The New Hero of the Right: Rand Paul
Pseudo-libertarian kook Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster yesterday to block the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director was so confused and senseless, even John “Get Off My Lawn” McCain was fed up. And Lindsey “Benghazi” Graham now says Paul’s filibuster has convinced him to vote to approve Brennan.
“Calm down, Senator,” McCain said, in an apostrophe to Paul. “The U.S. government cannot randomly target U.S. citizens.”
In his filibuster Wednesday, Paul criticized the White House over its drone policies, and for refusing to rule out military strikes against U.S. citizens on American soil.
McCain, a staunch foreign policy hawk, said Thursday that Paul’s warnings that the U.S. could target “Jane Fonda” or “people in cafes” bring the debate into the “realm of the ridiculous.”
“If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids,” McCain said, adding: “I don’t think what happened yesterday is helpful to the American people.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) echoed these criticisms, adding that he was “disappointed” in the 13 Republican Senators who supported Paul’s filibuster last night.
The right wing blogosphere is absolutely delighted with Rand Paul, of course, but it has nothing to do with his theatrical opposition to drones; it’s because any Republican who acts out in public and bashes President Obama gets their uncritical support. They’re already talking about having him run for President.
Note that Sen. Paul is a frequent guest on the conspiracy-peddling Alex Jones show, where he co-signs every deranged fantasy. This is the new hero of the right.