WASHINGTON — When Senator Rand Paul took to the floor of the
United States Senate the morning of March 6 he really — as they say
— may have made a difference. It is a difference in our awareness
of the issues facing the country. It is a difference in our
perception of the man who is leading the country, President Barack
Obama. It might even have been a difference in the direction the
country will go. Will it continue on its melancholy way toward
statism or will it follow the course of freedom as laid out by the
Founding Fathers?
Senator Paul rose ostensibly “to begin to filibuster John
Brennan’s nomination for the CIA.” Yet he aimed higher. As he
explained it in the Washington Post on March 10, “I wanted
to sound an alarm bell from coast to coast. I wanted everybody to
know that our Constitution is precious and that no American should
be killed by a drone without first being charged with a crime. As
Americans, we have fought long and hard for the Bill of Rights. The
idea that no person shall be held without due process, and that no
person shall be held for a capital offense without being indicted,
is a founding American principle and a basic right.” Thus he
filibustered for 13 hours, and his views redounded around the
Internet, on Tweeter, on Facebook. Everywhere!
Senator Paul is a Tea Party senator. He does not tailor his
message to the pollsters’ wise counsel. His staff does not include
handlers with political antennas. Frankly I doubt there was much
advance notice to his filibuster. He just went out and did what he
thought was called for by events and the result was astounding.
Millions of people, many who had never thought much about drones
and due process, listened and took his side. My guess is that this
moment is going to last. Senator Paul has come into his own, and
what I know about him suggests that he will be a major figure in
the Republican Party for years to come. He has his mind on the
issues that matter.
This is what the Tea Party does so well. It raises awareness
around the country about the slovenly way government is dealing
with finances. It focuses attention about shoddy government in
Washington and about constitutional issues that are being ignored.
The Tea Party cares about those issues because they are essential
to our freedom. Senator Paul believes that American rights as
embedded in the Constitution are being endangered. After his
performance on the floor of the Senate, millions of other Americans
now share his concern. He may just possibly have given the Tea
Party movement a digitalis. He may lead us into 2014 midterm
elections not unlike the 2010 midterm election. There is a frisson
of excitement about his performance that is not going away.
It would be a mistake to read too much into Senator Paul’s
triumph at this stage. Senator John McCain and Senator Lindsay
Graham went way too far in denouncing him. But the jury is out as
to how Senator Paul will perform on the world stage. The
Libertarian worldview flirts a little too closely with
isolationism, for my money. But Senator Paul has plenty of room to
grow there, and he made a very successful trip to Israel that
indicates he wants to grow and maintains an open mind.
We will see if President Obama does as well. He just installed
at the Pentagon the most anti-Israel cabinet official in memory,
and at the State Department a secretary who, two generations ago,
carried the arguments of our communist enemies into the Vietnam War
debate. He also installed as head of the CIA a director who, in
John Brennan, is closer to the Arab line than any recent top
spymaster has ever been.
It was Brennan on whom Senator Paul focused his now famous
filibuster. On February 20 Senator Paul inquired of John Brennan
whether “the President has the power to authorize lethal force,
such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and
without trial.” On March 4 Attorney General Eric Holder answered
Senator Paul’s inquiry with an inconclusive statement of
boilerplate. Holder’s letter opened more questions than it
resolved. He should have answered “no.” That Senator Paul knew to
focus his attack this way suggests he is a shrewd player and that
the old guard who have stood so firm in our long war against
Islamist terror would be wise to spend less time denouncing him and
more time trying to win him as an ally.
Photo: UPI
