I wasn’t there the day the mafia collection agent came into the record store at which I worked to chat with the assistant manager whom we all knew to have an unhealthy relationship with organized crime.  My coworker and friend, though, said that there was just a chill that came off the man.

Nowadays, when I hear about that kind of chill, the experience is most often an interaction with a government tax agent, and it’s becoming an increasingly rational response.  Here’s the latest anecdote I’ve seen published, coming from Sarah Palin’s brother:

My father, who worked multiple jobs and faithfully and honestly paid his taxes for fifty years, had never heard a word from the IRS. In 2008, his daughter was tapped to run for vice president of the United States. Since that time, he has been, in his words “horribly harassed” six times by the agency. They’ve tried to dig up something on him but he’s always operated above board.

Yeah, I know.  It’s a Sarah Palin-related anecdote, and she’s a contentious national figure and all.  The reality is that, given the nature of my work, I’ve been hearing more and more of this sort of story at the state level in Rhode Island, and the victims aren’t necessarily more politically active than having testified at a legislative committee hearing.

The worst part is that they are forced to sign agreements saying that they won’t publicize their experience with the government tax agent, especially though the media.  That’s a red flag, right there, that ought to concern all of us.

I’m with Glenn Reynolds.  I’ll be liveblogging any interaction I have with the government that strikes me as suspicious, complete with the pay histories and profiles of the relevant department from top to bottom.