Billmon: Vox Pollsteri

One of the things that I find frustrating about the current debate over the surveillance state is the constant bickering about what the polls show. One side cites the latest Washington Post poll, showing that most people are OK with having their phone records swept up by government computers; the other waves the latest Newsweek poll, which says the people believe the information warriors have gone too far.

On balance, I think the characterization given by Carroll Doherty of the Pew Center (attached to the end of my last post) is probably correct:

"A solid plurality, around 50 percent" continues to say they would rather the government went too far in restricting civil liberties than not going far enough in protecting the country.

But I get a little crazy in the head when I hear people (usually on the authoritarian right) citing the latest poll numbers as a political justification for their own position.

The whole point of having civil liberties is that they are not supposed to be subject to a majority veto.