Have your activities come under increased scrutiny in the aftermath of S11?
Ours have.
Recently, our Corporate America Flag billboard in Times Square, New York, attracted the attention of the federal Department of Defense, and a visit by an agent who asked a lot of pointed questions about our motivations and intent. We wondered: What gives?
"Just following up a lead from a tip line," the agent admitted.
That's the kind of fourth quarter it's been for many social activists. Any campaign that dares to question U.S. economic, military or foreign policy in these delicate times, any critical appraisal of the handling of the "War on terrorism," risks casting the critic as a kind of enemy of the state, if not an outright terrorist.
Vigilance we can live with. Intimidation that amounts to persecution is another bucket of fish. According to some of the emails and phone calls we've received lately, many other groups have also found themselves under investigation in a political climate that's starting to take on shades of McCarthyism.
Our response to all of this is to set up our own "rat line." If you know of social marketing campaigns or protest actions that are being suppressed, or if you come across any other story of overzealous government "information management," please tell us your story. Go to <http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/flag/nyc.html>.