Read yet another report about how the US government, in this case it was the FBI, has begun actively investigating war veterans as part of an overarching concern about militant/terrorist groups. (You can read it by clicking on this link.)

These people were labeled as being part of “white supremacist” groups.

The thought I occurred to me that if citizens see their government refuse to enforce the laws long enough, they eventually will lose faith in the government.

The term “white supremacist” is meant to conjure up images of white-robed figures burning crosses and terrorizing poor black families. But have you ever considered this image of a white supremacist?

Bob Smith is a typical middle class blue collar worker. He has worked hard in construction for thirty years. He’s paid his taxes — which have only increased during his lifetime. He attends church and sings in the choir. He has coached Little League in his day. His wife has drive children around in her minivan to multiple school and community functions over the years.

But Bob has a problem. In the past ten years of his work, he has seen his local economy suffer. People he talks to have spoken of unemployment. An influx of Mexican illegal immigrants in his community has resulted in disputes over unfair advantages by companies which employ them. Bob’s company has lost several bids to competitors who employ illegals. Just this past year, Bob’s company laid off several workers during hard times due to lack of work.

When Bob comes home from work, he hears or reads news states that the government has issued hundreds of billions (or trillions) of dollars to bail out financial organizations who have played high roller games in the banking and stock markets. He reads where the government has either already passed legislation or is trying to pass it to seize more control of land and water, to curb energy growth by doing something called “cap and trade” with emissions, and to try and give away US sovereignty to foreign treaties.

Bob doesn’t understand all of it, but he understands one thing: this isn’t the country he grew up in.

He understands that people who break the law by coming into this country illegally shouldn’t be rewarded with citizenship. Bob was taught as a child that if you try to cut in line, you get moved to the back of the line. He understands that if a business owner overextends himself with obligations, he will go bankrupt. There are no golden parachutes for small business owners, and he doesn’t believe there should be for corporations and their leaders.

Bob doesn’t like it that his tax dollars — which are taken from him by threat of force — are used to fund abortions, even on people in other countries where he sends money through his local church to try to save lives and improve their standard of living.

Bob knows that dead people can’t vote, and that if multiple recounts keep coming up with multiple tallies until the other party finally wins, that someone’s cheating.

And Bob feels very frustrated by all of this.

His elected leaders don’t seem to give a hoot about how Bob feels. They never call Bob — unless it’s a robo-call during campaign time.

Bob feels isolated from the country he loves.

Bob no longer trusts the government or where it is headed.

And then Bob reads that people just like him, maybe Bob himself, are going to be put on a government watch list as a potential terrorist threat because he believes what he believes.

He reads that feeling this way makes him a “white supremacist” in the mind of the government.

What will Bob do? What can Bob do?