40 years later, and Daniel Ellsberg still scares the hell out of me.

It's a small number. It's three. The last one is Bradley Manning. It's small because we don't have an Official Secrets Act.

Ellsberg goes on to describe how the case against Bradley Manning, the presumptive source of the Wikileaks information, is being used as a test case to set the precedent he is predicting will come. If you think I'm giving Ellsberg too much credit, or not giving Obama enough, let me remind you this is not happening in a vacuum. In 2006, I wrote The Department of Precrime and the Thought Police. It covered the "Virginia Jihad" case that resulted in reduced sentences ranging from life plus 45 year for one defendant to a mere 65 years for another -- in federal prison. Parole is not going to happen in their lifetime. Must have been some serious terrorist threat, right?

None of the convictions handed down were for planning an act of terrorism. Prosecutors presented no evidence that any of the 11 convicted men had planned U.S. attacks. At best they were convicted for being pro-terrorist. That may seem like a fine point to some, but I will let a supporter of this trial and its verdict demonstrate the real threat this represents -- to all of us right here in the USA:

"We're arresting people for talking about things, thinking about things, training for things," said Andrew McBride, a former federal prosecutor in Alexandria. "I think you will see more of it as the government moves from a traditional criminal law model of post-event reaction to pre-event interdiction."

When I wrote that, one comment summed it up beautifully, saying

"Going after people based upon "what they are thinking"
should set off alarm bells in any thinking person's head."

In 2006, I thought that was right on the money. In 2008, I thought we had dodged a bullet. But Ellsberg certainly set my alarm bells ringing today. Now that we have seen they can put people away for what they think. What makes you think they won't start putting people away for what they see? Ellsberg may not be the "Most Dangerous Man in America" anymore, but that's only because there are people in Washington working overtime to claim that title.