They have been chipping away at the 4th Amendment for 25 years now. Sadly, too many people took the “if you haven’t done anything wrong you don’t need to worry” approach and, well . . . here we are. The “law and order” vote is the terribly mistaken belief that only the “criminals” need worry. The criminals are the ones who need worry the least. But, hey ... most of America cheered the passage of the Patriot Act so I don’t hold out much hope for what is left of our Republic. You see, people always think it’s “the other guy”. No, as far as the State (fed or local) is concerned, it’s you.
I also think a lot of people simply don’t know that you are supposed to be able to travel freely within the US without being stopped and asked for your papers. Or using cones to funnel you to the side of the road so somebody can try to coerce you into letting them swab your mouth.
We’re approaching the point where being a conservative religious person (traditional marriage supporter, pro-life), Republican/Tea Party (pro-gun, small government) or right libertarian (suspicious of government, privacy advocate) IS a crime.
It is already considered a suspicious matter per government terrorist watch criteria.
Daryl Dixon of The Walking Dead is seen as more dangerous than the real life Muslim terrorists who regularly behead relatives and blow up each other.