Kentucky Senator Rand Paul got plenty of positive pub (and no shortage of criticism, some from the old bulls in his own party) in the wake of his 13-hour-long old fashioned filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA earlier this month. It was the administration’s sketchy drone policy that had Paul exercised enough to take control of the debate. He wanted assurances from the Attorney General that drones wouldn’t be used to kill terrorism suspects if they’re US citizens. As effective as his Senate floor talkfest was, Paul sees another vote coming down the pike that’s every bit as filibuster worthy: gun control . . .
Let the harrumphing begin, beginning with washingtonpost.com:
The Senate’s leading conservative trio — Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) – are threatening to filibuster the Senate Democrats’ gun violence legislation slated for consideration next month, leaving open the possibility of marathon speeches in the mold of Paul’s nearly 13-hour filibuster on the CIA’s drone policy.
The senators sent a brief letter to Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) outlining their opposition to “any legislation that would infringe on the American people’s constitutional right to bear arms,” signaling they will oppose the procedural vote to begin debate on the gun package when the Senate returns from its current two-week spring break.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who’s hasn’t actually been seen smiling in public in over nine years, isn’t pleased by the news.
Reid announced last week that he was cobbling together several of the proposals approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month into one legislative package that will be debated on the floor for several weeks. Those proposals include a Democratic draft of a new universal background check on all legal gun purchases; school safety provisions; tougher new federal laws on gun trafficking.
When Happy Harry caught wind of the impending clog in the legislative sausage-making machinery, he unleashed one of his attack dogs to yap at the effrontery of the three obstructionists.
“It’s outrageous that these senators are unwilling to even engage in a debate over gun violence in America. No matter your opinion on this issue, we should all be able to agree with President Obama when he said that the children and teachers of Newtown, along with all other Americans who have been victims of gun violence, at least deserve a vote,” said Adam Jentleson, Reid’s spokesman.
Come on, guys, it’s for the children. The president says so!
Look for another torrent of #standwithrand tweets from 2A supporters around the gunosphere when the Tea Party fave takes the floor. Who says the US Senate isn’t still the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body?
If this filibuster does for the 2A what the last one did to drone support it will be the beginning of a golden age. It won’t, but a guy can dream.
Rand’s the man. He should run in 2016.
I’m on the his mailing list, and I’m emailing senators and reps all the time to oppose their crappy legislation. I’d vote for Paul 2016 in a heartbeat.
And as someone that will be swearing in as a US citizen this year, I’ll be voting for him.
He has my vote. Ron was a little too much for the majority of voters to wrap their minds around, but Rand has a message that everyone can stand behind.
Rand is a better bridge to what are basically libertarian ideas. I like Ron better, but for the sheeple, rand is a lot more palatable. Maybe he’ll convert a few more.
Rand’s last filibuster prompted a 50-point swing against drones in the polls:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/03/25/a_50_point_swing_against_targeted_drone_killings_of_u_s_citizens.html
We won’t see anything that dramatic on gun control, but it doesn’t take much…
I wonder if he can go super old school these days. What are the public indecency laws in Washington now? Filibusters use to involve the awkwardness of a bucket in a closet, and were probably more effective because of it. If someone is willing to poop in front of 99 other people due to something they believe in, then those 99 people probably realize he is serious.
Lol, exactly. If you go up to the podium holding a bucket, three days worth of Mexican food and a few gallons of water and explain that you aren’t going to stop yapping even mid-way through bowel evacuation, THAT would show people that you’re not full of it (har-har) and really believe what you’re preaching!
It all Depends ™ on the latest technology
Ha! :0)
Beat me to it.
Rand did it old school – he held it for 13 hours.
Lemming, that would be epic! I can see the 2016 campaign slogans now…
Rand Paul — Wore soiled adult undergarments, just to keep freedom safe for an additional 12 hours.
He said after the last filibuster he should have had a catheter… Betcha he will this time. I’ll definitely vote for him in 2016.
This news made my day today!!!
No Gun Control debate should come to the Senate floor for a vote. The Senate should not be debating Unconstitutional laws other then in order to repeal them. I simply do not trust Republican RINO’s to hold the line. I fear the RINO’s will compromise our rights away.
Great political move for Rand Paul. It can not hurt him and it can only help him to become the next President.
“No matter your opinion on this issue, we should all be able to agree with President Obama when he said that the children and teachers of Newtown, along with all other Americans who have been victims of gun violence, at least deserve a vote”
I’ll be the first to admit what happened at Sandy Hook was a great national tragedy, but why do the residents there have more rights than anyone else?
For that matter, what about the fact that most weekends in Chicago have a higher bodycount than that one day in Newtown? When are we going to address that?
Do we really want Chicago style gun control?
What happened to dissent being patriotic? How convenient it is that meme has been dropped when anyone disagrees with our sitting President.
Dissent is only patriotic when the other guy is in power. It’s always that way.
I can COMPLETELY agree with Obama that Sandy Hook was a tragedy and Congress should vote on something. Something that will help the children.
Let’s repeal that idiotic Gun Free School Zones legislation! Who’s the freakin’ genius who thought that was a good idea anyway? Magical signs that somehow repel crazed gunmen? Are you freakin’ kidding me?
I don’t think you can call the US Senate the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” if they don’t actually, you know, DELIBERATE an issue because of a filibuster. But since this particular filibuster helps a cause I believe in, I’ll look the other way…
It’s people like Senators Cruz and Paul that make me believe there’s still an America out there somewhere!
+1
Paul
Cruz
2016
+10
I’d vote for that ticket Chicago style (early and often).
You can still visit America in most parts of Kentucky, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas.
And Kansas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas, Alaska, new Hampshire, Indiana, Ohio…
I hate that cr@p about victims deserving a vote. Of course they do, everyone deserves a vote but politicians still do what they want in the name of the “majority.” Victims also deserve a chance to defend themselves and not become a victim in the first place.
Victims deserve a vote as much as they deserve a fighting chance. So there you go. They don’t have a fighting chance in ‘gun free schools’, nor do their caretakers/teachers. Their voice is one you don’t hear very often either, instead you hear the voices of Bloomy, DiFi and the drunken slurring babbling of Crazy Uncle Joe (at least, that’s what it sounds like. I cannot imagine a lawyer giving advice that makes people felons in a soberish state of mind) with the victims as a pretty bloodred backdrop.
God bless these beacons of integrity in the darkness of the hypocrisy that is our nation’s capital!!!! Let us pray that this is the start of the resurrection of the dead elephant party.
Paul is only one guy, The superbrochure.com is here ! Get in the fight today…. the Super Brochure has all the ammo needed to WIN … THE BATTLE of our lives is now on.. FIGHT. and FIGHT more…
And I deserve a better President, not the POSPOTUS I’m stuck with now.
The fact that Senator Paul actually stands there and speaks should be respected. Far too easy to filibuster on paper without having to sweat it out. When a man stands and speaks he demonstrates that he has an argument that he believes in, and in doing so, may hopefully engage others and enlighten them enough to persuade them to reconsider their position on a given issue. Kudos to Paul, Cruz and Lee. Hopefully others will support them……….
As usual, our government is a do no good , worthless bunch of criminals and con men. While they are waving “Newtown” in our face, hundreds of small children are killed through abuse and neglect in this country. The last government statistic I saw put the number of reported cases at about 700 a year.
That is about 3 “Newtowns” a month. Where is the outrage from our politicians over that???????
Oh come on now. Everyone knows its always in the best interest of the child to remain with their biological parent/s. Its not like people are just having kids for a welfare check or something.
/sarcasm
Public displays of not going along to get along are exactly what we need. Refusing to allow a floor vote to something so fundamentally unconstitutional makes me hopeful for the future. And it makes me smile that it makes the dinosaurs who got us here so upset.
“at least deserve a vote”. The vote to ‘move forward’ IS a vote.
It’s a lie that we don’t want to address gun violence. But the proposals being put forth by difi, biden and barry do nothing to address gun or any other violence. They simply want to disarm people, regardless of their past records or their reasons for owning guns.
I’m sorry but a tragedy does not warrant a vote on our Constitutional rights. They are supposed to be unalienable so while I’m sorry that Sand Hook happened, I’m with Senator Rand.
“….we should all be able to agree with…”
Yeah, I’ve heard this kind of talk before. It was usually during a party convention. The one with the nice red flag in the background…
Did it have a white circle and an Asian mystical symbol in the center?
Or a hammer and sickle in the corner?
Brian Terry’s family deserves to know the truth, but POTUS claims exec privilege. He is someone’s child. The 4 brave americans who died in Benghazi have family who deserve to know what happened, but POTUS is stonewalling. Call a spade a spade. Everytime someone in the administration talks about Newtown, the response should be, we waited longer for Fast & Furious and Benghazi.
And warrantless surveillance and secret terrorist watch lists and 4th Amendment-free zones extending miles from the borders and and and…
Opacity in Government.
Paul, Lee and Cruz, where in the hell is the rest of our guys? …or is that it?
I just sent an e-mail to my senator, Marco Rubio, asking for his support.
A few others joined Rand on the drone filibuster. We’ll see A LOT more join him for this one.
Paul is making a lot of good noises lately. He’s certainly got my attention.
Rand will face a lot more scrutiny (and ridicule) from the press with this one. But if there’s anyone who can frame the issue to our advantage right now, it’s Rand Paul.
Cruz, on the other hand… the last time I saw him defending the 2nd, he couldn’t help but to also throw the 4th amendment under the bus (He wants to combat crime by ending the exclusionary rule.).
I am fine with ending the exclusionary rule, if and only if, we replace it with criminal charges and life without parole sentences for any government employees that violate any part of the Bill of Rights.
“It’s outrageous that these senators are unwilling to even engage in a debate over gun violence in America.”
Somebody get the spokesman a dictionary and a copy of the Constitution. “Cloture” a vote that is taken to end a filibuster, is a vote to end debate on a piece of legislation. So by filibustering the legislation, these three senators will be pushing for more debate on this issue.
GO RAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am a Rand Paul man at 77 years old. He reminds me of me when I was young and I ain’t changed.
Engage the enemy. America is under siege. Go Rand Go!
People are really jumping on Randwagon!
Don’t all of the law abiding gun owners deserve to NOT have a vote?
Please, fillibuster that bill until Harry Reid drops dead from old age or a heart attack. And once he does, not a fuck was given.
It’s great that he’ll do a filibuster but he wouldn’t get my vote during a primary because of his recent enunciation of a liberal immigration position.
If Rand and Cruz withhold consent to move the gun bill from committee into floor debate, and Ried can’t otherwise get broad bipartisan support to move the bill to debate, then Rand and Cruz’s’ silent filibuster may stall the bill indefinitely.
That would certainly take some of the wind out of Bloom-bugs efforts to coerce, threaten and bribe Democrat Senators who are resisting supporting the bill because of their exposure in the upcoming 2014 election cycle.
Gun bills made it from judiciary committee already, hence the need for the filibuster.
During the committee hearings is when difi got upset and said Rand was speaking to her like a 6th grader when he questioned her knowledge of the Constitution.
That was Ted Cruz….
“a new universal background check on all LEGAL gun purchases” (empasis added)
Doesn’t that pretty much say it all? They’re fully aware it won’t do anything to stop criminals acquiring guns.
I am going to be contrarian and call this a stunt. Any Senator can block debate without going all Mr. Smith goes to Washington. It still takes 60 votes to bring it to the floor for a vote. There is no need for theatrics. All this will do is provide a visible target for Obama to attack.
What part of Harry Reid’s legislation would prevent another Newtown from happening?
Just a thought: an hour or so of the filibuster could/should be devoted to mocking the whole concept of “assault weapon” legislation by listing a broad sampling of all the various objects that have been made into weapons for the purpose of assault: knives, hammers, screwdrivers, tire irons, fists, baseball bats, pressurized water, … name them all, with example cases for each one! Then challenge those who supported DiFi’s proposal to have the courage of their convictions by trying to ban them all – or shut up! Make it so viciously funny the media (or at least Twitterers) can’t help reporting it
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