This issue can also be explained a bit by illustrating some of the divides that make up party lines.
The call to arrest Snowden has been echoed by both political parties. The mainstream of both parties is very pro-surveillance. While surveillance programs were certainly in place before 9/11, the Bush administration really furthered the goals of the surveillance (and the larger National Security state). The Obama administration continued that advancement without restriction.
I would say that the two political parties in the US both support surveillance in a pretty vast majority. The bureaucratic reasons for this are fairly complex, but the simplest way of putting it is that the mainstream of both parties is very authoritarian (what some, myself included would label fascist.) Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama (to some extent), and the neoliberal movement has effectively the same foreign policy goals as the neoconservative movement that gave rise to the Bush administration.
On the fringes of both parties, you have outspoken activists trying to address both surveillance and the larger natsec state. The libertarians on the right, (Rand Paul, Justin Amash), and the progressives on the left (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren) have all been outspoken against the NSA. The problem is that the mainstream in both parties tends to control Congress, the bureaucracy, and the media.
Gun Rights is a mainstream Republican issue. Every republican has to be strongly pro gun (both the mainstream GOP and the libertarians are) whereas every democrat has to be against it (Both the neoliberals and the progressives are.)
There are a lot of issues (or, in my opinion, non-issues) in American politics that tend to split the fringe in both parties. Topics like Gun Control, Abortion, Immigration, etc. are hot button issues that generally take the focus away from issues that theoretically should be very, very important, like NSA surveillance, illegal rendition and torture programs, assassination programs, and war.
It's sad, because the anti-establishment (Progressives and Libertarians) in both parties tend to agree on these issues. Frankly, most of the people who are pro-gun-rights are also anti-surveillance. These are the constitutional libertarians on the right: gun rights are guaranteed by the US second amendment, and privacy by the fourth amendment against illegal search and seizure.
The dissonance you're seeing isn't so much due to logical inconsistencies, but rather due to the weird, schizophrenic nature of US politics.
The call to arrest Snowden has been echoed by both political parties. The mainstream of both parties is very pro-surveillance. While surveillance programs were certainly in place before 9/11, the Bush administration really furthered the goals of the surveillance (and the larger National Security state). The Obama administration continued that advancement without restriction.
I would say that the two political parties in the US both support surveillance in a pretty vast majority. The bureaucratic reasons for this are fairly complex, but the simplest way of putting it is that the mainstream of both parties is very authoritarian (what some, myself included would label fascist.) Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama (to some extent), and the neoliberal movement has effectively the same foreign policy goals as the neoconservative movement that gave rise to the Bush administration.
On the fringes of both parties, you have outspoken activists trying to address both surveillance and the larger natsec state. The libertarians on the right, (Rand Paul, Justin Amash), and the progressives on the left (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren) have all been outspoken against the NSA. The problem is that the mainstream in both parties tends to control Congress, the bureaucracy, and the media.
Gun Rights is a mainstream Republican issue. Every republican has to be strongly pro gun (both the mainstream GOP and the libertarians are) whereas every democrat has to be against it (Both the neoliberals and the progressives are.)
There are a lot of issues (or, in my opinion, non-issues) in American politics that tend to split the fringe in both parties. Topics like Gun Control, Abortion, Immigration, etc. are hot button issues that generally take the focus away from issues that theoretically should be very, very important, like NSA surveillance, illegal rendition and torture programs, assassination programs, and war.
It's sad, because the anti-establishment (Progressives and Libertarians) in both parties tend to agree on these issues. Frankly, most of the people who are pro-gun-rights are also anti-surveillance. These are the constitutional libertarians on the right: gun rights are guaranteed by the US second amendment, and privacy by the fourth amendment against illegal search and seizure.
The dissonance you're seeing isn't so much due to logical inconsistencies, but rather due to the weird, schizophrenic nature of US politics.