Peace groups under watch

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

In the post-9/11 world, some unlikely figures have attracted the attention of local police and federal agents: the Raging Grannies, known for musical satire, and Quaker peace activists, known for non-violence.

Recently disclosed FBI files show that in Seattle in recent years, federal agents and local police looked for signs of civil disobedience among activists preparing to protest Navy ships arriving for Seafair:

* Local anti-war groups such as the Raging Grannies, Not in Our Name and Ground Zero were watched for intent to disrupt Navy ships through civil disobedience such as chaining themselves to ships. It never happened.

* A Navy criminal investigator traveled to Eugene, Ore., to find out if anarchists blamed for violence at Seattle's 1999 World Trade Organization conference might return to protest the fleet. They never did.

* A law enforcement agent conducted surveillance as two small, Peace-Fleet boats were launched in West Seattle.

Authorities argue that they had a duty to protect Navy ships. They don't want to happen in Puget Sound what happened six years ago in Yemen when a small suicide boat blew a hole in a Navy destroyer, killing 17 sailors.

The government that's big enough to give you Social Security is certainly big enough to watch the Raging Grannies.You can't have one without the other over time.