rand paul filibustering brennan confirmation over drone strikes....

[BlueStreak]

182. I don't expect that Obama will do that, but he is setting up a doctrine that ends up there

Last edited Thu Mar 7, 2013, 01:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Rand Paul made a very good argument, using Jane Fonda as an example. If we had drones and the Obama doctrine in the Vietnam era, this doctrine would permit a drone attack to vaporize Jane Fonda. All that is required is to say she is a threat to the state. That is for the 5% of the "personality" assassinations that go up for the President's approval (with no oversight). The other 95% are based on profiling, not on the identification of a particular personality. If some 22-year-old punk in Nevada sees what he identifies as a profile that can be interpreted as likely terrorist behavior, he is free to blast that person and anybody who happens to be nearby.

The thing that provoked Rand's outburst was apparently the response he received from a simple question directed to Holder. "Can the President, on his own, authorize the incineration of an American citizen with a drone rocket when that American citizen is physically inside the US?"

And the answer, evidently, was a roundabout "yes". It certainly was not a "No. Are you nuts? Haven't you ever heard of this thing called a 'Constitution', Senator?"

Obama took the Bush/Cheney doctrine and upped the ante tenfold. If this is not stopped, the next President will take it to the next step.