"Liberal Judge Backs Dem Agenda To Weaken National Security"

That's how the Republican National Committee, the folks who run gop.com, are spinning a federal judge's decision that the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program is against the law (a decision which Reason wrote up under the headline "Judge to NSA: Cut It Out"). The ruling came in response to a challenge brought by the ACLU.

Among the insidous black marks on Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's record? She campaigned for Jimmy Carter in the Bicentennial Year and was appointed by the sweater-wearing downer in 1979 (the same year, it should be pointed out, that Iranians–and Ted Koppel–first took American hostage).

More here.

I'm not one to be shocked by shrill partisan politics–I'm more likely to be entertained. But does anyone really believe that if, say, a President Gore or Kerry tried pulling something like the NSA program, Republicans wouldn't be up in arms? One of the oddest features of the current moment is how conservatives and liberals/Republicans and Democrats have switched on foreign policy and many privacy/anti-government issues–hell, even state's rights to a certain degree when you factor in the Gore v. Bush and Terri Schiavo matters–without really being held accountable.

One who did: Matt Welch, in "Temporary Doves: Why are the architects of Kosovo so down on Gulf War II?"