Senator Rand Paul’s 13 hour filibuster over the confirmation of Paul Brennan for CIA Director finally prompted a letter from Attorney General, Eric Holder. It imparted some measure of victory for Paul’s efforts regarding the constitutionality of drone strikes against American citizens on U.S. soil.
Dear Senator Paul: It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: "Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?" The answer to that question is no.
Notice, Holder makes no mention of constitutionality.
However, Senator Paul accomplished much more than merely delay Brennan’s confirmation vote. His rail against President Obama’s ongoing drone strategy and its implied use domestically, opened a cornucopia of constitutional rights issues that are in danger of being trod upon by the current administration. Our hats go off to honor a true champion of civil liberties and a firm defender of the Constitution.
If there were an ounce of courage in this body I would be joined by other senators… saying they will not tolerate this.
Many of us appreciate greatly Senator Paul’s courage to make a stand against those who threaten the integrity of the principles embodied within the Constitution and the rule of law it conveys. However, other Senators have regarded Paul’s filibuster as a “political stunt” or “ill-informed”. These types of deleterious terms could be dismissed easily if they were made by democrat senators. But the pouting comes from republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
As if he had a precognitive notion of his colleagues’ negative remarks, Senator Paul asked of all Americans,
Are you so afraid that you are willing to trade your freedom for security?
To further this query, it is neither ill-informed nor political stunt but a truth, which has been bludgeoned into the minds of many Americans who believe that security from terrorism, augmented by our elected fear tacticians, is worth diminished freedoms. This is what McCain and Graham know, but fail to acknowledge. They are convenient fodder for an administration hell-bent on subverting the Constitution and further centralizing power into an already bloated federal government.
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