Instead of posting thoughts about the new Avenged Sevenfold album or Jessica Alba movie, CIA and FBI analysts could use ‘A-Space’ to share information and opinion about al Qaeda movements in the Middle East or Russian naval maneuvers in the Black Sea.

The F.B.I. has a long history of abusing its authority to spy on domestic groups, including civil rights and anti-war activists, and there is a real danger that the new rules would revive those dark days. Clearly, the Bush administration cannot be trusted to get the balance between law enforcement and civil liberties right.

James Robinson is a retired Air National Guard brigadier general who is certified by the Transportation Security Administration to carry a weapon into the cockpit as part of the government’s defense program. But there’s one problem: Robinson has difficulty even getting on a plane because his name is on the government’s terrorist “watch list.”