Rand Paul’s Wednesday March 6, 2013 filibuster that
lasted a few minutes shy of 13 hours and was an inspiration to all Americans as
he defended our Constitution and traditional American moral values.
The issue surrounded the President’s lack of
definitive answers regarding whether the Executive Branch claimed authority to
drone American citizens suspected of being a terrorist threat on American soil
without allowing them due process.
The Senator from Kentucky had requested clarification
on the President’s authority since the leaked secret “White Paper” revealed a
legal opinion justifying the recent drone strike on an American born terrorist
Anwar al-Awlaki that was killed in Yemen in 2011.
The “White Paper” was problematic for a number of
reasons. First, it was kept secret from the oversight of Congress.
Second it
laid out new definitions and parameters to words such as “eminent” threat and
enemy combatant to justify assassination targets.
Thirdly, since al-Awlaki was a citizen of the United
States it raised issues over the unilateral right of the Executive Branch to
suspend due process without judicial involvement.
Fourth, if the “White Paper” is allowed to be used
as an unchallenged precedent that contains no Congressional debate then what is
to stop the President from decided other Americans can be targeted for drone
strikes with this new construct of power that ignores citizen’s rights per the
Bill of Rights?
Earnestly, Rand Paul wrote repeatedly to the
Administration for clarification by asking a simple question of the White House
on whether they believed that the President or Executive Branch has the
authority under the Constitution to drone Americans on American soil.
Instead of receiving a clear, unequivocal and emphatic
“NO” from the DOJ or any other spokesperson from the White House there was
first silence and then circumspect responses such as “no plans” to do so or
that it would be “inappropriate”.
More importantly, John Brennan who was intimately
involved with the drone program was about to be voted on by the Senate to head
the CIA. Rand Paul took a stand against allowing this murky non-committal
response by the White House on the use of drones. Holding up the vote of John
Brennan, one of Obama’s main promoters of drone attacks and “kill List” for
director of the CIA until his question was fully answered.
Anyone that claims this was a stunt; grandstanding
or an unreasonable position taken by Senator Rand Paul is not paying attention
to an administration that uses every legal contortion to further the President’s
power. (Example; when advisers discussed the President using the 14 Amendment
to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling).
The Senator’s filibuster could have been averted
completely weeks earlier by Eric Holder and or the White House by a simple declarative
statement asserting that the President has no such dictatorial power.
The Senator’s filibuster could equally have been
averted by the Senate majority leader Harry Reid by allowing a Paul’s
Resolution Bill to be voted on in the Senate prior to the Brennan vote, that
simple stating that the Executive Branch does not have the authority outside of
war or eminent threat to suspend due process.
Lastly, at any time in the roughly 13 hours of
Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster the Democrats or the White House could have
passed a resolution or sent over legal clarification to the Senator ending his
filibuster.
The Democratic Party has revealed three very
illustrative aspects to their ideology all Americans should take note. This
modern day Democratic Party so radical and
emasculated by its politics first logic that it sat in silence over the
most basic rights of Americans; life.
The first is Hypocrisy 101; in that Democrats do not
support water boarding claiming it is torture while being pro assassination by
drone. The ACLU was in support of Rand Paul.
The second is the Stepford wife syndrome; only one
lone Democratic Senator from Oregon Ron Wyden rose in support of Rand Paul and
the Constitutional principle he was advocating. Senator Dick Durbin should not
be counted for he was there along with Harry Reid to try and stop the
filibuster not join it or concede to Paul’s resolution, and move the Senate to
cloture.
The rest of the Party was kept loyally silent by
their master President Obama. The unilateral loyalty of the Democratic Party to
back their President’s noncommittal attitude on the most foundational morality
and American value of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is frankly
disturbing.
Lastly the Democrats Trans-morphing of Congress; call
it either Senate-Executive or the Executive-Senate but Majority leader Harry
Reid has created a body that has no independent power, no debate, no votes on
budgets and Bills deemed politically disadvantageous to the Executive Branch’s
political agenda. What should be a check and balance on the Executive Branch
and a Senate body intended to debate and deliberate pressing issues of the
country have been swallowed up by political partisan promotion and a silencing
of the minority opinion.
This Democratic Party contains few individuals as it
marches in lockstep with the President’s agenda regardless if it is in the
country’s interest. If the fawning Press corps claims to be controlled by this
White House then the Democratic Party has allowed itself to be owned by this
administration.
The fact that Senator Harry Reid refused to allow a
simple declarative Bill to be voted on freely up and down by the 100 Senators
as to whether the President has the right to suspend due process for Americans
on American soil reveals the Democratic Party’s complete subservience and allegiance
to the President rather than to America’s flag .
We also heard from Senator Ron Johnson when he spoke
during the filibuster about the dysfunction of the Senate. Under the iron fist
of Harry Reid little debate was ever heard on the floor in four years along
with the lack of a budget passed by the so called deliberative body of
Congress.
The filibuster was both a proud moment for the
people’s voice and a shameful silence of the disconnected and politically
arrogant Majority Party. Both Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham once
again showed the public their venial ignorance about standing for principles
when they criticized Paul the following day. They represent the old guard
political arrogance that needs replacing in Washington.
Rand Paul was speaking for many Americans very
concerned about an administration that has been secretive, dishonest, partisan
and careless with our treasures in both American money and fighting men and
women.
The drone issue is not settled. The drone policy is
not clear. The use of lethal force by drone must have better over sight other than to simply take the Executive’s Branch’s word on who makes the “Kill List”. Given that
John Brennan was the counter terrorist advisor involved with the drone use,
then what better time than before his nomination to demand clarity from the
White House on its legitimate use?
We listen to Democrats drone on and on that Obama
got Osama and al-Qaida is decimated yet they are cynically quiet about Benghazi and their
deafening silence on whether Obama has the authority to use drones on American
soil against American was heard loud and clear.
One word describes the silence of the lambs of Democrats during Rand Paul’s
filibuster: deplorable.
