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I was a hard-core libertarian.
A lot of computer people and engineers are hard-core libertarians. Everyone always wonders why. I have a pet theory about this. Computer people and engineers always work within a closed and utterly logical SYSTEM, and all of the components in the system must be present and logical to work.
They then apply that thinking to GOVERNMENT, and notice that the SYSTEM is terribly broken. They notice that we have a Constitution that forms the basis of our entire government, and yet many of the things government does seem to be very obviously against the Constitution.
As engineer types, we understand that if the rules are not followed, the system will ALWAYS FAIL. And so, faced with the problem of government, we set out to build a perfect functioning system.
Remember Radar; he demanded ironclad adherence to the Constitution, and moreover, believed that he could offer a perfect interpretation every time. This is the start to any working closed system: you define it with specifications that cannot be broken.
I believed this at one time, too, but I came to find the problems with it. The most obvious problem is that humans are highly illogical and chaotic. This means it's impossible to create a logically sound set of rules for every situation. You just do the best that you can do and then leave enforcement and a judicial system to fill in the blanks.
Another problem is that humans will find the holes in the system and exploit them to our destruction. This was a 9/12 concept: we have a major problem if our rules are going to be used against us. We have to apply the Constitution, but the Constitution did not anticipate the world we are now in. We now have to wage non-war in countries we would never go to war with, by the 1789 definition of "war".
We must stop calling people "citizens" if they are going to use that moniker as an umbrella of protection in order to kill as many citizens as possible.
As far as not trusting the establishment, well, that is what allows the establishment a loose interpretation of the law. I believe that in a free country there cannot be a libertarian crisis in the corner where we are watching. People think the Patriot Act is a libertarian crisis, or that waterboarding is proof of our degeneracy. I believe that the fact that we argue endlessly about these points is our protection against them being a widespread problem. In the meantime, we have huge problems we're ignoring.
Think about this: waterboarding of three subjects resulted in street protest. Hundreds of thousands of dry anal rapes in prisons is a subject for hack stand-up comedy. Which is worse, which is more likely torture, and which is more harmful to rule of law and a civil society?
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