jct74
03-07-2013, 01:29 AM
Democrats Absent During Rand Paul Filibuster Of John Brennan Nomination
Posted: 03/07/2013 12:30 am EST
Ryan Grim and Mollie Reilly
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans took the floor on Wednesday, launching an historic filibuster in an attempt to extract an answer from the White House to a simple question: Does the administration believe it has the legal authority to kill an American citizen on American soil with a drone strike?
It's a question that seems fairly nonpartisan on its face, but a second one occurred to those watching the C-SPAN broadcast late into the morning: Where are all the Democrats?
Republicans, from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to filibuster-leader Rand Paul (Ky.), spoke for more than 12 hours. But only one Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, spoke in support of Paul during that time. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) tweeted support, but otherwise progressives who might have assumed to have been supportive were absent, leaving members of the GOP as the sole defenders of civil liberties. The White House was equally silent.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) even joked that Paul's filibuster was "background noise."
...
read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/07/democrats-rand-paul-filibuster_n_2825847.html
Posted: 03/07/2013 12:30 am EST
Ryan Grim and Mollie Reilly
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans took the floor on Wednesday, launching an historic filibuster in an attempt to extract an answer from the White House to a simple question: Does the administration believe it has the legal authority to kill an American citizen on American soil with a drone strike?
It's a question that seems fairly nonpartisan on its face, but a second one occurred to those watching the C-SPAN broadcast late into the morning: Where are all the Democrats?
Republicans, from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to filibuster-leader Rand Paul (Ky.), spoke for more than 12 hours. But only one Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, spoke in support of Paul during that time. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) tweeted support, but otherwise progressives who might have assumed to have been supportive were absent, leaving members of the GOP as the sole defenders of civil liberties. The White House was equally silent.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) even joked that Paul's filibuster was "background noise."
...
read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/07/democrats-rand-paul-filibuster_n_2825847.html