The question raised by Paul has the form of one of a dorm-room brain-teaser: “Well, would you be justified in stealing the loaf of broad if your children were starving and if there were no jobs even for the most diligent worker and if no social services or charity existed to help you out?” …

An optimist might say:

“David, there’s no need to worry. It’s the normal cycle of politics. We steered the ship of state too far in the direction of executive power after 9/11. Now we need a course correction. …

History, however, does not cycle so neatly. Something more than ordinary partisanship is driving this switcheroo. The alienation and fear to which Rand Paul spoke in the Senate yesterday – the alienation and fear that shapes the political environment to which Marco Rubio and Mitch McConnell must adapt – comes from some deeper and more tangled place than disappointment at the outcome of an election.