Finally, courage emerges. In the form of Senator Rand Paul.
The episode was sparked by a letter about the possibility of drone strikes being used on American soil against American citizens from Eric Holder, US Attorney General, in which he wrote:
“. . . it is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the president to authorise the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States.”
The letter was followed by Holder's equally disturbing testimony on Wednesday, during which he said:
“The president could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland.”
The administration has said it would do so only if "appropriate" and if capturing the target was "infeasible."
When, pray tell, is it "appropriate" to deny an American citizen their right to due process? And if you can kill someone, why is it "infeasible" to capture them? Tougher, perhaps, but impossible?
[This administration has gotten out of practice, no doubt, at capturing enemy combatants around the world. They can't capture them, because they don't want to hold them--that would be perpetuating Gitmo; and they can't interrogate them because they've banned any ability to extract useful information--remember? Torture, as they like to call enhanced interrogation techniques. But I digress.]
So in response to truly appalling comments from our Attorney General about when it might be "appropriate" to circumvent the U.S. Constitution, Rand Paul essentially said: No more. He stood and courageously, eloquently articulated the constitutional underpinnings of our nation, the ephemeral nature of freedom, and the transgressions of the Obama administration in this instance and others.
Committed conservatives, and no doubt many Americans who had not considered themselves to be such, hungry for truth without pretense, were mesmerized by Paul's performance. Alas, not all Americans were. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, took great glee in deriding the moment of bravery--a moment that had not been authorized by the GOP establishment/leadership on Capitol Hill. After supping with the President, who no doubt had a good guffaw during the meal at Rand's expense, Graham said, in a video provided by Gateway Pundit:
“This idea that we’re going to use a drone to attack a citizen in a cafe in America is ridiculous. And I think the American people need to understand the threat we face.”
I tend to think they do understand that threat, and that's why Rand's moment will be remembered as one of the more noble, and least political of our recent Congressional history.
