Fascism was all over the country a long time before recent events. I'm not a Trump supporter but assuming that this problem is something that should be of people's concern only now is just childish.
If you think the problem is old news, that doesn't make it any less urgent to fix. It's like seeing firefighters arrive and tell them not to bother, because the house started burning hours ago.
Conversely, that damage surface would be significantly smaller, and less of it would remain now that it can only be shut down in haste, had it been reduced back when the administration in charge was one that gave SV warm fuzzies.
I think it is foolish to think all of SV are allies of the people.
Consider that Trump was openly hostile toward Apple on the campaign trail, and that Tim Cook himself is gay, and the GOP establishment wants to roll back protections for LGBT+ individuals.
And consider Apple's vast war chest, which could really make a difference assuming Citizens United isn't overturned.
And I really don't think there's been a 180 on surveillance. I think the only people who were supporting the surveillance apparatus were the same people of an authoritarian bent who are now supporting Trump.
You are seeing ideological inconsistency where there is none in an effort to make your political opponents appear as hypocrites.
And the folks who voted and agitated for surveillance state champions Obama in '12 and Clinton in '16, of course.
Not many of the Obama supporters I know.
Of course they were more willing to forgive it! That's going to be the case. Partly because humans don't like admitting they were wrong. Partly because it's legitimate to trade off issues against each other. Partly because we're introducing selection bias - if it's enough to turn you off Obama entirely, you're not an "Obama supporter".
But there's miles between overly generous forgiveness and support. It was commonly named as an area where they were disappointed in Obama.
Change that (which I support) and we can talk 3rd parties.
I supported Sanders 2016 primary and his 2012 primary threat to Obama, after having voted for Obama in 2008. Once the options became Obama (and now Clinton), I voted for those simply because the alternative means more coal, less regulations, and more religious right.
I'm all in when it comes to privacy and I always agreed with encryption and everything people are suggesting to do now.
It is just a pain to listen to how this is being advertised now.
And before anyone starts complaining: 1. I'm not from the US and I don't live in the US 2. I'm against Trump and against Hillary
The saying goes "they went after group 'A' I didn't like, then after group 'B', now they're after me and I care. Well maybe if you 'A', and 'B' worked together against your common enemy instead of being selfish, short-sighted and stupid you wouldn't be fucked right now"
We are idiots and deserve everything that happens next 4 years.
But even if what you say were true, it invalidates nothing.