Steve Horwitz writes in response to my column:
Jonah,
I don’t share your views on the Patriot Act, but the larger point about the differential treatment of the opposition is right on the money. In fact, the one other piece of the puzzle you really don’t mention is the role of the Constitution. Those on the left who opposed the Patriot Act solemnly invoked the Constitution as sacred and screamed about the Bush Administration trampling all over it. But when conservatives and libertarians raise the exact same issues about HCR, the media treat us like wingnuts and we get the Speaker of the House saying that’s not even a serious question. Like dissent, invoking the Constitution is apparently a high form of patriotism only when it’s on your side.