The world turned fully upside down today when Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin heckled President Obama during a national security speech, completing the 360-degree turn begun when Code Pink presented Republican Sen. Rand Paul with a hand-made thank-you valentine. Paul had won appreciation from both sides of the political aisle for his filibuster demanding Attorney General Eric Holder clarify the Obama administration’s policy on targeting American citizens with drones. As much as the president likes to stay above the dirty business of the war on terror, Paul and others insist he display leadership on the issue of targeting American citizens.
Paul posted a brief press release in response to the president’s speech:
I’m glad the President finally acknowledged that American citizens deserve some form of due process. But I still have concerns over whether flash cards and PowerPoint presentations represent due process; my preference would be to try accused U.S. citizens for treason in a court of law.
I’m glad the President finally acknowledged that American citizens deserve some form of due process.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 23, 2013
My preference would be to try accused U.S. citizens for treason in a court of law.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 23, 2013
Paul’s stance on due process continues to flabbergast liberals who find themselves defending a rather “hawkish” President Obama and, by extension, George W. Bush. Much as MSNBC host Touré did, Media Matters’ Oliver Willis has come out of the closet as a drone program supporter, even under Bush.
Instead of killing them by drone RT @SenRandPaul: My preference would be to try accused U.S. citizens for treason in a court of law.
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) May 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/337665658764525569
@owillis That's what the military is for.We hunted for and caught the guy who shot up the CIA in the 90s, remember? @SenRandPaul
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) May 23, 2013
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https://twitter.com/owillis/status/337665929192275970
@owillis So I guess you don't care about the thousands of innocent civilians killed in drone strikes? Got it.
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) May 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/337666240912973825
@owillis The drone war is creating new enemies that will come back to bite us in the end, but okay……
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) May 23, 2013
@owillis Of course if POTUS were Republican your opinion would be different
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) May 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/337666564834877440
@owillis I didn't
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) May 23, 2013
Whatever it might have accomplished aside from allowing him to spike the Osama bin Laden football one more time, the president’s speech failed to settle the issue.
https://twitter.com/Seattle_D/status/337663657553043456
@SenRandPaul It really puzzles me why #Obama wants to try foreign terrorists in #American courts and wants to kill #American citizens ?
— Mean-Deplorable Jay ???⚓ (@jay6018) May 23, 2013
@SenRandPaul Due Process, not Drone Process.
— Mike (@ThePantau) May 23, 2013
@SenRandPaul Sad that it has come to this. Due process should be a given, a sacred responsibility. We are a nation of laws, not men.
— Rob Hill (@Rob_N_SoCal) May 23, 2013
@SenRandPaul Even if they are acting as an enemy combatant in another country?
— Chris Eaton (@txgi121) May 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/Gavin_Sub/status/337662789072089088
https://twitter.com/supergabriella/status/337662474495082496
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