Topic: Rand Paul

Washington Turns on the NSA Blinders to Target Weird 'IT Guy' Leaker Instead

The Guardian (Snowden)

Most members of Congress are not outraged by the NSA's programs to collect all your phone calls and emails. They're outraged that someone would expose them. Now that the leaker has gone public — Edward Snowden is still holed up somewhere in Hong Kong, with "way, way more" secrets — the campaign to discredit him as a nutcase has begun.

By Connor Simpson

Jun 9, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Feinstein 'Open' to Public NSA Hearings

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein revealed she's open to holding public hearing about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs during an appearance on ABC's This Week, while everyone else gave their initial opinions on the blockbuster scoops. 

Comments | 871 Views

By Philip Bump

May 28, 2013

Rand Paul's Funny Obamacare Codes Have Been in Development Since 1994

At a GOP event in Iowa this month, Senator Paul did a bit about the scale of Obamacare's diagnostic coding. It killed. Except Paul's critique of the new Obamacare codes are a critique of codes that aren't new and aren't Obamacare. A lot of them aren't even American.

Comments | 2,767 Views

By Connor Simpson

May 26, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Oklahoma Gov. Fallin Worries of 'Red Tape'; Dole Slams Modern GOP

Today on the Sunday talk shows, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin talks about the recovery efforts in her state after it was hit with an EF-5 tornado earlier this week. Meanwhile, former Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole has some strong words for the new generation of the Republican party, saying neither himself nor Reagan nor Nixon would have "made it" today.

Comments | 9,466 Views

By Connor Simpson

May 19, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Dan Pfeiffer Explains the IRS Scandal

The President's senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer did a tour of the sunday shows to try and calm everyone down about this whole IRS targeting Tea Party groups scandal.

Comments | 1,873 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 10, 2013

What Benghazi Truthers Are Looking For

Truth has been the watchword of the Benghazi controversy. "The goal here is to get to the truth," said House Speaker John Boehner says. And the truth may indeed be out there, but where it lies depends on who you ask. 

Comments | 9,775 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 24, 2013

Rand Paul Doesn't Want to Send Drones to Your Liquor Store After All

The senator said his position on using drones on Americans hasn't changed, clarifying an interview on Fox Business Network Tuesday that gave the impression he thought droning a robber might be OK.

Comments | 773 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 23, 2013

For a Libertarian, Rand Paul Supports Awfully Broad Police Powers

Since his anti-drone filibuster, the Kentucky senator has been celebrated as the leader of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. But there are limits to his belief in national security limits.

Comments | 972 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 22, 2013

Rand Paul Wants to Ban 8-Year-Old Immigrants from America

The Kentucky senator won the coveted position of "Republican liberals kind of like" with his drone-related filibuster earlier this year. Paul will surely disappoint them today with his demand that the Senate delay immigration reform until until we figure out how the Boston marathon bombers got into America, and how to prevent that from happening in the future.

Comments | 3,494 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Apr 18, 2013

The 'Time 100' Has More Insufferable Celeb-on-Celeb 'Writing' Than Ever

What do you get when Time magazine asks celebrities to write about the greatness of other celebrities? The annual "Time 100," of course! But you also get a lot of terribly obnoxious back-patting, most of which, this year, is guardedly self aggrandizing.

Comments | 3,081 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Apr 11, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Kirsten Powers on media coverage of an abortion trial, Fareed Zakaria on the lessons of Thatcherism, Drew Magary on Mike Rice's abuses, Charles M. Blow on Rand Paul's Howard visit, and Tom Doran on Michelle Malkin's Twitter aggregator.

Comments | 1,480 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 10, 2013

Rand Paul's Twisted History Blames GOP Race Problem on Depression-Era Gifts

Rand Paul's explanation for how Republicans lost the support of black voters, at a Howard University speech Wednesday, sounded a lot like Mitt Romney's explanation for why he lost the 2012 election — that Obama won because he offered "gifts." Rand Paul's explanation is wrong.

Comments | 5,937 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 9, 2013

Rand Paul Confronts the GOP's Race Problem

As the 2016 contender, GOP libertarian spokesman, and son of Ron prepares to give a speech at Howard University about the history of black voters and the Republican Party, it's impossible not to be curious about which story he decides to tell: the one in which the GOP just forgot to campaign for black votes, or the one in which the GOP made a bad bet on racism and is trying to fix it.


Comments | 3,427 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 4, 2013

The 2016 Guessing Game Needs to End

The conventional wisdom centers on who might be running. But the reality is that Hillary "Book Deal" Clinton, Rand "New Hampshire" Paul, and Marco "Kindler Gentler" Rubio are already running. Here's the latest look at the field.

Comments | 3,213 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 26, 2013

Rand Paul Threatens Boring, Quiet Filibuster of Senate Gun Proposal

If you liked the Rand Paul filibuster of March 2013, you'll love the Rand Paul filibuster of April 2013. Unless you want the Senate to enact new gun restrictions, and unless you liked the part where he stood up and talked for twelve hours.

Comments | 1,917 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 25, 2013

Americans Are Okay with Drone Strikes — in Other Countries

A new Gallup poll suggests that public support for drone use, while broad, narrows as strikes get closer to home. It also raises a question: What is up with 13 percent of Americans?

Comments | 696 Views

By Connor Simpson

Mar 24, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Bloomberg and LaPierre Trade Shots; Rand Paul Disapproves of Your Dope

We were denied the sure-to-be-explosive on-camera face-off between NRA chief Wayne LaPierre and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, but they still fired shots at each other during their solo segments on the Sunday talk shows. Elsewhere, Rand Paul talked about his feelings on marijuana. Hint: He's a bit more mellow than you'd expect. 

Comments | 2,259 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 21, 2013

Say Goodbye to Bachmann's Tea Party

Does the Tea Party still exist? Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus has been all but dormant for months, while new Republican stars are stealing the limelight.

Comments | 8,920 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Mar 20, 2013

Rand Paul Isn't 100% Pro-Life Anymore

Paul has described himself as "100 percent pro life" but on Tuesday, he told CNN that there are "thousands of exceptions" to the "Life at Conception Act" he introduced on March 15, which suggests that one of those two things is not precisely true.

Comments | 4,817 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 19, 2013

Rand Paul Sees the Light on Immigration Just in Time for 2016

Paul will endorse a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants Tuesday, and to measure how much and how quickly Republicans have changed on the issue, just look at what he used to say. Then just look at the voters Republicans are infuriating while they win over new ones.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 16, 2013

Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won the presidential primary straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday with 25 percent of attendees' votes, just ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who also got 25 percent.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 14, 2013

How Many New Ideas Does the GOP Need?

Rand Paul presented old ideas as new ones in his I'm-the-future-of-the-GOP speech to CPAC Thursday, while Marco Rubio presented newish ideas as old ones.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

Rand Paul at CPAC: The GOP Has Grown Stale

The marathon filibusterer brought his invigorated libertarian stump speech to an enraptured audience (and Metallica), inveighing that the GOP needs to change by returning to the classical principles spelled out in the country's constitution.

Comments | 1,378 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 8, 2013

The GOP Establishment Was Standing with Rand the Whole Time

The new conventional wisdom is that Sen. Rand Paul's 13-hour filibuster laid bare this week the divisions within the Republican party between the hawkish old guard and the insurgent young guns. The new conventional wisdom is wrong.

Comments | 2,414 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 7, 2013

Who's Going to Fight the Man Now That Carl Levin's Leaving the Senate?

Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, announced his retirement from the Senate on Thursday evening. Until 2014, he'll work hard as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but after that, it's time to relax.

Comments | 517 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 7, 2013

Rand Paul Won, Now What?

Rand Paul declared victory Thursday when his 13-hour filibuster forced Attorney General Eric Holder to answer his question of whether the government can kill by drone an American citizen now engaged in combat on American soil. But that victory was fairly narrow.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 7, 2013

Rand Paul Would Have to Speak for 57 Days to Match His 2012 Fundraising

The National Republican Senatorial Committee somewhat belatedly launched a fundraising pitch tied to Rand Paul's filibuster. As of this afternoon, they'd raised about $75,000 — or about a dollar for each of the 76,470 words Paul spoke.

Comments | 517 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 7, 2013

Rand Paul Gets His Answer on Drones: 'No'

Attorney General Eric Holder has answered Sen. Ran Paul's question of whether the government can use a drone to kill an American citizen on American soil if that person is not engaged in combat: "The answer to that question is no."

Comments | 4,421 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 7, 2013

How to Make a Filibuster Cameo Cool — and Work for You in 2016!

While Rand Paul used a filibuster to draw attention to Obama's drone program, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz saw an opportunity to draw attention to their 2016 brands. This is most obvious in their choice of strange pop-culture references.

Comments | 690 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 7, 2013

Rand Paul Talked About Drones More in One Day Than Congress Ever Has

During the first seven hours of his filibuster yesterday, Rand Paul used the word "drone" in a military context more than any two-year Congressional term in history — and more than it had been used in the Congressional Record prior to the 112th Congress, combined.

Comments | 6,349 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 6, 2013

This Is What a Filibuster Should Be

It's easy to make fun of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul riffing on drones and other stuff for hours on the Senate floor on Wednesday, but it's also something to celebrate.

Comments | 8,449 Views

The Tale of Rand Paul's Drone Filibuster

Rand Paul spent Wednesday doing something you don't see often enough in Washington — he made an honest-to-goodness, non-stop filibuster speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, all-out and Mr. Smith-style. And he had a lot to say about drones.

Comments | 20,497 Views

By Connor Simpson

Feb 17, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Lindsey Graham and Hagel Make Nice (For Now)

Lindsey Graham and John McCain seem ready to move on from the whole Chuck Hagel debacle; Rand Paul and Paul Ryan talk about the potential of their respective 2016 runs; and there's some chatter over the President's leaked immigration plan.

Comments | 1,855 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 15, 2013

The Emerging Pro-Weed Majority

Marijuana could be the next gay marriage -- a contentious social issue that suddenly picks up broad, bipartisan support for change.

Comments | 9,698 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Feb 13, 2013

Rand Paul Will Block John Brennan Until He Gets an Answer About Drones

After the scuttled nomination of Susan Rice and rumblings about stopping Chuck Hagel's, it looks as though a Senator may actually pull out their one big "check and balance" gun and put a hold on an Obama nominee.

Comments | 487 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Feb 12, 2013

And Here's Rand Paul's Tea Party Reponse to the State of the Union

Paul invoked the words "America" and "Congress" a lot in his alternative rebuttal delivered after Marco Rubio's GOP response to the President's State of the Union address.

Comments | 2,571 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

Obama's State of the Union Recap, in GIFs

The most powerful moment of the State of the Union on Tuesday night came when President Obama said the victims of gun violence — people like Gabby Giffords and the family of Hadiya Pendleton — deserve a vote on gun control measures. But there were many more moments and issues than that. Re-live them all here.

Comments | 15,999 Views

By Connor Simpson

Feb 10, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Graham Threatens Hagel Confirmation Over Benghazi

Rand Paul defended his Tea Party response to the President's State of the Union address from criticism that it shows division in the Republican party, and Lindsay Graham has a new problem with confirming the nominations of Chuck Hagel and John Brennan: he wants more info on Benghazi. 

Comments | 1,149 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 23, 2013

In Rand Paul's Imaginary Presidency, He Would Have Fired Clinton Over Benghazi

Now we have a brief glimpse of what his tenure in the Oval Office might look like, thanks to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — of which Paul is a brand-new member.

Comments | 2,414 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Jan 22, 2013

Joe Biden 2016 and the Neverending Election Cycle

Barack Obama's second term is barely two days old. Can we hold off on the 2016 chatter for awhile? A trip around the Beltway press the afternoon after Inauguration Day reveals that — well, no. No we can't.

Comments | 2,166 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 14, 2013

Evidently, Rand Paul's Son Assaulted a Flight Attendant While Drunk

New details have emerged about William Hilton Paul's very fun flight to Charlotte last week, a voyage that ended with the 19-year-old in the slammer and his senator father in a very embarrassing position.

Comments | 6,552 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 6, 2013

Who Got Rand Paul's Teenage Son Drunk on a 10 a.m. Flight?

There's something intriguing about how William Hilton Paul spent his Sunday morning: drunk on a 10:49 a.m. flight to Charlotte and then whisked into custody for being "disorderly" at the airport.

Comments | 15,942 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Nov 20, 2012

Rand Paul Doesn't Want You to Go to Jail for Smoking Pot

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says "I'm not going to deny that I'm interested" in running for president in 2016, and his platform would appeal to not red states or blue states, but green states.

Comments | 6,144 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 9, 2012

Ad Watch

The Big Bird Ad Sesame Street Wants Spiked

President Obama embraces the Big Bird meme, Rand Paul attacks Democrats on foreign aid, and Crossroads GPS puts money in five Senate races.

Comments | 1,867 Views

By Connor Simpson

Sep 9, 2012

The Sunday Grind

Romney Wants to Keep Key Parts of Obamacare

Mitt Romney sat down for a big interview with David Gregory for NBC's Meet the Press. Rather than stick to our usual format, we're highlighting the key things he said on specific issues. Take it away, Mitt. 

Comments | 11,552 Views

By Connor Simpson

Aug 26, 2012

Ron Paul Was Denied a Convention Speech Because He Wouldn't Endorse Mitt

Ron Paul was apparently offered a speaking spot at the Republican National Convention, but he turned it down because the Romney campaign would only let him speak under the stipulation that he would finally endorse Mitt. 

Comments | 3,621 Views

By Adam Martin

Jun 8, 2012

Comment of the Day

'Doesn't Mean I Have to Like It!'

Naturally, John Hudson's post about Ron Paul supporters furious over Rand Paul's endorsement of Mitt Romney drew many Ron Paul-supporting comments.

Comments | 1,006 Views

By John Hudson

Jun 8, 2012

Ron Paul Supporters Are Fuming Mad at Rand Paul

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's endorsement of Mitt Romney last night is igniting a fury of rage from his father's hardcore fan base.

Comments | 16,982 Views

By Connor Simpson

Jun 8, 2012

Mitt Romney Gets the Rand Paul Seal of Approval

Rand Paul endorsed the GOP's last man standing during an appearance on Fox News's Hannity on Thursday night.

Comments | 773 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 14, 2012

Did Ron Paul Campaign's Influence Anything?

Usually, when people run for president with little chance of winning, they say their goal is to influence the conversation. While several Republican presidential candidates took Paul-like positions to try to steal some of his supporters, Mitt Romney was not one of them.

Comments | 2,093 Views

By Eric Randall

May 14, 2012

Out of Money, Ron Paul Will Stop Campaigning But Won't Drop Out

Ron Paul sent an email to supporters Monday saying he would stop campaigning in states that haven't voted yet, but he's not quite dropping out.

Comments | 1,730 Views

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