Musings 138--When the Feds come calling...

When I was a kid, I use to read the investigative pieces that Jack Anderson wrote. He was one of those guys that would get a piece of information and expand upon it forever. He was on the original "enemies list" during the Nixon years.

Well, Anderson died in December at the age of 83, but his papers and notes still live on. The FBI have suddenly taken notice that since Jack Anderson is dead, maybe they could snoop through his records--causally. Of course, if the Feds find anything that is "a matter of national security" then they would delete or destroy said files. (See Link)

Anderson's son, Kevin, says that the FBI are not getting a free pass to his father's records. "He (Jack Anderson) would be rolling over in his grave to think that the FBI was going to go crawling through his papers willy-nilly," Kevin Anderson told the Associated Press, Tuesday.

Years ago, I had the same type of experience with the feds, but mine was about firearms. At the time I was in the Marine Corps Reserve and, since I lived out in the sticks, my buddies would come out and site in their weapons. Apparently, one of my not so close neighbors called the Feds and said we were shooting automatic weapons. We were not. We just pulled the triggers really fast...really, really fast. Anyway, the Feds showed up one day, two of them in an unmarked tan sedan. They got out, put their sunglasses on and identified themselves. I was sitting on the front porch with my dog, Zach. The conversation went something like this:

Feds: Are you Thomas Murdock?
Zach: Grrrrrr.
Me: Yep.
Feds: Your dog is growling.
Me: Yep
Zach: Grrrrrr...
Feds: Does he bite?
Me: Not me...recently.
Zach: Grrrrrr...
Feds: Well, sir, we understand that you collect firearms.
Me: I have a couple.
Feds: We'd like to look through your collection.
Zach: Grrrrrr...
Me: Do you have warrant?
Feds: No sir, we were hoping that we wouldn't need one.
Me: Well, you do.
Feds: We can get one...pretty quickly.
Me: Fine.
Zach: Grrrr...
Feds: Ok, then...thank you for your time.
Me: Yep.

They got in their sedan and sat with the motor running for about 15 minutes. Zach and I sat on the porch and watched them. Then, suddenly they backed up and drove away.

Me: I guess they couldn't get a quickie warrant, after all.
Zach: Burp.... (He then closed his eyes and went back to sleep)

I never saw them again, but I viewed Zach in a whole new light. He had never growled at anyone before, and I felt that his judgment was beyond reproach. He had a way of cutting straight through the bullshit.

The lesson is simple: They can ask, but we can refuse. It doesn't make us any less a patriot. Even a dog can figure that out.