And since google is in bed with the admin anyway, you can bet we are all crossrefrenced across many govt databases via IP addy and a number of other ways. NSA not required. Nor a warrant. Data mining 101. Most people never realize it.
Facebook is the other big one and there are many many more. Probably all feeding info to Der Fuhrer through force or willing complicity.
FR is about the only place I really trust and we’re out in the open here so the feds can gather info that way.
The IP of the poster is not published. You'd need to have access to the logs of the server. I highly doubt that it's happening. FR, like almost everyone, has no obligation to keep logs.
It is technically possible to intercept incoming communications near the router that FR connects to. That would be undetectable. However I doubt that it's happening - political implications of that are well illustrated by the IRS case, and too many people of unknown party affiliation would have to know.
In case of an obvious illegality the law enforcement can get a court order and contact FR personnel. Then they can get *some* information about the poster. But even then FR cannot give what they don't have. Posters are identified by one random ID (that anyone can easily find out by reading our comments) and by a few recent IP addresses that may or may not be of use.
I no longer care. I use my real name here and on Facebook, speak my mind, and would consider it a point of distinct honor to be the first person I know hauled before a People’s Tribunal of the Obama Revolutionary Youth Brigade.