The hard left was always paranoid about government surveillance because they didn’t want to get caught plotting their revolution. It’s still a knee-jerk reflex with them. I don’t think conservatives are particularly paranoid about it. We oppose it on principle, especially with the left, anti-liberty, folks in charge.
I realize that in wartime, and other national emergencies, extraordinary measures need to be taken, but big government types have a way of keeping us in a permanent state of war, and perpetuate the infringements on our freedom. If there is no convenient foreign enemy, they will find a domestic one, and if one of them is not available, they will declare war on a nebulous concept, like terror, or poverty, or hunger.
“The hard left was always paranoid about government surveillance because they didn’t want to get caught plotting their revolution.”
Too many people on the right simply refuse to believe that statement.
Regardless of how much information they have in front of their face, they simply refuse to believe it.
They believe, simply because they want to believe, there has to be another explanation and will endlessly search for another explanation ignoring what is right in font of their face.
Listen to how many people on the right say “some of my best friends are leftist, THAY would never do that”.
They actually convince themselves because their leftist friends would never advocate a revolution, NO leftist would.