Rand Paul was right to oppose the NSA reform bill aka the USA Freedom Act. No one can vote to implement key extensions of the Patriot Act, even with restrictions, and maintain any consistency with a professed, hard-lined support for civil liberties. This is not to suggest that one cannot support these restrictions through procedural efforts while still ultimately voting against final passage of the bill. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee voted wrong on this, plain and simple. In Cruzs case, its not exactly a surprise given his recent impotence in the defense of civil liberties. With Mike Lee, Im disappointed and surprised. Theyre still good Senators, giving many good votes, but here, they get it wrong. The typical assertion of the Rand-haters is that at least the bill had heavy restrictions on the NSA and therefore it would have been better to support it because at least its less bad. Thats an interesting assertion from many of the same people who lambast the pragmatic posturing of the junior Senator from Kentucky. Presidential aspirations and the words given to the press in political statements -- thats all posturing. What matters at the end of the day is a yes or no vote on a bill. In this instance, Rand, as he generally does, voted the right way.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 01:14:17 +0000
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