K-Nice stepped through the wormhole looking more hurried than usual. He never discussed his age, but from his many first-person antedeluvian accounts, Gali had guessed that he was, well, as old as the hills. Lately, K-Nice’s high-dimensional space jumps had picked up a frantic pace, as he monitored FBI JTT sting operations in various stages of development.  Gali wondered if eternity was not finally catching up to his mentor. “Let’s get cracking on that SoF blog entry, Gali. The FBI’s going to be making an announcement in the morning. The Farouk “The Oracle” al-Aziz – aka Craig Monteilh – debacle was textbook snafu. His public admissions threw a wrench in the plan, and ever since they’ve been trying to pull the trigger on any number of their operatives…”

“You mean their snitches…”

“You can’t use that term, Gali. It’s just not professional. Most of all, it’s too polemic. It’s right there in the State of Formation instructions…stay away from polemics…”

“OK. What about Judas? Can I call these guys a Judas. That’s not polemic, right? They’re selfish and hell bent on betraying the community. And didn’t you say before that…”

“What I said before was that there is a theory that the Iscariot in Judas’ name proves that he was sicarii, a group of assassins intent on driving the Romans out of Judea…”

“Isn’t that the same thing going on here? Betrayal, false assassins, empire…”

“I said it was a theory. Most of the theories were nothing more than intolerant designs to lay blame at the feet of one group under siege or another, sponsored by the invisible hand of the empire. That’s what’s going on here. Not infrequently, these theories were projected back onto the original event so as to muddle waters, as it were. I know. I was there. Monitoring these things are part of my job description. Focus on the actions of the individuals, but keep things in the perspective of empire and its various law enforcement organs. History is complex. Where humans are involved, the complex complexifies.”

“True that. Note to self: Judas was not an FBI snitch. OK, so what were you saying about the JTT before I so rudely cut you off?”

“Oh yes. Right. So they have a number of these guys – and a few women – who like Mohamed Osman Mohamud or Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, believe they are involved in a jihad operation, but who are actually involved with FBI operatives who are toying…”

“OK OK OK…we’ve been through all that before K-Nice…Tell me something we don’t already know.” Gali and Khidhr had come to an agreement some time ago that Khidhr sounded too much like ‘kidder.’ As Gali reasoned, on a subliminal level no one would take the words of a ‘kidder’ seriously. Khidhr had actually rolled his eyes while listening to this psycho babble. But he knew he had to be patient with Gali. Since it was apparently protected from suggesting anything subliminal, ‘K-Nice‘ is who he would be. Khidhr was the zen master of patience’s zen master. Teaching by example how to embody patience had always yielded great results. It had worked  with the young Moses, with countless before him, and with countless of others since. In the eternal scheme of things, K-Nice wasn’t a terrible moniker either, not when compared to Enoch or “Nochie,” or the tongue twisting Thoth. Hermes wasn’t bad. Dan…now that was a cool one. Simple. Easy to pronounce. Economy of words…

“Helloo…K-Boogie! Will you please get to the point. I’m working on a deadline here. You were saying…FBI operative, snitch, and jihad operation.”

“Sigh!!” Shaking his head in exasperation: “OK let’s be clear, Gee. People like Monteil function – as you so crudely put it – as the snitch-type. This type of person is a criminal element, of one sort or another, ‘recruited’ by law enforcement to ferret out other individuals who are possibly disposed to criminal behavior, in return for a reward. The reward could be cash, lightened sentences for their crimes, etc. In this case the target behavior is illegal and violent.”

“This targeting sounds eerily similar to COINTELPRO.”

“Yes and no. COINTELPRO was a massive FBI assault, primarily against political organizations, and their leaders, supposedly for their subversive…”

“Whereas now only they are focusing on the vulnerable and damaged goo…”

“Vulnerable isn’t the right word for them…”

“OK, but you would agree these tactics are entrapment, plain and simple?”

“With hairsplitting legalese, the courts have ruled what the Justice Department is doing as only ‘legally objectionable.’ So apparently, entrapment doesn’t hold up in court. But let’s set aside the COINTELPRO – JTT comparisons for the moment and get back to the reason why I’m here. Tomorrow the FBI will announce the arrest of Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, for trying to blow up a military recruitment center with a fake bomb, provided – of course – by his FBI operative. Martinez came to the FBI’s attention through Facebook, but as far as the reported MO, it being reported as being the same as the others.”

“Who’s doing the hairsplitting now, K-Nice? His MO is reported as being the same as the others. Ha Ha Ha. What gives? What really happened?”

“You know I can’t tell you that, Gee…time travel imperatives and all. Besides, even if I did tell you specifics, at the rate that you type, it would be stale news by the time you publish. Think of this as a courtesy call. Muslim have to remain vigilant with zero tolerance for these so-called jihadis within your midst. You must also communicate your case plainly and fairly. People of good will, Muslim or not, will stand with you. What the Islamic Center of Irvine did to ‘the Oracle,’ and what you did this summer, are good examples preventing evil and mischief whenever it appears.” Gali had stopped into a Gotham City mosque for afternoon prayer one muggy day last August. A street vendor adjacent to the mosque was blaring the speech of an intolerant over a portable CD player. Gali thought to himself, “that can’t be who I think it is. What kind of nut would play this crap, and in front of the mosque, at that.” Aloud to the vendor: Excuse me brother, but do you know who that is whose tape you’re playing?”

Grinning: “Why, you scared? You afraid of these people?” By ‘these people’ he was implying the law enforcement authorities.

“Bruh, that’s not the point. Leave aside for a moment, the fact that what he’s saying is total nonsense. Why would you come in front of the mosque to play this, with all that’s been happening? If the feds were to swoop down on you now, with your proximity to the mosque, they’d snatch up you and everybody inside. Is the five dollars you’re going to make from that CD really worth all of that…” To himself “…you little chump?” Gali disappeared inside and headed straight to the prayer leader, mosque elders, and other congregants. A lively conversation ensued and afterward a compromise was reached that the vendor could remain outside, but on condition that he play recitations of the Qur’an. Amazingly, the purveyor of intolerance protested the decision’s infringement on his rights.

“No Gali” K-Nice huffed, “You cannot refer to him as a Judas in the blog.”

“OK. OK. Okay!! Just checking…”

Publish.