Three Democratic Myths Used to Demean the Paul Filibuster By Glenn Greenwald, Guardian UK 10 March 13
Commencing immediately upon the 9/11 attack, the US government under two successive administrations has spent 12 straight years inventing and implementing new theories of government power in the name of Terrorism. Literally every year since 9/11 has ushered in increased authorities of exactly the type Americans are inculcated to believe only exist in those Other, Non-Free societies: ubiquitous surveillance, impenetrable secrecy, and the power to imprison and even kill without charges or due process. Even as the 9/11 attack recedes into the distant past, the US government still finds ways continuously to increase its powers in the name of Terrorism while virtually never relinquishing any of the power it acquires. So inexorable has this process been that the Obama administration has already exercised the power to target even its own citizens for execution far from any battlefield, and the process has now arrived at its inevitable destination: does this due-process-free execution power extend to US soil as well?
All of this has taken place with very little public backlash: especially over the last four years. Worse, it has prompted almost no institutional resistance from the structures designed to check executive abuses: courts, the media, and Congress. Last week's 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan's confirmation as CIA director by GOP Sen. Rand Paul was one of the first - and, from the perspective of media attention, easily among the most effective -Congressional efforts to dramatize and oppose just how radical these Terrorism-justified powers have become. For the first time since the 9/11 attack, even lowly cable news shows were forced - by the Paul filibuster - to extensively discuss the government's extremist theories of power and to debate the need for checks and limits.
All of this put Democrats - who spent eight years flamboyantly pretending to be champions of due process and opponents of mass secrecy and executive power abuses - in a very uncomfortable position. The politician who took such a unique stand in defense of these principles was not merely a Republican but a leading member of its dreaded Tea Party wing, while the actor most responsible for the extremist theories of power being protested was their own beloved leader and his political party.
Some Democrats, to their credit, publicly supported Paul, including Sen. Ron Wyden, who went to the Senate floor to assist the filibuster. Sens. Jeff Merkley, Pat Leahy and (independent) Bernie Sanders all voted against Brennan's confirmation, citing many of the same concerns raised by Paul. Some prominent progressive commentators praised Paul's filibuster as well: on CNN, Van Jones - while vowing that "I love this president" - said "Sen. Rand Paul was a hero for civil liberties" and that "liberals and progressives should be ashamed."
But most Democratic Senators ran away as fast as possible from having anything to do with the debate: see here for the pitifully hilarious excuses they offered for not supporting the filibuster while claiming to support Paul's general cause. All of those Democratic Senators other than Merkley and Leahy (and Sanders) voted to confirm the torture-advocating, secrecy-loving, drone-embracing Brennan as CIA chief.
Meanwhile, a large bulk of the Democratic and liberal commentariat - led, as usual, by the highly-paid DNC spokesmen called "MSNBC hosts" and echoed, as usual, by various liberal blogs, which still amusingly fancy themselves as edgy and insurgent checks on political power rather than faithful servants to it - degraded all of the weighty issues raised by this episode by processing it through their stunted, trivial prism of partisan loyalty. They thus dutifully devoted themselves to reading from the only script they know: Democrats Good, GOP Bad.
~ “I happen to feel that the filibuster did nothing. They got nothing out of it. There was really nothing gained by it. It was just a protest." Donald Trump
~ Paul's filibuster was “ill-informed.” Sen Lindsey Graham, joined by more than a dozen Senate Republicans
~ “If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids,” John McCain
Quoted Text
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s marathon filibuster could have injected new life into the moribund Republican Party. Instead, today, Paul’s actions are tearing the conservative coalition apart. The party’s old guard is having a fit at the impertinence of the new. Long-time libertarians are aghast at the praise Paul has received from Republican commentators they have for years dismissed as reactionary neoconservatives. The Republican Party – as they have been wont to do in the era of President Barack Obama – is busily engaged in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
John McCain summed up the views of many Republicans... Rand Paul is a a “wacko bird.”
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
~ “I happen to feel that the filibuster did nothing. They got nothing out of it. There was really nothing gained by it. It was just a protest." Donald Trump
~ Paul's filibuster was “ill-informed.” Sen Lindsey Graham, joined by more than a dozen Senate Republicans
~ “If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids,” John McCain
John McCain summed up the views of many Republicans... Rand Paul is a a “wacko bird.”
Gotta love when a self proclaimed liberal democrat quotes Donald Trump, Lindsay Graham, and John McCain to defend Barack Obama's policies. LOL!!!
Gotta love when a self proclaimed liberal democrat quotes Donald Trump, Lindsay Graham, and John McCain to defend Barack Obama's policies. LOL!!!
I'm sorry that you were offended by the truth... and the truth is, that his own Republican party, hates Rand Paul, Democrats hate Rand Paul and Independents hate Rand Paul. Other than this one 'Drone issue'... he has little support anywhere on the political spectrum, except, of course, from his base... the anti govt crazies.
Advice for Randy Paul:
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Offended? I thought it was GREAT!!! I love the fact he shined a light and exposed the cockroaches for the phony's they are.
Hmmm...Where is the civil libertarian wing and the anti-war wing of the Democrat Party going to go?
I think we might agree that the Republican Party is destroyed for a few election cycles, probably at least a decade. But what affect will this have on the Democrat Party? Will the anti-war/civil libertarians stay in the Democrat Party after being so obviously and arrogantly ignored for the past 4 years?
Good to see box is quoting Donald Trump(Birther) to attack Rand. He's a really good character referenece.
A few Senate Republicans joined Rand Paul's filibuster (Drone Jane Fonda???) But only one Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, spoke supporting Randy's Rant.
I'm sure that there were more (like myself) who would support more oversight of the drone program, but joining the Randy Rant, which accomplished nothing, was as we all know, a publicity stunt.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
but joining the Randy Rant, which accomplished nothing, was as we all know, a publicity stunt.
Politics IS a publicity stunt. How else to you start a national debate and change public policy? DUH!
You want to talk about publicity stunt, watch Obama's campaign tour trying to convince everybody the sky was going to fall if the federal budget was cut by $85 billion OVER TEN YEARS!
Rand Paul stole the civil libertarian/anti-war wing of the Democrat Party. You and the rest of the "liberal" democrats were late to the party.
Politics IS a publicity stunt. How else to you start a national debate and change public policy? DUH!
You want to talk about publicity stunt, watch Obama's campaign tour trying to convince everybody the sky was going to fall if the federal budget was cut by $85 billion OVER TEN YEARS!
Rand Paul stole the civil libertarian/anti-war wing of the Democrat Party. You and the rest of the "liberal" democrats were late to the party.
I'm glad we agree... Randy Paul's filibuster was nothing but a publicity stunt.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
I'm glad we agree... Randy Paul's filibuster was nothing but a publicity stunt.
Yup, we agree, it was politics. Politics that made the old guard RINO republicans furious and the Democrats confused on how to spin it. Except for the predictable - Democrats=Good GOP=Bad.
I've read the "Dems=Good, GOP=Bad several times on this board... it's usually posted by disgruntled Right Wingers. I don't hold to that theory, of course. I've posted several times that I miss the Old GOP who actually passed some good legislation and who supported other good legislation. I've posted positive actions by Republicans and supported their issues.
I think we all agree that the GOP has been a disaster in recent years... winning the presidency twice in the last 6 elections, while presiding over the worst presidency in modern times with GWB.
I really do miss the sincere Republican politicians who I often disagreed with, but who had the best interest of the country as their goal. Since Reagan, the GOP has abandoned it's roots and become the TeaBaggin' party of Obstructionism and Extremism.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Gotta love when a self proclaimed liberal democrat quotes Donald Trump, Lindsay Graham, and John McCain to defend Barack Obama's policies. LOL!!!
That list was to funny to even respond to him, like I said before if they're against you then that means you are doing something right Its even funnier watching box defend the drone program when you know damn well he would have been crying if that was a Republican doing the same.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
I also noticed Jeb Bush has been making his rounds, the neo-cons are bringing in their candidate early.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
I also noticed Jeb Bush has been making his rounds, the neo-cons are bringing in their candidate early.
Jeb, although much better qualified than George Worst Bush, is damaged goods. I doubt he will ever be taken seriously as a presidential candidate. He may serve in other functions, but not as the Commander in Chief, or VP.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
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