  These are people the news media calls victims.  What victims do is called “civil disobedience”.

A few people camp out at a refuge for a wintry month and media blows a gasket.  There were columnists and fellow travelers demanding the government go in with guns a blazing.  Which is what did happen.  The left has a serious taste for blood.  Last week I read a description of how the country now works.  A conservative writer warns we’re under the control of the “Regime Party”.  It’s the Deep State in collusion with most media.  Sounds more Chinese than American.

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