Cause and effect

Yesterday, I posted a peevish, anti-US policy rant on a webboard I belong to. It was part of a longer thread on the Homeland Security Act and I was one of the dissenting voices. I’m sure very few people there read it; certainly noone replied.
It was one of the first times I’ve dissed the US government in a public forum, though if you see me face-to-face you probably already know how I feel about the current administration, the apathy of US citizens to the erosion of their privacy and freedoms, the cringing horror I feel when I think about someday returning, etc.
But in terms of what I can do to change things, I’d say “not too much.” Run for office? Write letters to the editor? Be the editor? Spread dissent though my weblog? Ha. I wish I had the cunning.
Why is it just a tiny bit unnerving, then, that 15 hours after I posted my little rant, a good friend in the States was approached by an FBI agent? They went to lunch together. The agent said she was actually hoping to have lunch with one of my friend’s colleagues who wasn’t in. And she assured him that she’s not investigating him yet (said with a grin and a wink).
But in the words of another friend, “Dude, the ‘not yet’ ploy is literally right out of the handbook, as is the ‘I was looking for so-and-so, but…’ gambit.”
Food for conspiracy theory thoughts, I guess.