sailingaway
03-07-2013, 04:46 PM
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Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) held the Senate floor for 12 straight hours this week, from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, in an attempt to block the nomination of John Brennan to lead the CIA. But the junior senator from Kentucky had a much deeper purpose – namely, seeking an answer to what he saw as a fairly straight-forward question: Can the president order the extra-judicial killing of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil in a non-battlefield context?
Though the filibuster is over, the Obama administration still has yet to clearly and directly answer that question. Paul should be applauded for this action, and every Senate Democrat except Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) – who joined in the filibuster – should be ashamed. The absence of progressive voices was especially noticeable by towards the end of the talking marathon, as conservatives like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) were clearly only there to take partisan pot shots at the administration about totally unrelated things like deficit reduction.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-rand-pauls-filibuster-matters-20130307#ixzz2MsJ79Stz
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) held the Senate floor for 12 straight hours this week, from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, in an attempt to block the nomination of John Brennan to lead the CIA. But the junior senator from Kentucky had a much deeper purpose – namely, seeking an answer to what he saw as a fairly straight-forward question: Can the president order the extra-judicial killing of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil in a non-battlefield context?
Though the filibuster is over, the Obama administration still has yet to clearly and directly answer that question. Paul should be applauded for this action, and every Senate Democrat except Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) – who joined in the filibuster – should be ashamed. The absence of progressive voices was especially noticeable by towards the end of the talking marathon, as conservatives like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) were clearly only there to take partisan pot shots at the administration about totally unrelated things like deficit reduction.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-rand-pauls-filibuster-matters-20130307#ixzz2MsJ79Stz
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook