[Jhoffa_]

..we will have our libertarian brothern to nudge us when it actually becomes anything like a real threat.

That depends on how you look at it I suppose.

You could look at some of this as infrastructure. Assets in place to be used (or, in this scenario misused) at some point in the future.

Which is exactly what the Constitution was put in place to protect against. Future abuses of power.

Not problems today or tomorrow, but for all time. An insurance policy to protect us against abuses not yet manifested.

[KC Burke]

There are few traditional conservatives on this site that don't have a very real fear of government expansion and the creeping loss of liberty through the confort of "protection" in time of threat.

We do have those that joined us after the recount or 9/11 that are just rah-rah Republicans that probably think very little about such issues, and maybe a few fall into the neocon category on other issues, but growth of federal government is a joint issue for both sides of the conservative spectrum.