In progress on CSPAN-2, Rand Paul filibustering CIA director nomination John Brennan over the unconstrained drone policy of Obama:
http://www.c-span.org/...
Here are some tweets from Rand Paul:
As someone who has been sort of in favor of drones, but extremely skittish about my whole opinion on the matter, it's nice to see at least some push-back from a senator.
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) has bravely been filibustering Brennan's nomination until he gets a guarantee that drones would not be used domestically and not to kill Americans.
I'm glad in our system that there's serious pushback against this, because I scare myself with how blindly I support the drone program.
So I cheer on Rand Paul and his classic talking filibuster over the drones program.
This is what the filibuster was meant to be used for, in extreme historic issues like a CIA director who doesn't seem to care about drones killing Americans or being used domestically. This is a brave move by Paul and I suggest everyone tune in.
Say what you want about the Teahadists and the GOP, but this is an extremely reasonable and just filibuster.
"I asked the administration: Can you use a drone to kill American citizens, non-combatants, on American soil? Their answer was yes." - Rand Paul.
The recent comments by Eric Holder have made this action basically the moral obligation of a senator to do:
In a letter to Paul dated on Monday, Holder said it was possible, "I suppose," to imagine an "extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate" under U.S. law for the president to authorize the military to "use lethal force" within the United States.
Politics is irrelevant, we need to have some constraints on this program, and if a filibuster is what is required to force the administration's hand, so be it! But there needs to be some kind of prevention at least until we debate it, that domestic drones can be used to kill non-combatant Americans. It's a line that I won't cross. Drones overseas to kill non-Americans is something I was okay with, but this is just getting crazy.