You can decide on any evil/stupid policy as long as you secure yourself with a layer of people hired to carry out your plan. This way no one can do anything about it, because:

* People actually doing wrong things are 'just doing their jobs'. They are also underpaid, with no job security, so only a bad person would make their job even harder.

* Ones who order them are not actually doing anything wrong. It doesn't help that you often can't find the person responsible up in the chain of command.

So it works as intended.

You may have a point, but I don't know how else to act. I live in a community where 30% of respondents oppose flag burning, 20% support the right to do it, and the other half will agree with either side depending on how the question is framed. So 'patriotism' is a mixed up concept with two sides.

In my case, I oppose the forces of chaos by making a fuss about search without probable cause. I recognize the social cost of acting this way, but it's not in my personality to blindly consent.

A lot of people are doing their jobs. Does it make a difference if I pay somebody to be the metaphorical Westboro Baptist Church of government nuisance?

Good and bad should be evaluated independently from, "I'm just doing my job here." No, nobody is ever just doing their job. We're all affecting each other, for better, worse, and all gray things inbetween.

If their job is to invade my privacy and restrict my liberty then I don't feel obligated to be polite to them. I'm not sure if that makes me a bad person, but I'm certain that the Nazis were all just doing their jobs.