The headlines are seriously misleading. Yes, Sen. Paul voted against the NSA reform bill. He did so to prevent the extension of the Patriot Act expiration date. Paul has been a steady and vocal champion of civil liberties and is the only senator who pointblank said NSA officials lied under oath while testifying to the Senate. No other senator had the balls to state that obvious truth. I think some of his other views are crackpot. However, he is the best friend civil liberties have in the Senate.
Sen. Paul blocks the renewal of Patriot Act
Earlier this evening, Sen. Rand Paul voted against further consideration of the USA Freedom Act as it currently extends key provisions of the Patriot Act until 2017. Sen. Paul led the charge against the Patriot Act extension and offered the following statement:
“In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Americans were eager to catch and punish the terrorists who attacked us. I, like most Americans, demanded justice. But one common misconception is that the Patriot Act applies only to foreigners—when in reality, the Patriot Act was instituted precisely to widen the surveillance laws to include U.S. citizens,” Sen. Paul said, “As Benjamin Franklin put it, ‘those who trade their liberty for security may wind up with neither.’ Today’s vote to oppose further consideration of the Patriot Act extension proves that we are one step closer to restoring civil liberties in America.”
Rand Paul quotes from his filibuster to block nomination of John Brennan to the CIA.
On his colleagues in the Senate: “If there were an ounce of courage in this body I would be joined by other senators”¦ saying they will not tolerate this.”
On White House “kill list”: “The people on the list might be me.”
On Obama: “He was elected by a majority, but the majority doesn’t get to decide who we execute.”