Does it occur to anyone how much leverage you can exert with that information alone in such areas as finance, divorce proceedings, opposition research, leak investigations, and good old fashioned blackmail?
To add to it, they don't even need a court order or oversight to do the metadata searches per Feinstein (today).
And such GPS tracking was just considered unconstitutional in a 9-0 decision by the Supreme Court. I really hope all this stuff gets to the Supreme Court. Even if not all of it is unconstitutional, I could see at least 80% of the policies comprised in Patriot Act and FISA Amendments Act being unconstitutional.
1: http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention
But in answer to your second question, it's not progressive liberals who passed the Patriot Act in the first place. We don't really have any representation in Congress at all, any more than libertarians do. Why do you persist in talking about an aisle when both sides of the aisle are wholly owned subsidiaries of corporate America?
Did I say "all conservatives" are inconsistent? No. I said there are people who simultaneously believe Obama is after their guns, but the NSA is just peachy keen, and I find this astonishing, and you think I'm being unfair to the poor little snowflakes.
Good day to you, sir.