Rand Paul and his big balls
It took balls to filibuster the old-fashioned way. The man stood and spoke for 13 hours to get an answer to a simple question. Even liberal pundits were applauding him for his efforts and his point. Here, we have a guy who woke up republicans and also rekindled some libertarian love, while challenging the teleprompter in chief about whether or not he could X-box a citizen to death.
Because of that, rest assured, the Democrat and media (but I repeat myself) plan to destroy him is well under way. They’ll do this by tying him to his dad and some of Ron’s more coo coo statements. Or digging deep for that one time, at band camp, when Rand said something that, out of context, seems stupid.
But, this ain’t a post about that, it’s a post about this: it took balls to do that. If the average person speaks for 13 hours, they’re going to say something stupid. They can’t help it. Granted, my saying dumb shit to smart shit ratio is higher than most, after all, I say more dumb shit before noon than most people say all day (it’s true, look under the right side ads. Been there for years). If I spoke for 13 hours, I estimate 5 hours of it would be dumb shit. And it’d be hard to speak 13 hours anyway, much less staying on topic and not saying dumb shit.
But he did.
And that takes balls. And will. And a plan. The latter, I think, has people worried.
March 8th, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Here-here.
I’m sure Rove and Boehner are prepping to smite Paul and insert their wallpaper-paste Leftist-lite candidate as we speak. The kind the majority of the people would want get pounded by both sides.
Maybe, The Est. Republicans have learned from the last election and the one before that, that they did, and will continue to lose by margin-of-us until they return to Conservatism and Liberty.
Maybe. Doubt it.
March 8th, 2013 at 11:43 pm
“margin-of-us”
I am so stealing that.
March 9th, 2013 at 12:20 am
The real sad state of affairs is that so few in the Ruling Class have the balls to actually filibuster in the oldfashioned way. Truth is, anyone attacking Senator Paul OR not speaking out about the ever-increasing encroachment on our Consitutional Rights by this administration and its Democrat-lite sidekicks (Republicans) is eith an obamalicker, a dope (or both), or actually thinks the threat of drone hits on Amerikaans on Amerikaan soil is a good thing. If you think the ever-tightening noose of the federal government is bad now, wait until they have us disarmed.
March 9th, 2013 at 12:39 am
The attack on Rand Paul has already begun in the state-run media:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/08/carville-blasts-rand-pauls-cockamamie-conspiracy-theories-video/
Backwoods Engineer’s Blog – Guns, Tech, and Common Sense
March 9th, 2013 at 12:40 am
His only mistake was talking about some Supreme court case, Lochner.
It’s not easily understood but it is easily demagogued.
He hates wymyn, in other words.
March 9th, 2013 at 12:43 am
I have to say he changed my opinion of him and I acknowledge his courage. McCain had courage….once…when he was a prisoner of the Vietnamese, but now his courage is well past its due date. It’s time for McCain to acknowledge he is out of step, out of time and well past due. 40 years ago he had the courage to do what was necessary, but no longer.
That mantle has now been picked up by Rand Paul, he has the guts to attack and illuminate the problem…
All The Best,
Frank W. James
March 9th, 2013 at 1:06 am
Time to put the Lindsey Graham’s and John McCain’s of the GOP out to pasture. The party needs more Rand Paul’s and Ted Cruz’s.
March 9th, 2013 at 1:27 am
The return of Aqua Buddha?
March 9th, 2013 at 2:13 am
The son is not half the man the father was. Can you be more specific as to which statements of the father you consider “coo-coo.” Sure, they’re not popular stances, but at least the man stood up for his principles, and stuck to them instead of selling out and shifting with the public opinion winds. That includes his son. Of course, Rand should be commended, but he made sure to stay away from all of the sacred cows during his 13-hour filibuster… To me, that just means he’s more malleable, and that’s not a good thing.
March 9th, 2013 at 9:07 am
I think the best part about the filibuster (other than actually getting an answer and all the good press!) is that we now have two Republican Senators, on the record, saying that not trusting the government 100% is crazy talk.
Any time McCain or Graham happen to disagree with Obama someone needs to throw their own words in their face. “Thinking the president is going to have a bad fiscal policy is lunacy” etc etc.
I’ve always hated Graham and been tolerant of McCain but I’ve come to realize that McCain’s bullshit about being a maverick only applies to cases where he’s a statist prick. He’s the worst sort of RINO (I’m not a Republican so I don’t care about not committing to the party line) — he’s got all the shitty ideas Republicans have, and all the shitty ideas Democrats have. I’m almost glad that Turd Sandwich lost in 2008.
Almost.
March 9th, 2013 at 11:19 am
He’s turning into a leader… And scaring the crap out of the old guard! Good for him!!!
March 9th, 2013 at 11:31 am
McCain is going to be in the Senate until he becomes the latest exhibit in the Petrified Forest National Park in AZ.
HOWEVER, Graham is from South Carolina, and the way he’s been acting, I’m sure there’s enough REAL Conservatives down there to eliminate him in the Primaries, just like Indiana did to Lugar.
March 9th, 2013 at 11:53 am
One of these days Rand Paul is going to wake up and realize he’s not really a Republican. We Libertarians will be happy to take him in when he does.
March 9th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Calvin, Jim, Sure enough this guy is not his father.
But what he is, is a candidate that could help start moving the tides in a direction where in the future men like Ron stand a better chance of taking the big offices. Right now we have leftist in ‘conservitive’ roles and communists in the ‘liberal’ roles. It may take a less extreme (and don’t get me wrong, I’d rather Ron too) person with similar ideals to set governement in motion in the right direction.
Unfortunately, Right now setting the Gary Johnsons and Ron Pauls out there to run is just sending cannon fodder out to get beat, while both parties are poisoned against them, and the majority of the voters don’t know much about them.
March 9th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Uncle here has said it best- we got to stop eating our own. We have been loosing the incrimental fight for some time now. It seems like it may be time to start playing it.
March 9th, 2013 at 3:21 pm
Bobby — exactly. I don’t expect a perfect candidate by any means. It’s just impossible at this point for a politician to agree with me 100% and still get elected.
But there are a few issues which aren’t negotiable. Gun rights is one of them (fortunately guys like Rand agree with me there). While I don’t personally care for social conservatism it’s not a deal breaker in most cases (in Santorum’s, it was — he was a social conservative first and a human being second) — and social issues are a slowly turning tide anyway. Things like guns and the size of government, on the other hand… we’ve got to get ahold of those now. The government rarely ever gives up power on non-social issues.
But people have, even recently, made great strides on social issues (see civil rights, etc). Rand and people who think like him can stop the erosion of 5A. Then after that we can start to reverse the erosion.
March 10th, 2013 at 9:28 am
Ran Paul stood up with no donations, no Media planning, no position statements, almost no support from the party and made the President and the administration blink and back down. He showed that all it takes is the courage of your convictions, belief in the Constitution, steel in your spine and a pair of brass balls to change the course of the Statist Leviathan.
No republican has really derailed the obama train till now. Go Rand!
March 10th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
The fact that Graham and McCain, et al, don’t see and can’t acknowledge the progressive over-arching of authority and the creeping erosion of personal liberties that aggravates so many of us, including Senator Paul, is that they are part of the problem.
And I’m pretty sure that statement will get me on a Watch List somewhere…
March 10th, 2013 at 5:57 pm
…{lifts glass}..To Bill Brasky!
March 11th, 2013 at 10:04 am
Can’t wait to read the posts after Rand proves to be a disappointment, too.
March 11th, 2013 at 10:28 am
If the GOP has a future, it is with Rand Paul, Cruz, and similar actual conservatives.
March 11th, 2013 at 10:41 am
@ Barry
“the progressive over-arching of authority”
Until the partisanship is dropped, we will never make any valid change based on attacking a wing of the same bird. We are facing a corporatocracy and Mussolini said it best “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”, but partisans fail to see this and do not realize the illusion of a two party system. It is not the “progressives” abuse of authority as the Patriot act, military commissions act, and others were not only Republican but passed with bipartisan support and being justly abused by the left just as it will be by the right.
The only way to force change is through non participation until someone of worth is put on the ballot that represents the people, not the liars and elitist puppets that we have had for so long, and while Paul did shake things up I am still a bit weary of his true intentions, but will be watching him closely to see where his loyalties lie.
March 11th, 2013 at 2:53 pm
@blounttruth:
The trouble with non-participation as a form of protest is that, to the powers-that-be, your silence equals consent. It’d be like blacks in the 60s protesting “White-only” cafes by not going inside. Look at it from the point-of-view of the people in control: you’re not complaining, so you must be pretty happy with the way things are going. You won’t be noticed or heard until and unless you make yourself noticed and heard.
March 11th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
REMINDER: Go give a shout out to Senator Wyden (http://www.wyden.senate.gov/) the only Democrat to join Rand. While I am sure Wyden and us have much to disagree on. It was a very politically brave act to stand with Rand, against a sitting President in his own party.
That should be commended. And we should message his office lauding that deed. It might encourage him to be stronger for liberty in the future.
March 11th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
@ Archer
When 20 million non registered Americans sit at home on election night the PTB think that they are consenting, when 4 million registered Republicans sit at home they certainly take notice and the pant shitting starts.
The media labels Ron Paul supporters “Libertarians” as they failed to see that most are actually disenfranchised conservatives who simply refused to vote for McCain or Romney, and while many may think that was a vote for Obama, so be it. When he gets done with his 8 years of destruction you think those on the right are going to be a little more open to the ideas of Liberty, or will they risk a loss to Hillary?
The only thing worse than a politician is a partisan voter, and right wing voters via partisanship would accept Ted Haggard as president, and even hold up signs for him on his anti gay anti drug campaign while Hillary picks her curtains for the White House.