On March 11, 2009, Gov. Jay Nixon took Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on a tour of Missouri's "Fusion Center."  Nixon's administration explained in a press release that "Fusion Centers" are "collaborative efforts by law enforcement" designed to "better address and detect . . . potential terrorist threats."  Nixon praised Missouri's Fusion Center, the MIAC, telling reporters the center was already paying dividends, resulting in arrests.  Impressed, Secretary Napolitano called fusion centers "the future of law enforcement."

The "future of law enforcement" is grim, indeed.  The Missouri Information Analysis Center ("MIAC") recently penned a disturbing report linking anti-abortioists, supporters of tax reform, fans of Ron Paul, and anyone flying the "Don't Tread on Me" flag of the American revolution to violent domestic terrorists.  Even people who support enforcement of immigration laws are tarred with the same brush as members of the violent, racist, bank-robbing, Aryan Republican Army.

The ACLU has been complaining about fusion centers since at least 2007, and called this particular report an invitation to intrude on First Amendment rights.  For the second time in six months, I find myself completely agreeing with the ACLU--and so does Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.  He called for immediate investigation.

Gov. Nixon, however, has (predictably) blown hot and cold on this unconscionable report.  At first, when confronted about the report's details, he stated, "Getting information, especially public information, out of our fusion center out to local law enforcement agencies is what we do every day and we?re going to continue to do."  Yet, today, he blamed the Blunt administration for hiring the MIAC officials in the first place.

In another embarrassing flip-flop, even though the MIAC report has been officially rescinded, Nixon's administration still sent the cops to harass some poor libertarian who had the audacity to file a Sunshine Law request to learn the details of how this report came to be in the first place.  (And this is supposed to convince us the Nixon administration doesn't have it out for libertarians?)

So far, what I've learned is: regardless of the bad PR generated by this report, and regardless of the fact that the report has been "officially" rescinded, anyone to the right of Chairman Mao is in for police scrutiny in the great state of Missouri.  I understand that Ron Paul will be in town this Friday--hopefully, he'll be able to make a graceful exit before Nixon's henchmen show up.

In these troubled times, it's easy for people to get spooked.  Even Obama's state and federal cronies have a pretty good idea that progressive economic policies (however warm and fuzzy they may make one feel) are destined to continue this recession indefinitely.  This means that the hard-working people of this country--those who continue to get overtaxed and muzzled in the name of social justice and "tolerance"--are getting angrier.  The libs are right to be frightened of that kind of ire, but the true consequences will show up at the ballot box in 2010, not at the business end of a gun.