I thought I'd seen everything at this point, but apparently not.
Roger Pilon is the Cato Institute's Chair in Constitutional Studies. CATO, for those who don't know, is a libertarian think tank in DC dedicated to, in their words, "the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace." I don't agree with them on much, and often their analyses are shot through with mistakes that betray a blind devotion to a very narrow interpretation of theory, but... in the end I nevertheless usually find myself grudgingly respecting their ability to remain ideologically consistent no matter what the real world implications might be.
But this is just... wow... CATO's Pilon is now supporting the president's effort to dramatically expand the government's ability to eavesdrop on terrorist "suspects." Concerns about privacy, including the constitutions injunction against unreasonable searches and seizures, warrant just one paragraph:
Privacy concerns are not trivial. The Constitution protects against "unreasonable" searches. But even with law enforcement, where the main function is ex post prosecution, not ex ante protection, there are numerous exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. Yet Congress insists still on micromanaging the president — and he, by failing to assert his authority early on, is now reduced to bargaining with Congress over minutia that will soon be as obsolete and dangerous as the underlying act is today.
Can't have the 4th Amendment inconveniencing the president, now can we?
My respect for CATO, such as it was, always came from the fact that they maintained an independent voice within the conservative establishment in DC. So much for that!
CATO is in favor of expanding the surveillance powers of the executive brach. I mean... wow.
[H/t: Matt Y.]
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