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View Full Version : Rand Paul uses 2016 bully pulpit to push Obama on drones




jct74
05-24-2013, 12:14 PM
I very much doubt that Obama would have made that speech yesterday if Rand had not carried out his 13 hour filibuster and brought Obama's drone policy sharply to the public's attention for the first time ever, so good on Rand for forcing Obama's hand and furthering the conversation on this important issue.


Rand Paul uses 2016 bully pulpit to push Obama on drones

By CAROLINE HORN / CBS NEWS/ May 24, 2013, 6:00 AM

President Obama Thursday gave a sweeping national security speech outlining his approach to fighting global terrorism, the legality of his administration's use of unmanned aircraft to hunt and kill suspected terrorists, and his desire to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The speech was an hour long and in the middle of it were two sentences aimed squarely at one of his critics: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

"For the record, I do not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen - with a drone, or a shotgun - without due process," Mr. Obama said. "Nor should any president deploy armed drones over U.S. soil."

Back in March, Paul led a 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor over just this issue. His concern was that the Obama administration was setting a precedent that the federal government could order the killing of American citizens on U.S. soil without first convicting them in court. Indeed, this week Attorney General Eric Holder officially confirmed that four U.S. citizens, including terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, had been killed in overseas drone strikes. In his speech Thursday, the president justified these killings by asserting that "when a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America...his citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected from a swat team."

The president's remarks illustrate how effectively Paul is using his position as a conservative star and possible presidential candidate to further his favorite issues. Most 2016 contenders demur when asked about their political ambitions (See Jeb Bush). Many try to fly under the radar of the national press completely (See Andrew Cuomo). Not Rand Paul. At a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor last month, Paul admitted he was considering a run - and added that just thinking about it served a purpose.

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read more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57585995/rand-paul-uses-2016-bully-pulpit-to-push-obama-on-drones/

Warlord
05-24-2013, 12:34 PM
Heheh yeah and he's on THIS WEEK on Sunday to tell the corrupt Obama administration why they're STILL wrong :)

Warlord
05-24-2013, 01:31 PM
Warning: BUMPING CONSTRUCTIVE THREAD

jtstellar
05-24-2013, 04:42 PM
makes me want to laugh when i point out something like this, because i know it sounds like a joke but here it is:

Paul holds many of the libertarian views that made his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a Republican presidential also-ran with a loyal following.

ron has now been upgraded from fringe to "also ran!!" the msm will no longer be able to call this coalition fringe, and it is thanks to rand paul and his volunteers. i am commenting to point this out

Warlord
05-24-2013, 05:01 PM
I can't be bothered sitting through the Obama speech again but when Warlord did the live thread it was absolutely awful.

He was defending an indefensible policy of indiscriminate assassinations which are illegal and deadly. He asserts what he's doing in carrying out these mass killings makes America more safe when it's the exact opposite.

Rand is going to call him out on This Week on ABC and rip that disgusting speech apart and yet the trolls and haters on here won't care.

They will find something to be critical of while basically not giving a damn about the PRESIDENT who is KILLING citizens of Pakistan illegally... where's their 12 page threads on THAT? No. Rand is their serious problem. I wonder why. Could it be because they're actually opposition agents?

jtstellar
05-24-2013, 05:23 PM
I wonder why.

that's when trolls who don't matter anywhere else are made to think worth 2 cents of their opinions here when they talk about rand. if people call spade a spade and stop treating their opinions as equals, they will stop

Warlord
05-24-2013, 05:30 PM
People need to stop engaging them then.

I try to warn people but they turbo post in unison and drag people in.

It's annoying.

They also don't post much in GP or care much about the president who is actually killing Pakistani's and children in Yemen.. no sir. Rand's their biggest problem in America.

Aratus
05-25-2013, 04:08 PM
the 12 hour filibuster he recently did may have saved our Bill of Rights.
Barack Obama ran in 2oo8 as a "dove" but all the new feathers he grew
after his recent seasonal molting more than suggest to me that he is a
W~A~R~H~A~W~K most totally. we are inside an imperial presidency.