Here is some extremely strong evidence that our political opinions are tribal more than rational.

“The reversal on the NSA’s practices is even more dramatic. In early 2006, 37 percent of Democrats found the agency’s activities acceptable; now nearly twice that number — 64 percent — say the use of telephone records is okay. By contrast, Republicans slumped from 75 percent acceptable to 52 percent today.”

I cannot help but think that if the former president were a Democrat and the current one a Republican, these trends would be reversed.

Many people, including Barack Obama, are now calling for a national discussion of the conduct of the NSA. In this intense video interview at MSNBC, Glenn Greenwald points out that such a debate could not possibly have occurred had Edward Snowden not released the information about the extent of NSA spying on Americans.