Not with a bang

So, the FBI is now protecting America by investigating American protesters.
The New York Times reports F.B.I. Goes Knocking for Political Troublemakers . This activity is authorized, apparently, by a legal opinion from the Justice Department -- you remember them, don't you -- the people who brought you Abu Gharib?
Most chilling is this anecdote:
. . . three young men in Missouri said they were trailed by federal agents for several days and subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury last month, forcing them to cancel their trip to Boston to take part in a protest there that same day . . . All three have taken part in past protests over American foreign policy and in planning meetings for convention demonstrations. [Ms. Lieberman, their lawyer} said two of them were arrested before on misdemeanor charges for what she described as minor civil disobedience at protests. Prosecutors have now informed the men that they are targets of a domestic terrorism investigation, Ms. Lieberman said, but have not disclosed the basis for their suspicions. "They won't tell me," she said.
Its the refrain of the Hollow Men - this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.