---
title: The FBI: A History You Were Not Taught
date: 2025-11-16T04:51:34.914396
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
hidden: true
---
So, I was making my morning coffee today, staring out the window at the usual squirrels doing their acrobatics on the telephone wires. And I started thinking about the FBI. You know, your average morning routine, right? I guess it popped into my head 'cause of this documentary clip I stumbled on late last night. Something about COINTELPRO – sounds like a bad cop drama, but it’s not. Or maybe it is? Can’t remember if I turned off the stove afterward.
But here's what’s been rattling around my brain: how much do we really know about the FBI? I mean, besides the movies and TV shows with the obligatory dark-suited agents whispering into their earpieces. It feels like there’s this whole secret history that's not exactly in the textbooks. Or maybe it’s in some, but not the ones I had in school.
So there’s this thing, COINTELPRO. I think it stands for Counter Intelligence Program or something like that. I read somewhere, maybe on Wikipedia (which, let’s be honest, I know isn’t always gospel, but it’s what we’ve got at 2 a.m.) that it was about monitoring and disrupting political organizations. But that’s the official line. Probably. It’s all a little fuzzy.
From what I gather, the FBI wasn't just the good-guy federal police. They were, like, surveilling and infiltrating groups that were part of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panthers – all under their radar, like they were enemies of the state or something. Does that make any sense? I can’t quite wrap my head around it. Isn’t this the agency that's supposed to protect citizens? Or was that the CIA? Sometimes their roles blur for me.
And power creep... y’know, the idea that if you give an institution an inch, they might take a mile? Or maybe that’s too simplistic. But it does make you wonder: when does surveillance go from protecting people to something else entirely? Is it a necessary evil or just evil? I’m not sure.
But there’s this unease I feel when I think about it. Like, how much are we being watched now? I mean, I’ve got three smart devices in my room right now. Is anybody listening? Do I sound paranoid? (Maybe I am. Or maybe we all should be?)
Then there's this whole idea of how it’s not just the 'bad guys' who get watched. It's like, sometimes I just assume that someone somewhere has tabs on all the digital footprint I leave. But does that keep me safe, or does it just keep them informed? I don’t know. Or maybe I do, but I just don’t want to admit it.
And the power thing... I guess it's a slippery slope? One day it's "protect and serve," and the next, it's – what? Covert operations and wiretaps on civil rights activists? It makes me question where the line is. Or if there even is one.
Maybe it's just me overthinking things. Or not enough. But I can't shake this feeling that our perceptions of history are more curated than complete. Like those squirrels outside my window – they always seem to be doing the same thing every day, but who knows what they’re really up to?
I guess I’m left with more questions than answers. Maybe that's okay. Maybe not everything needs a tidy ending. I think I’ll go have another coffee, stare out the window some more. Seems like as good a time as any to ponder what we think we know. Or don’t.
So, yeah. The FBI. COINTELPRO. Surveillance. Power creep. I dunno. What do you think?