Following on my last piece, Rand Paul is going to filibuster the nomination of David Barron to serve on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. But he isn’t going to do it by talking. He’s going to do it by objecting to a motion to proceed to a vote on Barron’s confirmation. Then they will have a cloture vote, and if 50 or more senators vote to proceed to a vote, then the filibuster will be broken and they will have a vote to confirm Mr. Barron.
What Senator Rand Paul is going to do is to use open floor time to talk about the legality of using a drone to kill Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. In the absence of a consent agreement between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a senator may talk for as long as he likes, and no force in nature other than the need to use the bathroom can make a senator shut up. This could conceivably cause a delay in pre-planned Senate proceedings but it won’t hold up Mr. Barron’s confirmation. It is not a filibuster.
Here’s hoping Rand Paul’s bladder bursts.
Also, isn’t he setting himself up for campaign ads that he’s soft on terrorism? I can imagine a Tea Party challenger saying Rand Paul objected to killing an Al-Queda terrorist, was worried about his “rights”, Rand Paul, the terrorists friend. The Teabaggers will lap it up. Maybe the challenger will pose in front of a gun rack, “This is how you deal with terrorists, Senator!”.
Indeed, the Dems lack the guts
A little interesting history from the Online Etymology Dictionary:
Freebooter seems to describe Rand Paul to a tea.
OT:
Watching Rev. Al.
Do you know those muthafuckas in the GOP are doing a Summer Lunch Program FOR ONLY KIDS IN RURAL AREAS?
They have written into the law – to exclude urban areas.
How are they going to slice out rural black-majority counties? Issue the funds to the discretion of the governor?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention rikyrah.
An ego trip, yes. But not a filibuster.
he’s a douche, but I don’t like drones.
The thing is, this kind of grandstanding is all part of his hypocrisy. And yes, even on the subject of drones he doesn’t have much credibility as long as he wants to militarize the Mexican border. How’s he going to do that without violating anyone’s civil rights?
Especially when you notice that his solution is always the same: demolish the government.
Also, he’s against the feds using drones but is totally down with states rights-droning the odd black guy (totally “matching the description”) in the vicinity of a recently-robbed liquor store – http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/23/rand-pauls-reversal-i-dont-care-if-a-drone-kills-a-liquor-stor
e-robber-with-50-in-cash/
F*ck him.
link to story about retired players suing NFL for patching them up w. painkillers and having them play with serious injuries. Wonder if this means some doctors violated their oath
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-ex-players-nfl-illegally-used-drugs
Art Haywood totally rocked it. Buh-bye LeAnna.
We need to get this fucking drone program killed. Rand Paul is wrong on a lot, but he is right on this. We should support him. The drone thing makes us look like the evil empire. It is just wrong, and it is terrible for our public image.
How ’bout them Clinton Coattails!
I was hoping Daylin Leach would win.
More on the ONLY RURAL KIDS EAT THIS SUMMER
WTF?
Josh Marshall – May 20, 2014, 11:35 PM EDT
I’m not sure why this isn’t a bigger deal. I hadn’t heard about it other than in this brief passage tucked away in a Politico article about the House GOP agriculture bill. But it takes a small program intended provide meals to children in the school lunch program during the summer months and says it can now only be used to benefit kids in “rural areas”.
In other words, “urban” kids are now out of luck.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/wtf-15