"But while it shouldn't be overstated, there is a real significance here that also shouldn't be overlooked. Rachel Maddow last night pointed out that there is a split on the Right--at least a rhetorical one--between what she called 'authoritarian conservatives' and 'libertarian conservatives.' At some point, the dogmatic emphasis on limited state power, not trusting the Federal Government, and individual liberties--all staples of right-wing political propaganda, especially Tea Party sloganeering--has to conflict with things like oversight-free federal domestic surveillance, limitless government detention powers, and impenetrable secrecy (to say nothing of exploiting state power to advance culture war aims). Not even our political culture can sustain contradictions as egregious as (a) reading reverently from the Constitution and venerating limits on federal power, and then (b) voting to vest the Federal Government with extraordinary powers of oversight-free surveillance aimed at the American people."
Glen Greenwald in Salon wonders if a bipartisan faction can hold together to defend civil liberties.
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