Weigel pinpoints a root cause:
Before 9/11, the prevailing conservative/libertarian/Republican opinion of the national-security stateof any government effort to protect Americans at the point of a gun and the touch of a rubber glovewas mistrust. The second most common opinion was fear. And the return of those emotions is a lagging reaction to the fact that Republicans no longer have to toe the party line on homeland security. They can say what they think, which is that the state can't be trusted.
Charles Krauthammer, a steadfast defender of government power during the Bush era, proves Weigel's point with his column today:
Don't touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter. Don't touch my junk, Obamacare - get out of my doctor's examining room, I'm wearing a paper-thin gown slit down the back. Don't touch my junk, Google - Street View is cool, but get off my street. Don't touch my junk, you airport security goon - my package belongs to no one but me, and do you really think I'm a Nigerian nut job preparing for my 72-virgin orgy by blowing my johnson to kingdom come?
It's a long way from the Krauthammer of 2003.