After nearly 13 hours of speaking in an attempt to stall the confirmation of CIA Director nominee John Brennan, Sen. Rand Paul ended his filibuster. The filibuster is a grandiose method of legislative stalling, requiring the speaker to hold the floor, talking the entire time and not sitting down. In essence, one tries to talk a bill to death. The most famous fictitious depiction of the filibuster is probably is Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
Paul Rand, as are many other Republicans, is concerned with the use of drones overseas, and believe that President Obama has not been forth-coming in his answers regarding the CIA program.
For most of the time, Paul squarely placed blame on the president for what he perceived a dangerous precedent in federal law. The Kentucky senator was quick to make comparisons between President Obama and candidate Obama.
“I think it’s also safe to say that Barack Obama of 2007 would be right down here with me arguing against this drone strike program if he were in the Senate,” he said. “It amazes and disappoints me how much he has actually changed from what he once stood for.”
Obama said there’s something “contagious” about the office of presidency and cited the famous quote by John Dalberg-Acton.
“It’s not just power corrupts, but that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’,” Paul said. “I think people can become intoxicated with power. I don’t know if that’s the explanation for President Obama’s about-face. He was one, when he was in this body believed, in some restraint.”
Just before 1 a.m. Thursday, Rand ended his filibuster:
Repeatedly, Mr. Paul explained that his true goal was simply to get a response from the administration saying it would not use drone strikes to take out American citizens on United States soil.
