Rand Paul, Republican Senator from Kentucky and son of Ron Paul, has been filibustering, yes I will say that’s the verb, the confirmation vote for John Brennan, who would head the CIA. What is prompting this filibuster is the letter from Attorney GeneralEric Holder which states that the US has the authority to use unmanned droned strikes on American soil but has no intention of doing so. The letter was prompted by Mr. Brennan’s written answer last month to questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee, in which he had written: “This Administration has not carried out drone strikes inside the United States and has no intention of doing so.” It seems as though Paul’s filibuster won’t stop Brennan’s confirmation, but what it is doing, which the Paul family is good at, is raising awareness for an issue and garnering press attention. And I am glad that there are some politicians who have the guts to do that sort of thing.
Ron Paul, that other candidate that people kept forgetting about was still in the race for president, until yesterday. Paul, who had been taking advantage of the delegate system of picking a candidate has officially been pushed out of the race. Paul had been using states that use caucus systems for picking candidates for president, because in most cases there isn’t the “winner take all” system that primary elections have. For Paul to officially be on the ballot and have the right to speak at the convention he would have needed a plurality of delegates in at least 5 states, he was only able to obtain 4. My question is this, is Paul not even being taken as a serious candidate by most a showing that one must have big money to run for president. I wonder about that. Paul has some great ideas that should be listened to, but because he doesn’t have big money backing him up, most will never hear him, or they will all believe he is some sort of “crack pot.” I wonder where this “liberating” force of the internet is, and when will it “liberate” us from corporate government sponsorship?
I went on the Yahoo Political page today, and as we all know this page has a highlighted view of the candidates and there are still three candidates lit up, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Ron Paul knows he’s not going to get the votes necessary to win the primary, unless he convinces people to change their votes, and I really don’t see him as a viable Vice Presidential candidate. While I am reading around the net that Ron Paul did end campaigning this week, but still wants to collect candidates to change the primary voting system. I wonder if that was his point? Sometimes I wonder how serious Paul’s campaign was and if he was really looking to win or if he was just looking for a door into the system.
In a continuation of Rand Paul‘s fight against TSA. Please refer to my first article on this: How much Power Does TSA Have. Rand Paul has begun a campaign to get rid of TSA who he says violates our privacy, and he says violates our civil liberties in exchange for security. He is encouraging people to add their names to an anti-TSA liberty campaign. Matt Hawes of the libertarian-leaning Campaign for Liberty says the push is necessary because “the government literally has its hands in our pants.” We know that both Rand and Ron Paul have battled with TSA on a few occasions. So their opinions are skewed. Here is the better question, is TSA necessary? Is TSA protecting us? I’ve never had any issues with TSA other than the annoyance of taking off my shoes at the airport. What do you think?
1992 Rick Santorum Photo By Ted Van Pelt "Rick Santorum" (Photo credit: Ted Van Pelt)
Rick Santorum has never really impressed me, but he has never not impressed me. That’s the issue I guess. Rick Santorum is clean-cut, with a good home life and marriage, and he has seven kids. We would have to bring it back to T. Roosevelt before we get to a president with that kind of progeny. After this amazing sweep of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado primaries we have to take note of this man again. Santorum has been able to garner way more funding than he ever could before. He has become the new “it” candidate, and the “anti-Romney.” I think with the candidates left in the field I believe that will stick. We have left, Mitt Romney, the man with the money, Newt Gingrich, the man who leaves a sour milk taste in people’s mouths, Ron Paul, the man with ideas that nobody has been listening to, and Rick Santorum, the least offensive of the whole bunch. Can he beat Obama, I don’t think so, I can’t find the spark in him.
OK fine I know that a political caucus is not as exciting as The Hangover although it would be hilarious if Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum went out for a night on the town in that fashion. The next political contest in this never-ending soap opera for the Republican party is in Nevada. Now causes and primaries are two different animals with two different types of voters. I see Nevada being very good for Romney and Paul and not so good for Gingrich. Paul is able to capitalize people who are very passionate and willing to speak their minds. In casus formats candidates need people like that who are willing to get on a pulpit and speak for their candidate and his position. Gingrich has been his own bully pulpit and he is going into a state where his style of politics I don’t think will take the day. Romney has the Mormon factor. People like to vote for those who look like them and believe like them. I think that his background will resonate with voters in Nevada, since Nevada is more than just Vegas. I was on the Yahoo elections page looking at new articles and saw their front page. It had pictures of all the candidates with their photos grayed out as the candidate dropped out of the race. As in Big Brother or some other reality show, and that made me think. Is that what this race as turned into? A reality show where the winner or looser isn’t the candidate but the American people.
John Pistole, Head Of Transportation and Security Administration (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)
TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, charged with keeping the friendly skies friendlier. And after 9/11 given a lot more power than we think. After Rand Paul‘s run in with TSA last week many wonder if there are issues here with these screeners. Why are 14-year-old girls being given the full body treatment? Why as American citizens aren’t we all standing up for our constitutional rights to unreasonable search and seizure? Does getting on an airplane automatically make you a terror suspect?
Some 10 years after 9/11 the question is being asked, why are we still living in the same culture of fear. Now some would say because if we don’t the terrorist will come and get us. Well the terrorists don’t do the same thing twice, they aren’t that stupid. So why is it that we are having to go through these procedures that treat every American citizen like a terrorist. Is the illusion of security worth that much. Some would say yes, and I would say that I have the illusion of chocolate ice cream. I don’t have chocolate ice cream, and you don’t have the perfect safety you think you have. Let’s find something that protects us without loosing our rights.
Now I have had this discussion, or fact similes of this discussion with a few people in my social circle. This discussion of corse comes from people who doubt Ron Paul‘s electability, but do you believe that Ron Paul is in this race to win, or is he in this race to make a statement about the state of political affairs in the United States. Now Ron Paul is an older gentleman who has a very brash way of speaking and of acting. He has ideas that are against the main stream of both the Republican and Democratic parties. He doesn’t compute as a candidate for either party, and I think that is his point at times. That he isn’t as much of a politician as others, that he sticks to his guns and believes what he believes in. And at times he has been proven right. Now Paul isn’t a media darling, because he isn’t paying to be one. The party still doesn’t see him as electable, so they aren’t throwing their money behind him. Haven’t you noticed whoever is the “front-runner” will receive a whole bunch of extra TV time. Political TV shows still have advertisers and things of those nature. Paul’s base is not going to be following election coverage on Fox News, so why would he be advertising there?
I believe this debate seems reasonable to people because Paul doesn’t seem to be an electable candidate. He doesn’t fit the mold of candidates that we are used to. Paul isn’t telling us that he is going to give us X,Y,and Z and that everything will be better. On the contrary he wants to take away things, take away government programs to give us more liberty. So do I think Paul is in it to win it, yes I do.
Rand Paul, the younger and more articulate son of Republican nominee Ron Paul was detained today by TSA agents in the Nashville Airport. Rand Paul believes that a glitch caused the alarm to go off, and when he asked if he could go through the monitor again he was denied, and refused the full body pat down. Now Paul has different rights that other Americans don’t have. Rand Paul, as a Congressman could have evoked his constitutional right to speedy travel to the capital to quote the Constitution “The Senators and Representatives…shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same….” according to Article I, Section 6. Paul didn’t evoke this right, but he raised a question, that I think needs to be raised, why, ten years after the September 11th attacks are we still doing the same checks, the same random screenings, why don’t we have frequent travel programs, or other identifying programs that allow our identity to be known. Why are three-year olds being subjected to pat downs and diapers being checked. Why don’t we have frequent flyer programs. Some things don’t make sense to me.
The New Hampshire Primary is the first Primary that these candidates had to face. Remember as I have stated in a previous post, a cacus is a collection of those who hold the same political beliefs who then choose among the candidates. More in a town meeting type format. A Primary is when there is an actual election. According to 2012newhampshireprimary.comMitt Romney won with 39.3% of the vote giving him 5 delegates at the convention, Ron Paul took second with 22.9% of the vote receiving 3 delegates, and Huntsman received 16.9% of the vote receiving 2 delegates. Now a few, such as myself wonder if all of the negative press by Santorum and Gingrich actually hurt their chances because both only received 9.4% of the vote. The major players in this election, although the media do not like to admit it, are Romney and Paul. Both who stand by their principles and who do not sway towards popular opinion just because they think it will get them elected. This proves this model wrong. I am looking forward to South Carolina, that is an important state for Republicans. I want to see what will happen next.
We over here at Petdal have finished up the long awaited delivery of The Sexy Politco website. We gave the site it’s own scheme of purple and orange and made it 100% interactive with the users. It’s not just a blog, it’s a place for real knowledge developed by great political commentators. We would like [...]
Rand Paul, Republican Senator from Kentucky and son of Ron Paul, has been filibustering, yes I will say that’s the verb, the confirmation vote for John Brennan, who would head the CIA. What is prompting this filibuster is the letter from Attorney General Eric Holder which states that the US has the authority to use unmanned droned strikes on American soil but has no intention of doing so. The letter was prompted by Mr. Brennan’s written answer last month to questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee, in which he had written: “This Administration has not carried out drone strikes inside the United States and has no intention of doing so.” It seems as though Paul’s filibuster won’t stop Brennan’s confirmation, but what it is doing, which the Paul family is good at, is raising awareness for an issue and garnering press attention. And I am glad that there are some politicians who have the guts to do that sort of thing.
