The Justice Department did not have a separate enforcement arm at that time and this lack of field agents resulted in an inability of the Justice Department to extend their un-Constitutional attempts at over-reach. This, of course, was not to be tolerated, and so Roosevelt used the power of the Presidency to create the first American secret police agency. Sound familiar? (Another lasting legacy, still more deadly than this piece of Progressive paranoia, was the establishment of centrally directed State funded public schools, and the destruction of the rich mix of educational options that had been part of American culture. See John Taylor Gatto's "The Underground History of American Education" for more information.) Roosevelt had no basis in the Constitution or the law to create such an agency, but he had a pen, and a bully pulpit. (sound familiar?) Eventually, Congress more or less recognized this arrogation of power by Teddy the First, and it began to grow, entwining itself into the American body politic, like many another governmental tumor.
At any rate, in 1924, after service with the Bureau and related agencies, J. Edgar Hoover was appointed head of the Bureau, renamed in 1935 as the FEDERAL Bureau of Investigation. From the date of his appointment as Director until he died, Hoover relentless pursued two goals; ensuring that he remained Director, and ensuring that the Bureau got all the funding he wanted. He did this in a logical manner, by compiling detailed files on hundreds of thousands of Americans. Every day, hundreds, and later thousands of field agents walked the streets of America, meticulously compiling facts and details about the daily lives of local people, especially those seeking political office.
Hoover knew that, just like an egg-sucking dog, once a politician gets a good taste of the largesse available to a 'public servant,' it's hard to break the two-fold addiction of power and money offered by political office, and he also knew that like most addicts, politicians are prone to errors in judgment. As the opportunities presented themselves over the years, Hoover's files, documenting in detail those errors, became more and more comprehensive, and as the politicians who starred in those files became more and more powerful, so did Hoover. Several Presidents complained that Hoover spent more time on domestic intelligence gathering than on actual investigation of criminal activity, but none were able to make Hoover actually obey the orders of the chief executive, his putative superior. Neither politicians nor presidents dared to offend or threaten Hoover or the Bureau, for fear of the information contained in Hoover's files, the poisoned fruit of decades of patient snooping and spying. Hoover was a power unto himself.
Upon Hoover's death, his detailed files, almost 50 years worth of documentation of potentially career-ending information about a large number of people, were destroyed, or so we are led to believe. A great many politicians and other people heaved a sigh of relief, in the mistaken belief that the era of the tail of the Justice department wagging the dog of Government was over. But there were those in the Executive branch, especially in the Intelligence services and the permanent bureaucracy, the fourth branch of government, who remembered the lessons of Hoover's files. When the opportunity arose to once again apply those lessons, they took full advantage, but we did not find out about it for years.
In 2013, however, we learned that at least one agency of the federal government of these presently united States has been collecting information on Americans for at least 15 years and probably longer, scavenging every telephone call, every email, penetrating encryption through backdoors in both hardware and software in targeted computers, and exposing all electronic communication to the relentless gaze of the federal government. Most if not all electronic communication for at least the last 15 years has been penetrated.
Think about that for a moment. Every prominent person or political figure of any sort can expect that ALL of their email and telephone communications have been monitored, and subjected to analysis. Just as in Hoover's day, special attention is being paid to those seeking political office. I wonder what sorts of embarrassing tidbits the Feds turned up on Speaker Boehner? On the other leaders of the so-called opposition? Why do you suppose that there has been no meaningful opposition to the avalanche of totalitarian collectivism to which we have been subject these past five years? Imagine what sort of leverage having access to the secrets of the wealthy and powerful would give you, and imagine how a power-junkie would react when threatened with being cut off cold turkey.
Think about this, too: with all of this surveillance, and with all of the information being given to intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies, how many terrorist acts did the intelligence community actually stop?
None. Not one. They have admitted it.
How is it that mass murders like Columbine went unstopped? With all the data available, where were our supposed defenders looking? The justification used for these unconscionable and utterly unConstitutional invasions of our rights has been national security. What security has the creation of this monstrous police state brought to the people? The government may think it is more secure, and their merchantilist lackeys may think that they have been able to suppress the people, but are we, the common people of these presently united States actually safer?
In fact, we are arguably less secure, because the encryption systems supposed to protect us from the real threats out there, and they do exist, have been violated by those who are supposed to protect us. The attack on our cyber defenses by our own government has made it easier for our enemies to attack us. This Progressive paranoia has perverted our putative protectors, and the perversion has been going on for a long time. (Keep in mind that Abraham Lincoln had the Maryland State Legislature placed under house arrest for two years because he suspected that they would exercise their entirely Constitutional right to secede from the Union.)
So what to do?
First off, remember the Iron Law of Bureaucracy. The Fourth Branch is fighting for survival and if you become sufficiently annoying or actively threatening to the powers that be, you will be dealt with. Just ask Vince Foster. Oh, wait..... So, be careful out there.
Second, be aware, O gentle reader, that you are being watched. The simple fact that you have come here and read what I have written is sufficient to make you a suspect. You are guilty, in the eyes of the Progressives, of being an Enemy of the State. Follow that thought to its logical conclusion, keeping in mind the nature of your enemy, and take the needed precautions. The question is not whether or not you are being paranoid in so doing, the question is "Am I being paranoid enough?"
Third, establish alternate communications channels. Meatspace, trusted courier, one-time pads, steganography, there are all sorts of ways to make life more difficult for the Eye of Sauron to see what you are doing. The more people who pursue these alternates, the harder for the peeping Progressives to see anything. Even better is if you can establish such communications without advertising it to the opposition. The harder they have to work, the better.
Fourth, think of creative ways to monkeywrench. Be cooperatively uncooperative. There are innumerable possibilities; be creative. I'm especially fond of the idea that if you cannot avoid creating information, create a LOT of information.
Fifth, shun the Feds. All of them not specifically authorized by the Constitution. Any person employed by the Federal government in a position or exercising an authority not specifically granted by the Constitution is illegitimate.
Sixth, every intelligence officer has an emergency plan, usually two or three. You should too. PPPPPP, as the saying goes.
Lastly, at least for now, spread the word. If we are to win this war of ideas we need to spread ours!
With regard to all who serve the Light,
Historian