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Friday, March 8, 2013

Confusing Liberty with Rule of Law



In ordinary times, we would be praising the captor and extradition of Osama bin Laden’s brother –in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, to stand trial for his crimes against the United States. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was in on the planning of the 9/11 attacks and makes no bones about his plans to destroy America. As a nation we should praise the Muslim nations Jordan, Turkey and Kuwait for their efforts in his capture and willingness to turn him over to us.

It didn’t take long for Senator Lindsey Graham to take to the Senate floor to complain because the prisoner was not immediately taken to Guantanamo Bay. I think Senator Graham wants the Middle Eastern countries to know that we have detention centers that rival their dark sites. I have a lot of confidence in our justice system, but I will admit that it will put a strain on New York’s security measures, but they are more than capable of handling it. I’ve been to New York, “if the terrorist were to escape, he best not cross the bridge into Brooklyn because they don’t fear an aging fat man who runs his mouth.” I think he will become a martyr if he’s sent to Gitmo but not so much, if he’s tried like any other criminals in our justice system. I have the utmost confidence that the FBI can extract information without using enhanced interrogation methods that would make any information they obtained useless in our court system.

I have mixed feelings about Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster because he wanted to know if our government could kill an American citizen in this country using a weaponized drone. My read into the constitution would lead me to say “no” but evidently that wasn’t enough for Rand Paul, and his supporters. Some have faulted the administration for not being more forthright and perhaps they should have been but Senator Lindsey Graham said, this drone program was in place during the Bush administration and no one asked that question back then. If the filibuster leads to Congress taking a more active role in regulating drone use then I applaud it. I still think that Senator Rand Paul is the wrong messenger because of his penchant for hyperbole and conspiracy theories. I heard this morning that the filibuster makes Rand Paul one of the leading candidates for the 2016 presidential campaign. If that’s the case, the GOP didn’t learn its lesson from the clown show of 2012.

Senator Rand Paul loves to use the Hitler reference, although he tries to qualify it by saying that he’s not applying it to anyone here in the United States. He claims that a democratic system can lead to voting for someone like a Hitler. He doesn’t have much confidence in the American people or our 200 plus years of voting without even coming close to electing someone like Adolf Hitler. The other night he said that he had attended Tea Party rallies where he spoke ill of President Obama, so he mockingly pleaded for the president not target him with a drone. That kind of talk keeps the campaign contributions coming, and it keeps up the tyrannical government fear talk rhetoric the paranoid likes to hear and it’s all within his constitutional rights. What a great country we live in.

5 comments:

Edith Ann said...

Well, not all of the Grumpy Old Poots were happy with Rand Paul. John McCain (I know--growing more and more irrelevant every day) criticized Paul's stuff.

On the other hand, for me at least, it is becoming more and more clear that the republicans have zero interest in an educated electorate. It is strictly about the vote, and nothing more. I know the other side will say that about the Dems, and worse, but when you consistently parade your can of mixed nuts out as the voice of your party...what other conclusion could you come to?

The republicans wanted a way to make voting harder for certain populations in this country. Want to watch them panic? Just suggest mental competency tests! For voters AND candidates!

Mike said...

Yes, there is a war in the GOP senate between the old bulls and the young upstarts. The 12 senators who ate with President Obama the other night are being targeted for challenges.

Nationally- the GOP presidential candidates have lost the popular vote in the last 5 of the 6 elections.

You are so dead –on because one of the things which will come out about why the GOP lost the last election is mind-boggling...Reince Priebus thinks that they should not take part in presidential debates that are on MSNBC or NBC...Quoting the GOP chairman, Reince Priebus, “Controlling the debate process, getting involved in moderators and networks and all of these other issues, so that we don’t have chaos. I mean, we just can’t have MSNBC hosting a debate at the Reagan library only to have their network… make the commentary afterwards for three hours about the debate of the Republican Party. I mean, it’s ridiculous.”…..They know their message is not selling, so they want to keep it a secret…They can’t alienate the 47% and expect them to vote for them.

They refuse to listen to the message that the voters gave to both parties...."get er done..compromise."

BIGJ said...

The Democrats must also look over their shoulder in 2014 and 2016. I was also amused or sad depending on the time of day when I heard Kinky Friedman is thinking about running for governor in '14.

Mike said...

That's true BigJ,Democrats cannot become complacent.
I heard Greg Abbott is going to throw his hat into the ring,so that in itself will be pretty
entertaining.....Abbott vs Perry will be brutal leaving the door open for someone reasonable......I've always thought Kinky was a clown and I wound't vote for him under any circumstance;not even as a protest vote.

Mike said...

GOP senators screaming  because Osama bin Laden’s brother –in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith,was not sends to Gitmo to be grilled. They feared he would clam up while he was under federal custody.....Not so,even thou he pleaded not guilty today in federal court the FBiI managed to get 22 pages of statements in the short time he has been in custody.