Un-Reasonable: Feds Declare War on Blog CommentersBy Thomas Knapp Last week, as Ken White of Popehat reports, the US Department of Justice served Reason a popular libertarian magazine and web site with a grand jury subpoena demanding that it provide any and all identifying information it possesses regarding certain commenters on reporter Nick Gillespies coverage of Ulbrichts sentencing. Some of those commenters, it seems, waxed less than respectful of Katherine Forrest, the thug er, judge who ratified Ulbrichts abduction and ordered it extended for life. One or two of those commenters suggested that she should suffer the torments of hell, either in the afterlife or this one. Others referenced the use of a wood chipper to dispose of a body in the film Fargo as fitting punishment for her actions. Just to be perfectly clear here, I agree 100% with the tone of those comments. While I have not publicly made such suggestions Ive limited myself to suggesting that she be thoroughly ostracized, that all persons of good character shun her I really cant think of any penalty that goes too far for what she has done and, presumably, intends to continue doing. I have every right to such an opinion, and to its expression. So do you. Those rights are even enshrined in the supreme law of the land in which Forrest committed her atrocities (its in the First Amendment to the US Constitution). This is, in a word, an outrage. But it gets worse. The feds wanted Reason to keep the subpoena secret. Its unclear whether theyve issued a formal gag order in connection with the subpoena, but the document itself says that [t]he Government hereby requests that you voluntarily refrain from disclosing the existence of the subpoena to any third party. So: The US government is trying to track down people who say things it doesnt like things which no reasonable person could construe as true threats for possible prosecution (grand juries dont subpoena people to offer them coffee and donuts). And it doesnt want you to know its doing that. Let that sink in. If youve ever doubted for a minute that America is becoming a police state, this chain of events should settle the question once and for all. The US government has declared war on free speech and the free press. It has declared war on YOU. Will you fight back? [hat tip Wendy McElroy] Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism where this article first appeared. He lives and works in north central Florida. 