That’s my column today. I use the word “paranoia” very loosely (perhaps too loosely) — think of it as a vigorous distrust of government and a keen sense of the fragility of liberty, fading at its fringes into conspiracy theories about threats to our freedom. I argue that this attitude is so prevalent in America on both the right and the left because it is written into our national DNA, present right there at the beginning in the American Revolution. All things considered, I think it’s a good thing.