It appears that the match made in heaven (with Jesse Benton acting as cupid) is going swell.
Remember when Rand was elected? Politico reported (my emphasis):
Sensing a tea party uprising back home after Paul defeated McConnell’s hand-picked candidate in the 2010 Senate primary, the calculating Republican leader focused on bringing Paul and his supporters under his wing.Let's not forget that Neocons set the foreign policy agenda for the GOP and McConnell is a warmonger extraordinaire.
The StandWithRand Show had McConnell's blessing before it happened. And about 12 hours in, he even made an appearance.
Not one to let the hysteria go to waste, Mitch is even using the filibuster as an opportunity to fundraise off of. The following is from McConnell's Facebook Page:
To the Ron Paulians who succumbed to the filibuster siren call, hopefully you're nice and snug under McConnell's wing. In Mitch's eyes, you're right where you need to be.
Just make sure you're registered to vote Republican.
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Am I the only one who just doesn't get Benton's positive qualities or skills?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see he is NOT competent nor is he a character that you'd want to support or follow. Maybe he is wonderful at backroom dealings (which is why McConnell would want him on board), but from what the public sees, everything he does is painful to watch or listen to.
(There are only 2 possible ways of assessing his performance for Ron Paul's campaign: either he just wasn't competent, or he was secretly undermining the campaign.)
maybe you have it backwards.
ReplyDeleteperhaps its Paul who is trying to bring mitch and the rest of the republicans into our movement little by little, and not mitch trying to bring us into the maintstream GOP.
if he has to vote for a bill that was going to go through anyway to do it, like the iran sanctions, then so be it, but the bigger picture is 2016 and if Paul can bring himself into the mainstream GOP then i back that...
It is much much harder to show a backbone after a long career of tricky (tactical?) spinelessness, than it is to be principled throughout. I'm not talking pure as the driven snow, or perfect, just principled.
DeleteA big problem that the 'good guys' (those with pure intentions of reforming the system) run into when going to DC (or any political power center) is that they 'go native'. (What is that saying about power corrupting...?)
Some go native and admit it to themselves. It may require some justification in their own minds to allow them to sleep at night, but they basically admit that they are on a different course than when the arrived. I consider these to be more intellectually honest.
The less honest ones are the ones who proclaim that they are working on changing the system while wallowing in it. These folks often are of the mindset that it is OK to give in on a few issues because they are working towards the bigger picture: that they are 'bending' but not 'breaking' so that they can achieve the high goals that they promised their constituency. These are cheats.
I hope that Rand is half as good as many people hope he will turn out.
As for Benton, he doesn't seem to be of the mind to want to change anything in Washington. But, that's a different discussion.
"perhaps its Paul who is trying to bring mitch and the rest of the republicans into our movement little by little, and not mitch trying to bring us into the maintstream GOP."
DeleteRand Paul’s political base is too small to have the political leverage to do that. And he needs McConnell’s support more than McConnell needs his; he needed that support just to be allowed to do his filibuster.
"if he has to vote for a bill that was going to go through anyway to do it, like the iran sanctions, then so be it, "
That excuse can be virtually always used to justify voting for intervention. Also,
he justified his votes for sanctions on Iran in his recent and only major foreign policy speech at the Heritage Foundation.
Rand really showing his true colors here. Disgraceful trying to co-opt his father's message/support after Ron has put in a lifetime of being principled.
ReplyDeleteThis should be the last straw for anyone considering voting for Rand.
Rand favors economic sanctions against Iran for an imaginary nuclear weapons program. He has no problem keeping Guantanamo open. And, here's the kicker: he endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012. Bear in mind that Mitt Romney supported the SAME targeted killing program Rand Paul just spent over 10 hours complaining about. He's a partisan and a Republican, not a torchbearer of liberty and peace.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you think he's just playing the system, consider that this has been attempted before by someone far more consistent in ideology (Ron Paul). Ron was screwed by the system, screwed by the media, and screwed by the Republican Party.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. Withdraw your consent from this corrupt political system. It no longer represents you unless you're a corporation.