John Kerry was watched by the FBI in the 1970s, and now he’s whining that it shows how important it is to be “vigilant about civil liberties.”

KETCHUM, Idaho - Reports that the FBI monitored John Kerry’s anti-war activities in the early 1970s highlight the need “to be vigilant about civil liberties,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said Monday.

In a radio interview Monday evening on WBZ-AM in Boston, Kerry said the reports are “such ancient history.”

“It’s just sort of in the past, but it underscores to everyone of us why we have to be vigilant about civil liberties, why we have to have an attorney general who respects the Constitution, and why our Bill of Rights is so important in the United States,” said Kerry, who was on vacation in Sun Valley.

He added: “We’re suddenly learning about it because I am about to be the nominee of the party, and the Republicans are very good at finding records that have been lost for a long period of time, particularly when they control the government.”

Oh, those evil Republicans, spying, using records against you, controlling the government, the horror.

Kerry has a point, in a broad sense. I agree, we should always be vigilant about our rights and liberties, and the government has no business spying on innocent people.

But maybe the fact that Kerry belonged to a group that actually voted on whether or not to assassinate politicians had something to do with the FBI’s decision to watch him.

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