Rand Paul Ends Filibuster Over Drones

Says he made his point over civil liberties

Sen. Rand Paul has ended his filibuster after more than 12 hours on the Senate floor. The Kentucky Republican had staged the longest talking filibuster in recent Senate memory, railing with his colleagues for more than 12 hours against what they called the danger of drone strikes to U.S. citizens on American soil.

What began as a solitary movement by Paul brought on board 14 other senators, mostly Republicans. It even led appointed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to make his maiden Senate floor speech earlier than planned.

In filibustering the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director Paul admitted early on the effort would fail. But Paul proved considerably more successful in raising awareness of the issue.

Though Paul did not have to speak the whole time he was not allowed to leave the Senate floor. Finally, after midnight EST, Paul called it quits. "I think you very much for the forbearance, and I yield the floor," Paul said to sustained applause - a violation of Senate rules.

Conservatives rallied behind the efforts of the senator, son of former congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Tweeted former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele (@Steele_Michael): "@SenRandPaul received a well-deserved ovation for his lessons on liberty, the Constitution and leadership.. #StandwithRand."

And radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) wrote, "Bravo @SenRandPaul and GOP senators who supported him."

Politix reporting.

Was Rand Paul’s filibuster worth it?

[Dan_Tien]

I didn't think that a filibuster was meant to make a point, just meant to burn up time.

[DerivePI]

We can spend hours talking about the travesty of waterboarding but I've got a game to watch when it comes to the use of military drone forces to kill US Citizens on US soil.

[Dan_Tien]

@DerivePI So why not spend 12 hours talking about something that possibly could happen but never has happened and may never happen at all? If our own government wanted to use Hellfire missiles on US citizens, then they could just as easily order one fired from a National Guard fighter jet as from a Predator drone.

[DerivePI]

@Dan_Tien - I see it not so much about the situation but about the thinking that leads up to it. If Brennan and, more importantly, Holder cited the 5th amendment and their full willingness to uphold it (walk us down the decision process), then this sillyness goes away. Its not that hard - 1 - we have to be at war or in extreme public danger (9/11 was cited) and 2 - They have to be helping and supporting the enemies.

If someone is sitting in a US cafe, the answer is no, they can't be targeted.

[seedtick]

@DerivePI Well, over the years I have never seen our government, no matter who is in office, as something to trust with the liberty of Americans at home. They all see us through different colored lens. So, we must have written policy that goes thru congress and is understood by the American citizen on the street. In the case of the American killed in Yemen...IMHO, he was no longer a true American. He was a traitor and deserved what he got. Just ask the families of those killed at Ft. Hood.
RAND PAUL DID A GOOD THING.

[Seamus]

If it was meant to burn up time, they would've just read from the phone book. So you're wrong.

[InjusticeSucks]

His Accomplishment amount to NADA!!!

[bsking]

You are correct .. it amounted to nothing for the happily uninformed

[armed_liberal]

He accomplished more than any Republican congressman has so far this year. Our govt will not get anything done until the Republicans are ousted.

[BossTweed]

@armed_liberal You prefer a more Cuban Collectivist, Hugo Chavez Dictatorship form of govt for American families. You have every right to your vision for America!! And, so do the millions of loving parents and grand parents who totally disagree with your Orwellian Dreams.

[armed_liberal]

Orwellian? That would be: keep at war at all times (R), monitor and spy on your population (R), censor free speech (R). So, unless your grand kids are Chinese, they are getting the fallout from the Republican govt takeover of the last decade, comrade.

[CommonSense]

Anything to raise awareness of this important issue is a good thing.

[bsking]

I agree , sadly the saying " you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink" rings absolutely true when talking about Obama supporters, water being the truth, and in this case horses asses being his supporters.

[Mike_Monacelli]

He knew he wasn't going to succeed, stopping the nomination wasn't his true intention because he knew it wouldn't work. What he did do was cause a spectacle, something that far more reporting than it would have; hence, making many more people aware if what is going on. In that regard he was successful.

[bsking]

Absolutely. the mainstream government run media I would never report the truth about what holders response and therefore the White House's response to the question of assassinating Americans on American soil. they will however have to now

[Mike_Monacelli]

@bsking precisely. He just brought far more attention to the issue than would have ever been seen without his filibuster

[PNWest]

I disagree with Senator Paul but I give him credit for filibustering the RIGHT way, the old school way. He got people to think about this issue more than they would have otherwise. Sometimes the best you can do is to make the best case you can and go down fighting hard.

[martydotcom]

If he ever move to my neighborhood i think everyone should be put on notice. He's creepy weird

[PNWest]

@martydotcom That runs in his family. I still give him props for standing on the senate floor filibustering for 11+ hours. Brings back memories of the old racist Dixiecrats.

[martydotcom]

@PNWest Never a big fan of public mental masturbation

[PNWest]

@martydotcom The better the senator does right now the better it is for the democrats. Can you really imagine "President Rand"? Of course Karma could come back and bite me on this. Before 1980 I could never imagined the start of Bedtime for Bonzo as "President Reagan".

[martydotcom]

@PNWest Google "stupid statements Rand Paul". Advertising copywriter's dream. I think he'd be laughed off a debate stage

Besides look at what the " socialist" has done to Wall Street. Capitalism appears to be thriving

[Roco]

Just another politician wasting taxpayer dollars getting nothing done. That could have been twelve hours trying to get the losers to work on the deficit, the budget or something else more worthwhile.

[bsking]

Maybe so.. but he still got more done than the entire Democrat held senate

[marine1]

@bsking You are right and he out classed the whitehouse by leaps and bounds. Food for thought however, can we trust holder any more than we can trust obummer?

[RollinPapers]

It seems to me that the left is absent civil libertarians.

[GuyFawkes]

Great avatar :)
Yep.

[PoliticalSpice]

As was the right in the eight years Bush layed the ground work and created the legal infastructure for what is now occurring. This didn't happen overnight.

[bsking]

The problem is they're always looking for the next Rosa Parks.

[bsking]

@bsking of course these days they are probably looking for the Rosalita parks

[drpeeper]

@PoliticalSpice LOL You can't live in the present can you?

So you admit Mr Hope and Change gave you neither?

[lawnmowrman]

Up until today I strongly disapproved of Senator Rand Paul simply because of many of his Republican based stances. I'm about a -3 to the left of 0 on a scale of -10 to 10 with either being far left and far right. Senator Rand Paul took a stand that needed to be took and did it the way that it should be done. I guess he does have some redeeming attributes after all.

[riggers]

Sometimes all you can do is open people's hearts and minds to the knowledge of what's going on, and awaken them to reality. We the people have the power, but as long as we bury our hands in the sand and refuse to see the truth we will never work towards taking back our government.

[Starsplash]

Congragulations Paul, you wasted 12 hours of America's time instead of offering up alternatives and solutions. I hope you are proud of urself. Here's a medal.

[bsking]

Spoken like a true uninformed liberal. what he did was give idiots a civics lesson... He couldn't force you to watch it though.

[DogLady_1]

Rand Paul offered quite a few alternatives and solutions... you should actually watch something before deciding what was said and wasn't said... And the purpose of the filibuster was to oppose Brennan's nomination because he supports drone strikes on US soil against US citizens... This kind of thing sets a precident that an American cannot be tried for a crime without due process of law, but he can be killed simply at the behest of a politician... do you think that is a good idea???

[Starsplash]

@bsking no... what he did was waste 12 hours instead of doing anything useful.

[Starsplash]

@DogLady_1 Actions speak louder than words..

Do something then. Actually do something. But dont tell me talking for 12 hours without any action is doing anything.

[DogLady_1]

@Starsplash - Congress isn't supposed to do something without talking about it first... Actions may speak louder than words, but if no words were ever exchanged before the action, just how useful is that action? Action should follow words in congress... and Rand Paul shouldn't have been there by himself... Where the heck were the other 434 members? Napping? Schmoozing lobbyists? Those actions speak louder than words too, ya know...

[kyrebel]

Drone strikes on Americans on U.S. soil???? Wow, that's scary.

[bsking]

And what's even more scary is this sitting Attorney General who speaks for Obama Reef using to deny that Obama would kill Americans with drone strikes on our own soil. now that's fu#@ing scary.

[culinary]

I live in KY and have never really been much of a Rand Paul fan, but in this instance I am. He stood up for what is right, raised awareness of a VERY unconstitutional issue, and did what was right in the right way. Way to go Rand!!

[Malitia_Man]

Stand with Rand!!!

[MadAmerican]

If you are from Kentucky then you know this young man has the people of Kentucky's lives at heart. He has done alot for business and farmers here, and has done everything he can to raise the awareness of waste and abuse in DC. This filibuster wasn't only about the nomination, but about the arrogance of the POTUS to use drones to kill Americans on American soil. Obama didn't answer the question but stated "I haven't done it yet." People, it is very clear we cannot trust the government anymore. You cannot tell me that if a couple million people march on DC and demand the immediate impeachment and replacement of the president and his staff that Obama would not consider using drones against the citizens of the US. I am telling you that if states start banning automatic weapons and doing house to house searches that drones may be used to destroy homes so that the government can achieve their goal. You can call me crazy but think about twenty years ago of what we had then and what we have now. Gas nearly $4.00 a gallon, massive unemployment, 16 trillion in debt, politicians masked in scandal, taxes out the ying yang, rights being stripped at every level, release of illegal immigrants, massive layoffs, government shutdowns, disfunctional congress and senate, wars for personal profit, a president that refuses to work with congress and the senate, etc. Twenty years ago you would have never fathomed this, so what happens in the next twenty. Boys and girls, you better take heed and watch what is happening, because no one is excluded!!!

[PoliticalSpice]

Eleven years ago we fathomed the danger of unconstitutional over reach by the excecutive and warned about quasi-dictatorial powers being utilized by the Bush white house. You act like this all began under obama, but the laws, legal opions and programs he is using to do the things you object to were put in place by Bush.

You cann't seriously expect those who you ridiculed for oppossing torture, the patriot act, no-fly list, warrantless electronic surveillence and the war in iraq, to come out in your defense now that the very powers, laws and programs you approved of when Bush was in office are being used against the anti-immigration, no tax crowd that ridicuded our efforts to protest the abuses in power now. Besides it's kinda late. The very programs you folks support like national ID cards (Real ID act)- so you could target immigrants and roll out voter ID efforts - are they key to keeping everyone under control. Because of patriot act all local state and federal govt data bases along with bank and utility data bases showing where you live, and to the degree you use credit, what you buy is available to homeland security.

As the tv commercial used to say: "you asked for it, you got it. Toyota"

[cayjr1]

MadAmerican: Bush? Read some actual history. What group of veterans were fired upon near the White House in the past when they thought they had a legitimate cause to protest?

[Quantummist]

@PoliticalSpice ... Many of us spoke out against allowing the Federal Government having such power and it was during the signing of the Patriot Act I made this quote
"When you give your Individual Power to the Government you Adore do not be surprised when that power is used against you by the Government You Abhor" - Q

I said it again and again after Obama came into power and his followers happily gave him the power over almost every aspect of their daily lives with Obama Care and other power grab programs that his supported still stand for... There will be a Next President and those Powers Given to this Government You Adore will be used by the Next Government you Abhor......

[PoliticalSpice]

@Quantummist We have had this discussion before. The right, generally, not you personally, supported this under Bush. Moreover, you will correct me if wrong, but didn't you support some of the other things I mentioned? I'm pretty sure you said you did. In any event if the republicans in congress had tried to stop this wgen their parties candidate was in office, we wouldn't be where we are today. When my right not be be required to have govt issued picture ID is at issue the typical republican responds that is not a big deal. So when the right complains about obamacare my response is the same. This will go on and on until there is no more liberty, but I still don't see the right wing recognizing the concerns of people like me, so I really could care less about people like them.

[PoliticalSpice]

@cayjr1 That would be the bonus veterans. Congress was considering a bill to release immeadiately bonuses congress had originally promised the veterans would be paid in 1945. Hoover did not want congress to pass the law. Some 22,000 veterans came to washington in June to lobby for the law and set up an encampment. President Hoover was embarrassed by the veteran encampment. He ordered his secetary of war to disperse the protesters and soldiers set the encamconsidered

[NormalFlora]

He proved he was a pompous ass. But we already knew that...

[DyingBreed]

You are that much in favor of having domestic drones take out American Citizens on American soil without trial by jury?

[PrettyToez]

What was his lesson and stance?? I did not tune in because I am an Obama fan...but I am willing to listen and give credit where and when credit is due, unlike so many Pubs. So again, what was his 12 hour "lesson" concerning droned about? Enlighten me.

[Libertyiskey]

The President nor Attorney General never answered and danced around answering, would or could you use drones on American citizens not posing imminent threat and on U.S. soil? They answered we haven't done it yet but never said they wouldn't. Now I'm not a fan of the President but I am a fan of Jon Stewarts show because I think he's hilarious even if I disagree with him and Jon Stewart is a big fan of the President yet sides with Rand on this for what it's worth.

[dances-weebles]

who the hell is rand paul?

[BelinKS]

I am completely against drones flying over our own country! I think Paul's filibuster to raise awareness of the issue was called for. The Obama administration should not be getting away with drones over the U.S., it breaks the fourth amendment. I've been wondering if they were armed. I guess so and that is going too far!

[MarkJM]

Stand with Rand. Well done Sir. Next step should be to introduce legislation outlawing the practice of using drones to kill Americans on American Soil. If we're so unsure of it, then press for legislation to outlaw that practice. Rand Paul is right, no one politician should have that degree of power.

[gammler]

I don't know if anything got accomplished or not.

[RealityOne]

That depends on you.
The real measure of whether is accomplished anything is if you and I just lie down and forget about it. Senator Paul did his part, now it is up to us.

It has at least created a national discussion and THAT is accomplishment enough.