“Here a scandal, there a scandal, everywhere a scandal”
Steve Watson
Infowars.com
Senator Rand Paul hit out last week at the White House and the president himself regarding his handling of the triple whammy of scandals his administration has become embroiled in.
“We have sort of an ‘Old MacDonald Farm’ of scandals—here a scandal, there a scandal, everywhere a scandal,” Paul said during a Fox News appearance.
“We’re not sure which scandal to even talk about,” Paul noted, referring to the fallout from the Benghazi consulate attack, the targeting of journalists and DOJ seizure of media phone records, and the potentially illegal targeting of patriot groups and Tea Party organizations by the IRS.
Responding to Obama’s national security address from the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Paul described it as “a misdirection campaign,” noting that it amounted to a failed attempt to downplay the severity of the mire that the administration is in.
“I don’t think this will work because he is putting off really the ultimate reckoning,” Paul said.
“He’s saying in 30 days we’ll do this and 90 days we’ll do this. The IRS scandal has been going on for over a year. The report is out there. I think they know who is responsible but he is not getting anybody,” he continued.
“Nobody is willing to be fired or removed from office from this. So I think it’s a bit of misdirection here. There are still some important questions about citizens overseas. Even that issue he sort of obscures. He says that of course that they should get due process but his idea of due process is flash cards and power point presentation. So even that he doesn’t really come clean with.” The Senator urged.
Before making his televised comments, Paul released a statement in response to the president’s speech, during which Obama addressed drone policy and specifically the targeted assassination of Americans overseas.
“For the record, I do not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen – with a drone, or a shotgun – without due process,” Obama said during the speech. “Nor should any president deploy armed drones over U.S. soil.”
“I’m glad the President finally acknowledged that American citizens deserve some form of due process,” Paul responded in his statement. “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.”
This week Paul also introduced legislation designed to limit government surveillance of Americans, including the ‘Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act’, which would outlaw the use of drone technology in US skies.
“The use of drone surveillance may work on the battlefields overseas, but it isn’t well-suited for unrestrained use on the streets in the United States,” Paul said in a further statement yesterday. “Congress must be vigilant in providing oversight to the use of this technology and protection for rights of the American people. I will continue the fight to protect and uphold our Fourth Amendment.”
Back in March, Paul launched a 13-hour filibuster on the use of drone attacks in an effort to raise awareness on the issue, and to challenge drone attack architect John Brennan’s nomination for head of the CIA.
“I wanted to sound an alarm bell from coast to coast. I wanted everybody to know that our Constitution is precious and that no American should be killed by a drone without first being charged with a crime.” Paul stated at the time.
“As Americans, we have fought long and hard for the Bill of Rights. The idea that no person shall be held without due process, and that no person shall be held for a capital offense without being indicted, is a founding American principle and a basic right.” the Senator asserted.
The Kentucky senator also explained in his statement yesterday that his new legislation prevents police and intelligence agencies from monitoring Americans’ electronic communications without a warrant.
“Congress has passed a variety of laws that decimate our Fourth Amendment protections.” The Senator noted. “In effect, it means that Americans can only count on Fourth Amendment protections if they don’t use e-mail, cell phones, the Internet, credit cards, libraries, banks, or other forms of modern finance and communications,” “Basic constitutional rights should not be invalidated by carrying out basic, day-to-day functions in a technologically advanced world and this bill will provide much needed clarity and reassert Fourth Amendment protections for records held by third parties.” Paul said in his statement Thursday.
The Senator expanded on his televised comments in a further radio appearance last night, discussing Guantanamo Bay, the IRS scandal, the looming debt ceiling fight, immigration reform, Congress’ treatment of Apple, corporate taxes and a potential presidential run in 2016.
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.
