So... Apple vs. the federal government, huh? More specifically Tim Cook. Remember the San Bernandino shooting? You know, it was the random act of violence that leftists were praying was a white supremacist killing until they found out the killers were Islamic and it was an act of terror. No? Here, check out this refresher course.

The Islamic terrorist had an iPhone that the FBI can't break in to, so the federal courts ordered Apple to do it.

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook kindly told them to go fornicate themselves:

On Tuesday, in a significant victory for the government, Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of the Federal District Court for the District of Central California ordered Apple to bypass security functions on an iPhone 5c used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who was killed by the police along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, after they attacked Mr. Farook’s co-workers at a holiday gathering.

Judge Pym also ordered Apple to provide related technical assistance and to build special software that would essentially act as a skeleton key capable of unlocking the phone.

But hours later, in a statement by its chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, Apple announced its refusal to comply. The move sets up a legal showdown between the company, which says it is eager to protect the privacy of its customers, and the law enforcement authorities, who say that new encryption technologies hamper their ability to prevent and solve crime.

In his statement, Mr. Cook called the court order an “unprecedented step” by the federal government. “We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand,” he wrote.

Good for Tim Cook. I'm generally not a fan of his, but here, he's right.

Look, take terrorism out of the equation for a second. Think of all the ways that President Obama and his federal government has abused its power.That's the concern here, as Tim Cook went on to express in his open letter.

We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.

Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.

Let's say you even like Obama. Fine. We'll question your judgment later, but for right now, let's address the task at hand. Now, just imagine it's President Trump who has an FBI that can break into your iPhone.

That's what we thought.

Whether you're an authoritarian leftist, or a centrist-easily-manipulated-populist, you need to understand one thing. Once you grant the federal government a power, once you grant them the authority over an entire domain, you never get it back. You've opened pandora's crap-box and there's no closing it. So for all of you Obama supporters who just love his executive orders and how he uses them to screw Republicans? Understand that a precedent has been set, and as soon as someone you don't like takes office, it can be used against you. Yes, really.

No, really, I promise you it's true. By that same token, any GOP voters who want "their guy" to sign just as many executive orders to screw Democrats the way Republicans feel they've been screwed... well, know that you're only putting the current monster of a system that we have on steroids, and it too, will be used against you. This is how liberties go away. This is how Constitutional Republic's fall to dictators, or often worse, mob-rule Democracy.

That's why Tim Cook's (who ironically is a leftist when it comes to politics but a capitalist when it comes to business) letter could potentially be a landmark moment in our lifetime. I'm just happy that he's leaning toward the side of liberty.

Think I'm wrong? Go ahead and tweet me @SCrowder and I'll be sure to not care very much.