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The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

And Then They Came For The Republicans ... Ctd.

By The Daily Dish
Apr 16 2009, 8:53 AM ET

Just One Minute explains why the right isn't being completely hypocritical for whining about that DHS study:

Andrew Sullivan chooses to miss the point and savor an "I told you so moment", exulting in his criticism of Bush's shredding of the Constitution and expansion of the "Surveillance State".  Uh huh - the problem with this DHS study is not that they are threatening extra-Constitutional surveillance and interrogation of people; it is that they are coming very close to attempting to criminalize non-violent political dissent.  That is deeply problematic even if they do it with all the proper warrants.

And when the Bushies cordoned off demonstrators and tapped phones without warrant, and tracked protesters at the GOP conventions in New York and St Paul, the right-wing blogosphere was complaining, right? Right. I remember now. Glenn Reynolds, another libertarian who suddenly re-discovered civil liberties  and fiscal discipline on January 20, 2009, addresses the point by claiming he was complaining under Clinton! Doesn't that, er, somewhat prove the point: that Reynolds is a libertarian, as long as Democrats are in power? If a Republican is in office, the executive branch - even taken to the absurd extremes of Bush and Cheney - can do no wrong.



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