WASHINGTON — Almost 13 hours after declaring, ‘‘I will speak until I can no longer speak,’’ Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky finally relented early Thursday and ended his self-described filibuster blocking confirmation of President Obama’s nominee to lead the CIA.
Paul, a Tea Party favorite and a Republican critic of Obama’s drone policy, began speaking just before noon by demanding the president or Attorney General Eric Holder issue a statement assuring that the unmanned weapons would not be used in the United States to kill terrorism suspects who are US citizens.
Comments
Republicans spend 13 hours to once again show what useless buffoons they are.
Some Republicans spend 13 hours to defend the Constitution. Only one Democrat concerned about it.
Your comment is counterproductive, in my opinion. This isn't a partisan issue. Instead, it's an American issue. Making it partisan drives people into corners, just like you seem to support Romney no matter what he says or does. When Bush did similar unconsitutional things, he had Republican support so Democratic opposition to signing statements, for instance, was diluted and went nowhere.
It's not about political parties or personalities. It's about America and what this country stands for at a very basic level. I hope we're not a country that believes we should have an imperious leader who can murder citizens at will.
"to defend the Constitution" -unnecessarily, and in a grandstanding display of pandering.
I know you would find it very difficult to oppose Obama on most anything because you're apparently a Democratic "true believer." In this case, though, maybe it's Democratic apologists who are doing the pandering.
I don't know why you're assuming all this "true believer" stuff about me (you make it sound like you were expecting a response from me!) - here I am in general agreement with John McCain and with the WSJ editorial page! But my comment was meant to be a response to Barbara's, and I clicked the wrong link. No, I don't believe that Obama's a murderer, as you put it below. I don't see him blowing away Americans, and I'm not concerned about drones "on American soil". There are reasons for concerns about foreign drone strikes, but Mr. Paul's motivations here are suspect, as are Cruz's, an arch-conservative on the make. .... & I wonder how you would define your own views? I've seen you go from left to right to libertarian; my guess is that you go with whatever makes you feel good about yourself at the moment. Frankly, I'm somewhat disappointed in your strident tone, as I've often been in agreement with you in the past. I am hurt! But no matter, I still appreciate your pizza icon (though I wonder what it is meant to represent).
I will research more and try to see if I can become a bit more objective on this issue. I do suggest you do the same.
If Democrats were worth an ounce of spit they would have been up there with him. Has anybody heard the expression "a broken clock is right twice a day?" Well, Republican-Libertarian-Whateverian Rand Paul happens to right about this. Obama inherited an imperial, above-the-law mentality from Bush- now, as then, there are precious few courageous enough to stand up to this extra-constitutional, dangerous megalomania. And Holder has been a horrible Attorney General- going soft on Wall Street, hard on whistleblowers, and disrespecting the Constitution and the rule of law at every turn.
I'm certainly no libertarian, but I'm not afraid to agree with someone when I think they're right. And Rand Paul is absolutely right, in my opinion, about the drone strikes on American citizens. The President's power at most makes him a policeman. He is not a judge, jury, and executioner.
That is the kind of whittling away of the rule of constitutional law that can destroy this country. We have a judicial system for good reason.
I basically agree with Farnkoff. Presidential power is not unlimited and should not be unlimited, but in recent decades we've been driving down a dangerous road to a place most of us don't want to go.
Good for Rand Paul. I'm think there are probably silent supporters in Congress who don't have the gonads to support him openly -- at least I hope there are -- but nearly everyone else is acting like a flock of sheep. Obama is absolutely wrong on this issue. He has become a murderer. This is a defining issue for liberals. Do you believe in a democratic America based on laws, or do you worship a cult of personality.
The same Democrats who proclaimed "Waterboarding is Torture" apparently have no problem with outright killing instead. As long as it's Obama doing the job...And of course, to Obama and Holder, the Constitution is whatever they say it is.