Discussion for article #236957
“They exited the Senate chamber en masse when Paul stood up to speak…”
As did we all.
Why not, since he was probably just ripping off somebody’s else speech we all heard before?
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“The National Security Agency lost its authority at midnight to collect Americans’ phone records in bulk…”
What the hell do you mean, “lost” its authority? As Gregg Allman sang, you can’t lose what you never had.
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The extraordinarily high level of cognitive dissonance I feel when I picture Rand Paul and am forced to admit that I am strongly applauding this effort is scary.
He’s not like a broken watch, because I cannot recall him being right a second time in any 24 hour period, but on this, he rocks.
It is what our govt is NOT telling us about this data that scares me most. To make me safe, there is no need to spy on my calls or texts. To make my family safe, there is not need to spy on my family or friends. To make our nation safe, spying on the entire country is too high a price to pay for that “safety.”
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Filibustering just seems like a waste of time for all involved, regardless if the person/minority has a legitimate objection or not. Seems like they ought to do away with it and just go to simple majority rule.
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Personally, I think it’s a bit premature to break out the champagne on this one. The fact is, the Senate will be passing certain other provisions without bulk phone collection. Paul’s just continuing in the foootstpes of his father and he’s STILL no closer to the SWH than before so…
However, I do think this is very problematic for the neocon faction of the GOP. Publicly repudiating the PATRIOT Act is a big step backwards for them. Compare and contrast the general sentiment back in 2004 when the neocons had managed to convince many (not all) Americans that anything and everything was necessary to secure - “the Homeland.”
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John McCain’s questioning Rand Paul’s motives is laced with extreme irony. McCain complained to reporters that Paul places “a higher priority on his fundraising and his ambitions than on the security of the nation.” One can only respond to McCain’s concern using two words: Sarah Palin.
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I didn’t see the speech but I listened to it on the radio and boy, it was a barn burner. I haven’t turned on the television today so I still haven’t seen it but I imagine it will get a lot of play today.
Yay! Temporary victory! Quick, everyone, we have only a few days to make all of our sexy NSFNSA phone calls!
Sorry I have to celebrate the little victories. Here in Texas, with one of Governor Greg Abbott’s top priorities being education reform, in the last month the Texas legislature passed bills that 1) allowed students to carry guns on college campuses, 2) eliminated the requirement that students need to pass all five of the 8th grade standardized tests to graduate high school (despite the fact that two of the tests, biology and algebra, only need a 37% to pass, but hey, we have the highest graduation rate in the country so clearly we are awesome!), 3) cut the annual budget to community colleges by 8.1%.
Texas is run by complete morons.