Reply #23: You left out the most despicable part of the linked story. [View All]

In trying to recruit an informant, the FBI told him that he "would be compensated for his efforts, but only if his involvement yielded an arrest."

Until I read that sentence, I was thinking, "Well, this is pretty silly, but maybe it would be a good thing to have someone 'infiltrate' and then reassure the FBI that no one talked about assassinations or suicide bombing or such. Perhaps the FBI might calm down a little. There's no big harm if my tax dollars are used to help increase the attendance at vegan potlucks in Minnesota."

But they're paying off only if the informant incriminates someone. They're setting it up to give these people every incentive to lie, or at least to misconstrue casual remarks evincing hostility to Bush.

That really stinks.