The debate over USA Freedom was a predictable and even healthy one. There is always a tension between liberty and security, and it’s appropriate to revisit this from time to time. Now, in the wake of the Paris attacks, one could reasonably argue that we should once again revisit our decision to move in this direction. But let’s not pretend this was a reckless vote. As I wrote a year ago, USA Freedom “removes the most odious aspects of the Patriot Act (it bans the bulk collection of phone records, for example), while preserving provisions security experts believe are needed to keep Americans safe.”

So what should we make of the political attacks? The problem here is that this creates a disincentive for anyone who actually wants to fix our nation’s problems. It’s far smarter politically to just talk about things. Have we reached an unfortunate state in our politics where having championed bipartisan legislation to address a real problem is a net negative? Sen. Rubio courageously worked to fix our broken immigration system, and—proving no good deed goes unpunished—he has been attacked in vicious and unfair ways. Likewise, Sen. Cruz worked across the aisle to address serious concerns about the intersection of civil liberties and national security, and today, that effort is being twisted and demagogued. I suppose turnabout is fair play …