oh, brother!

My brother has always been the more mainstream of the two us. He could even be described as conservative (I'm pretty sure he voted for BushCo in 2000). His original college degree was in Political Science, then he studied accounting (how much more Republican can you get). So, of course, I occasionally like to send him something radical, if only to get a rise out him. The last time it was copy of a list by Lawrence Britt called the 14 Points of Fascism, which I found courtesy of permanentrevolution (actually, his link was a lot wordier, had no BushCo links, and is now gone).
Anyway, the response I got back was funny at first, but becomes more chilling the more I think about it. This is what he said:

I was afraid to hit any link on that stuff. Just because you don't care that you're on some "Subversive Communist List" that the government keeps doesn't mean that I want to join you.

Ho ho ho, funny brother!
Except that even if he thought that he was joking, he still had the idea that simply looking at a site that discusses fascism in the context of our administration would get him put on a watch list. In America, land of the free, and home of the brave. Paranoia, from my brother, the Accountant. Now, me, I've always assumed that I'm on some sort of list, if only because I've been a registered Independant for as long as I've been a voter. Just because J. Edgar is gone doesnt mean the Feds quit keeping lists, even before the Patriot Act. But my Brother? This was a guy who once considered joining the CIA (poly-sci, remember?). A-c-c-o-u-n-t-a-n-t. No radical thinking here, and yet now he makes jokes about Lists.
In America, when straight and narrow ex-(but not really)-fratboys like my brother start worrying about being on government lists, you know somethings gone atilt. Wake up folks! Something's starting to smell. Most people havent admitted it to themselves yet, but you can tell they sense it, you can see their noses twitching. Question is, is it the garbage, or is the house on fire?