It is midnight right now and Rand Paul is still filibustering John Brennan’s nomination over the issue of domestic use of drones. And good Lord, it is beautiful.
Some choice quotes:
When I asked the president, can you kill an American on American soil, it should have been an easy answer. It’s an easy question. It should have been a resounding, an unequivocal, ‘No.’ The president’s response? He hasn’t killed anyone yet. We’re supposed to be comforted by that.
…
If there were an ounce of courage in this body I would be joined by other senators… saying they will not tolerate this.”
…
So should we trust the President when he says, ‘I would never use the power wrongly, so why shouldn’t I have the power?’
…
I’m not saying that anyone is Hitler, don’t misunderstand me. But what I am saying that is…when a democracy gets it wrong, you want the law to be in place.”
Holder earlier said that they had no plans to use drones for domestic killing but reserved the right to use them in “extraordinary circumstances” which could mean anything. Paul is absolutely right to demand that the Administration answer questions on this.
Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Jerry Moran, Ron Wyden, Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, Saxby Chambliss, John Cornyn, John Barrasso, John Thune, and Mitch McConnell have given their support in the form of long questions that give him a break. Other senators are actually engaging him in debate. And really, it should be all 100 senators up there demanding answers from this Administration.
It’s rare that a politicians makes me proud. Rand Paul is making me proud right now.
11 comments
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West Virginia Rebel says:
March 7, 2013 1:27 am at 1:27 am (UTC -4)
It seems that the White House and most Democrats are in hiding. They can’t seem to stand the light…
Also OT but Alvin Lee has died…RIP.
West Virginia Rebel recently posted..Going Home
AlexInCT says:
March 7, 2013 10:06 am at 10:06 am (UTC -4)
I am sad to say that even if noble in intent this is all a waste of time. Team Blue could use drones to kill Boehner or Limbaugh tomorrow and these fuckers would cheer for it. The left loves tyranny as long as they are doing it. It’s not by mistake that the left spend the last 5 decades misrepresenting fascism as right wing so they could pretend the other side does it too. Holder did that dance because they really feel they should be able to do whatever, and he was not willing to just lie about it, yet. Maybe the pieces of the puzzle are not all in place yet. Obama has now done far worse than Boosh ever did when it comes to violating our rights, but the left can’t even manage a yawn, and the LSM is making excuses for him.
Hal_10000 says:
March 7, 2013 10:26 am at 10:26 am (UTC -4)
Paul finish was pretty good too. I’m not sure I could complete a sentence after 13 hours.
ilovecress says:
March 7, 2013 2:49 pm at 2:49 pm (UTC -4)
Bravo
CM says:
March 7, 2013 3:05 pm at 3:05 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, good on him.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/07/eric_holder_s_43_word_response_to_rand_paul_s_13_hour_filibuster.html
[Update: Appearing on Fox News this afternoon, Paul says the response, as short as it was, was enough for him to drop his opposition to John Brennan's nomination. "I'm quite happy with the answer and I'm disappointed it took a month and a half and a root canal to get it," Paul said."]
Hal_10000 says:
March 7, 2013 5:40 pm at 5:40 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I saw Holder’s response. Glad to see it finally. it was ridiculous that he resorted to such evasive language before. And good on Paul for holding him down.
CM says:
March 7, 2013 7:17 pm at 7:17 pm (UTC -4)
Sullivan called Rand’s fillibuster speech “totally awesome”.
I’m struggling to see the Holder et al gameplan here. I’m assuming there is one…..somewhere?
Mississippi Yankee says:
March 7, 2013 10:32 pm at 10:32 pm (UTC -4)
Oh by all means.
But may I suggest that you start to prepare your follow-up post, brimming with complete shock and righteous indignation when Holder does it anyway. And please don’t forget to somehow blame the GOP also.
Hal_10000 says:
March 8, 2013 10:03 am at 10:03 am (UTC -4)
If Holder uses a drone domestically, the only thing I’ll be yelling at the GOP for is not having him arrested.
Mississippi Yankee says:
March 8, 2013 8:50 pm at 8:50 pm (UTC -4)
Who do you propose they call to do said arresting? Campus police?
zinger says:
March 11, 2013 4:41 pm at 4:41 pm (UTC -4)
From a practical standpoint, Rand spoke for, what was it, 12 hours???
Do you think he wore Depends for the occassion?