Did liberals think that installing their idol in the Oval Office would put an end to the government spying they condemned during the Bush years? Did the words “big” and “government” not give them pause to think that financiers, terrorists, banks, and health insurance companies might not be the only ones scrutinized by a Democratic administration that views government as the source of all good things?

By doing nothing Democrats endorsed government surveillance.

Surveillance must only be bad when condoned by the opposition. Harry Reid wasn’t shy about his views on government spying when he slammed Dick Cheney over the NSA program:

The interference by the Vice President in the Senate’s efforts to conduct oversight of the White House’s domestic spying program is deeply troubling. Just as disturbing is the fact that Senate Republicans have once again decided to deny the American people real oversight of the Administration’s actions.¹

Seven years later government spying is back in the headlines. With Democratic majorities in Congress under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, why didn’t our Senate leader make sure we put a stop to it? He would have had backing from other senators like Vermont’s Bernie Sanders:

The United States should not be accumulating phone records on tens of millions of innocent Americans. That is not what democracy is about. That is not what freedom is about.²

Foolish liberals. What did you think your big fat government would do?

Liberals can demand privacy and plead for protection from the ACLU all they want (see: Don’t Worry if the Government Ignores Your Right to Privacy). They bought into government intrusion, intervention, and surveillance when they cast their vote for big government. Did they think that their president would risk letting something slip through the cracks on his watch? Did they believe that collecting information on Americans was the sole province of conservatives when the reach of Big Brother has gotten longer ever since Barack Obama stepped into the White House?

Idiots.

Sources