WHILE NIXON CAMPAIGNED, THE F.B.I. WATCHED JOHN LENNON

In December 1971, John Lennon sang at an Ann Arbor, Mich., concert
calling for the release of a man who had been given 10 years in
prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. The song he wrote for
the occasion, "John Sinclair," was remarkably effective. Within days,
the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Mr. Sinclair released.

What Lennon did not know at the time was that there were F.B.I.
informants in the audience taking notes on everything from the
attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song. ("Lacking
Lennon's usual standards," his F.B.I. file reports, and "Yoko can't
even remain on key.") The government spied on Lennon for the next 12
months, and tried to have him deported to England.

This improbable surveillance campaign is the subject of a new
documentary, "The U.S. vs. John Lennon." The film makes two important
points about domestic surveillance, one well-known, the other quite
surprising. With the nation in the midst of a new domestic spying
debate, the story is a cautionary tale.

It focuses on the late 1960's and early 1970's, when the former
Beatle used his considerable fame and charisma to oppose the Vietnam
War. Lennon attracted worldwide attention in 1969 when he and Yoko
Ono married and held their much-publicized "bed-ins" in Amsterdam and
Montreal, giving interviews about peace from under their honeymoon
sheets. Lennon put to music a simple catch phrase -- "All we are
saying is give peace a chance" -- and the antiwar movement had its
anthem. Two years later, he released "Imagine."

The government responded with an extensive surveillance program.
Lennon's F.B.I. files -- which are collected in the book "Gimme Some
Truth" by Jon Wiener -- reveal that the bureau was monitoring
everything from his appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show" to far more
personal matters, like the whereabouts of Ono's daughter from a
previous marriage.

The F.B.I.'s surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily
domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law
enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more
unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have
been intertwined with electoral politics. At the time of the John
Sinclair rally, there was talk that Lennon would join a national
concert tour aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in the
politics -- and at defeating President Nixon, who was running for
re-election. There were plans to end the tour with a huge rally at
the Republican National Convention.

The F.B.I.'s timing is noteworthy. Lennon had been involved in
high-profile antiwar activities going back to 1969, but the bureau
did not formally open its investigation until January 1972 -- the
year of Nixon's re-election campaign. In March, just as the
presidential campaign was heating up, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service refused to renew Lennon's visa, and began
deportation proceedings. Nixon was re-elected in November, and a
month later, the F.B.I. closed its investigation.

If Lennon was considering actively opposing Nixon's re-election, the
spying and the threat of deportation had their intended effect. In
May, he announced that he would not be part of any protest activities
at the Republican National Convention, and he did not actively
participate in the presidential campaign.

After revelations about the many domestic spying abuses of the 1960's
and 1970's -- including the wiretapping of Martin Luther King Jr. --
new restrictions were put in place. But these protections are being
eroded today, with the president's claim of sweeping new authority to
pursue the war on terror.

Critics of today's domestic surveillance object largely on privacy
grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government
surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try
to hold on to power. "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" would be a sobering
film at any time, but it is particularly so right now. It is the
story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.