>Progressives have always been unhappy with things like warrantless spying, the no fly list, using drones to bomb weddings and funerals because someone on a 'kill list' is a relative. Progressives have been deeply disappointed with Obama for continuing these policies.
Continuing and extending, you mean.
It was like a great wall of noise suddenly disappeared the day Obama was inaugurated. They may have been disappointed, but they were pretty silent in their disappointment unless you knew which websites to go to. Where were the riots then?
And then they were so sure Hillary would be elected they figured all that extraconstitutional EO stuff would be fine, because Hillary is one of us, right? More of a will to power thing than any indication of principle, wouldn't you say?
>Generally conservatives appear to only get upset when it's a nominal Democrat wielding these powers. And switch to total support once a Republican is in office.
That's not an opinion shared by any conservatives I know until this president. Conservatives feel they've been punished for refusing to color outside the lines. For not using the IRS and the rest of the federal bureaucracy against political opponents like Obama did. For trying to compromise on SCOTUS appointments. For tolerating advocacy against their political beliefs by tax supported institutions like NPR and Universities.
If you want to know what conservatives are thinking now, it boils down to this: "Fuck you. We'll play by your rules, then. The constitution is a 'living document' that says what we say it says, and the structure and institutions of the government are only useful in that they advance our agenda."