The Feds are spying on peaceful dissent groups, even in some cases trying to incite them toward violent behavior. Salon’s coverage continues in this first installment of two-part story. The scariest quote is from California anti-terrorism official Mike Van Winkle: “You can almost argue that a protest against that is a terrorist act.”

Think about that. Cops always want more power. Period. Their job is to catch bad guys, and they see anything that gets in their way as bad. Their job is not to defend our liberties; the Judicial branch is our real watchdog. Allowing cops to make policy on issues like this is a recipe for disaster.