In honour of Mr. Rand Paul

Finally, an American politician decided to talk about a valid subject.

That is, the deterioration of American liberty.

Liberty you ask? That may be a strong word. However, that’s exactly what it is, as shown when an American citizen was tracked by a drone on American soil.

First, let’s backtrack a bit.

Rand Paul is a junior senator from Kentucky who spoke for 13 hours to filibuster the senate’s confirmation of John Brennan to lead the CIA. A filibuster is basically when one member or several members of parliament stall a vote by speaking long enough to postpone it. Certainly, Rand Paul did this as he and a few other Republicans spoke for nearly 13 hours, to prevent the confirmation of Mr. Brennan as CIA director. Mr. Brennan was a supporter of the use of torture by the CIA under the Bush presidency, and also submitted controversial intelligence that caused the Orange terror alert in December of 2003. This intelligence was later discredited. Additionally, Mr. Brennan has heavily advocated for increasing the drone program in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and other countries. Mr. Brennan did not just advocate drone attacks in warzones, but also for people outside of warzones.

This is why Mr. Paul was so opposed to his nomination.

Chris Dorner was targeted by a drone on US soil, and the outrage was valid. First, this was not the firm time that a drone has been used on American soil, as North Dakota police used a drone to capture three militia members in 2011. It’s not these specific incidents that Mr. Paul is opposing, it’s the scary precedent it may create. Using drones on US soil as judge, jury and executioner is one scary idea, something that Mr. Paul decided to bring to the attention of the White House administration.

As I have referenced in my privacy post, American privacy on quickly declining as right violations are becoming far more common by government agencies. This is not just about the drone program, this is about the general deterioration of American rights, as well as international rights of the people who have their data stored in America. Certainly, the continual government big brother attitude that began under Bush and continued under Obama should be spoken more of, as it is the greatest threat to liberty that not just America, but the world faces today.

Mr. Paul rhetorically questioned “What will be the standard for how we kill Americans in America? Could political dissent be part of the standard for drone strikes?”

This is one scary thought, political dissent driving drone strikes. It’s a good question Mr. Paul is asking, one worthwhile of an answer from Mr. Obama. The White House should not be silent on Mr. Paul’s question, as silence will be viewed as an answer.

Certainly, not the correct one.