The eternal question comes from California

Why is it that, every time a Republican movie star becomes governor of California, it's just a matter of time before he gets cheerfully involved with illegal surveillance on anti-war groups, and other organizations not to his political tastes?

Then:

Under the guise of protecting national security, the FBI conducted wide-ranging and unlawful intelligence operations concerning the University of California that at different points involved the head of the CIA and then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, The Chronicle has learned.

According to thousands of pages of FBI records obtained by The Chronicle after a 17-year legal fight, the FBI unlawfully schemed with the head of the CIA to harass students, faculty and members of the Board of Regents, and mounted a concerted campaign to destroy the career of UC President Clark Kerr, which included sending the White House derogatory allegations about him that the bureau knew were false.

The FBI, in contrast, developed a "close and cordial" relationship with Reagan, who made campus unrest a major issue and vowed to fire Kerr during his 1966 gubernatorial campaign. […]

Following the violent 1969 People's Park protests in Berkeley, Herbert Ellingwood, Reagan's legal affairs secretary, met with DeLoach to discuss campus unrest. "Governor Reagan is dedicated to the destruction of disruptive elements on California campuses," Ellingwood said, according to the records.

The Reagan administration planned on "hounding" protest groups as much as possible by "bringing any form of violation available against them." Reagan officials might bring tax cases against them, Ellingwood added, and would also mount a "psychological warfare campaign" against protesters.

Ellingwood asked if the FBI would give Reagan more intelligence reports, and Hoover agreed.

"This has been done in the past," the director noted, "and has worked quite successfully."

Now:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in charge of protecting California against terrorism has tracked demonstrations staged by political and antiwar groups, a practice that senior law enforcement officials say is an abuse of civil liberties.

The Times obtained reports prepared for the state Office of Homeland Security in recent months that contain details on the whereabouts and purpose of a number of political demonstrations throughout California.

The source of the information is listed in some cases as federal law enforcement agencies, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an investigative arm of the U.S. Homeland Security department.

Political activities cited in the reports include:

An animal rights rally outside a Canadian consulate office in San Francisco to protest the hunting of seals.

A demonstration in Walnut Creek at which U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) and other officials spoke against the war in Iraq.

A Women's International League for Peace and Freedom gathering at a courthouse in Santa Barbara in support of an antiwar protester - a 56-year-old Salinas woman - facing federal trespassing charges.

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer's office learned of the homeland security activity more than two months ago. On Friday, a spokesman condemned the actions, saying they violated the groups' constitutional right of free speech.

Seriously. What is it--something in the water?