The CleanSweep Conspiracy Read Online Free PDF Page B

declared that anarchists were out to destroy our very way of life. Soon people began to see anarchists lurking behind every tree. Then, when that fear faded, socialism and communism became the next great evils. They were quickly followed by the excesses of Nazism, and then by the many other fascist dictatorships since.”
    Matt looked at the melancholy on his face in the mirror behind the bar. “I tried to keep what I was writing simple and to the point. People wrote to me saying they loved reading my blogs, and they began to believe in what I was saying. Some people, anyway.”
    The bartender delivered another drink, but Matt didn’t pick up his mug immediately. He kept staring at his image in the mirror. He felt like he was talking to himself — that his friend was a silent, disbelieving audience refusing to acknowledge the truth.
    “Add Catholic versus Protestant to the mix for religious seasoning. Wait, not to mention the demonizing of blacks — another excellent example of us - against - them. It all happens so quickly … ”
    Matt let his thoughts hover before continuing. “Soon after the events of September 2001, I wrote another blog post. Anyone who looked like they might be from the Middle East had instantly become an easy target. I tried to say we shouldn’t rush to judgment based on someone’s dress or beliefs. My in - box was bombarded with responses. Most of the people responding labeled me as the devil in disguise, and their responses were laced with vitriol. You should have read some of the crap that came in. People are always too ready to believe in a new Satan, and I was apparently one of the new Evil Ones.
    “Today, a large number of people support the idea of erecting walls around the country, hoping they’ll somehow keep dangerous terrorists out. Nobody seems to know how many domestic terrorists we have, though.”
    “I’m not surprised,” Bryan sneered. “I want to agree with you, but … ”
    Matt wondered if he was making headway, but he didn’t really think so. “When I began hearing the rumors about the program called CleanSweep, I was determined to find out who might be on this list of ‘new devils’ — the ones they were going to target with propaganda. I asked one of my government sources to tell me who it considered the real terrorists now. She just shrugged and said they were all around us. That’s pretty cryptic, if you ask me. But it got my attention, I can tell you that.
    “Then I sat down and did my best to write a counterargument to the arrogance of hate, to express the opinion that we were all in the process of being brainwashed into targeting a new, imaginary group. That wasn’t a popular opinion, I soon found out. But I felt obligated to keep on blogging about it. I came to the conclusion that truth was on an extended holiday, and that civil discourse was also on vacation. ‘Who are the real targets now?’ I wrote. ‘Ordinary people?’ That post really brought out the crazies.
    “One guy wrote to me, saying it would be OK to give up some of our liberties to enhance public security. Another commenter honestly wondered what was wrong with surveillance programs. ‘The government,’ he stressed, ‘wouldn’t do something like that unless there was a good reason to.’ The idiot even said we should always trust the government.”
    Matt shook his head, remembering a similar letter from another fanatic. He was simply unable to understand their simplistic points of view.
    “Of course, some agreed with my blog, with the idea that we were already well down the slippery slope by then. One writer said our right to privacy was now a fading memory, that you couldn’t trust the government. I sided with that one, of course. The arguments flew back and forth in the blog’s comment section. I didn’t care what readers said — I was digging for anything I could find about CleanSweep. I thought it was some kind of new surveillance program. Something about it just didn’t