Rand Paul
May 28, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
John has flagged Rand Paul’s ISIS whopper — the claim that Republicans are to blame for the rise of ISIS. When Republicans controlled the White House, ISIS was, as John says, little more than a dream in the minds of a few fanatics. The dream was realized not because of Republicans, but mostly because President Obama reversed President Bush’s policies and prematurely withdrew American forces from Iraq. But Rand Paul’s
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May 28, 2015 — John Hinderaker
The Washington Post’s fact checker, Glenn Kessler, undertook yesterday to assess the truth or falsity of these remarks by Jeb Bush about ISIS: ISIS didn’t exist when my brother was president. Al Qaeda in Iraq was wiped out when my brother was president. Those statements are, by any normal standard, true. But this is what Kessler had to say: Islamic State, also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and
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April 10, 2015 — John Hinderaker
I don’t think Barack Obama is particularly talented, with one exception: he is the greatest money machine in the history of politics. So when it comes to fundraising, if you’re going to steal, you may as well steal from the master. One famous aspect of Obama’s email campaign was his team’s use of seemingly odd or inappropriate subject headings. Foremost among these was “hey.” A tech publication writes: President Obama’s
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April 8, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, in announcing his run for the presidency, Rand Paul demonstrated his unfitness for the office by calling for the repeal of any law that “disproportionately incarcerates people of color.” In effect, as John and I pointed out, Paul thereby called for the repeal of virtually every criminal law. Paul’s team has now “clarified” his statement. The campaign told Byron York that the Senator’s words were misunderstood: “Sen. Paul was
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April 7, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
Rand Paul has been trying to improve his presidential prospects by posing as something of a defense hawk and as less than a full libertarian on social issues. However, in announcing his presidential bid today, Paul again betrayed his lack of seriousness, while demonstrating the threat his presidency would pose to America. In his speech, Paul stated: I see an America where criminal justice is applied equally and any law
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April 7, 2015 — John Hinderaker
Senator Rand Paul announced his campaign for the presidency this morning, in a speech in Louisville. The speech was well delivered and has gotten a generally positive reception. Here is the text of the speech in full, with a few observations: I have a message, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words. We have come to take our country back. We have come to take
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April 6, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
With Rand Paul set to announce his bid for the presidency, the Washington Post reports that the Kentucky Senator is straying from his libertarian roots in an attempt to make himself acceptable to defense-oriented and religious conservatives. The Post cites his support for a proposed $190 billion increase in defense spending over the next two years; his signature of Tom Cotton’s letter regarding a nuclear deal with Iran; and his
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April 1, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
Negotiations between Team Obama and the mullahs of Iran failed to result in an agreement before the supposed deadline. However, to no one’s surprise (except the Washington Post) the parties will continue to negotiate. White House spokesman Josh Earnest intoned that “it’s time for Iran to make the serious commitments that they know the international community is expecting them to make to reach an agreement.” Actually, it’s past that time.
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February 3, 2015 — John Hinderaker
This interview with CNBC’s Kelly Evans sums up Rand Paul’s strengths and weaknesses as a presidential candidate nicely. Start with this observation: when a journalist or television presenter interviews a Democratic politician, the implicit assumption is that the interviewer is honored to have the privilege of tossing a few softball questions. When the interviewee is a Republican politician, the implicit assumption is that the interviewer is wiser and more knowledgeable
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December 20, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
During an impassioned appearance on Fox News to denounce President Obama’s new Cuba policy, Marco Rubio stated, in response to a question that cited Rand Paul’s pro-Obama view on the subject, that Paul “has no idea what he’s talking about when it comes to Cuba.” Having been called out, Paul had little alternative but to respond, and it would have been easy for him to so intelligently. There are, after
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December 9, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that, on the whole, wealthy Republican donors are unwilling so far to commit to a candidate for president. According to reporters Matea Gold and Tom Hamburger, the donor class is “wary of fueling the kind of costly and politically damaging battle that dominated the 2012 primaries.” More to the point, it’s unclear at this early juncture which potential candidate it makes the most sense to support.
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November 19, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The Senate has failed to pass the “USA Freedom Act,” which would have hobbled our government’s efforts to conduct electronic surveillance of terrorists. Good. As Mitch McConnell argued, with ISIS and other blood thirsty terrorist groups on the rise, this is “the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind our back.” Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden have described the “USA
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September 18, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Rand Paul spoke today on the Senate floor, opposing the administration’s proposal to arm and train moderate Syrian elements. In recent months, Paul has tried to position himself in the mainstream on foreign policy, and has objected bitterly to being called an isolationist. Yet the very first words of his speech encapsulated the Libertarian delusion: that problems in the world are the result of American actions, and that by remaining
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September 3, 2014 — Steven Hayward
It is hard to top Richard Epstein when it comes to thinking through the strengths and weaknesses of classical liberalism (his preferred term to “libertarianism”), and his book last year, The Classical Liberal Constitution, is a treatise for the ages. (But if you don’t have time for this long a book, get his very short and very excellent How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution.) Actually, at the risk of offending a
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August 22, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Rand Paul was in Guatemala this week. Eliana Johnson reports that during his visit, Dr. Paul worked with a team of surgeons to perform eye surgeries at Salama’s Hospital de Ojos. Paul opined that doctors are superior to lawyers when it comes to serving in political office: I personally think that if we got rid of all the lawyers and replaced them with all the doctors our country would be
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August 14, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Add Rand Paul’s name to the list of opportunists seeking to exploit for political purposes the tragic shooting of young Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The race-hustlers populate the list, of course. So does President Obama, who sees a topic in his supposed wheelhouse (but in reality a local matter) through which he can distract attention from his disastrous foreign policy. Writing in Time Magazine, Paul sees the opportunity to
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June 26, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
I wrote here about Rand Paul’s unconstitutional plan to propose federal legislation that would enfranchise some felons. Now, Sen. Paul has addressed the constitutional issue posed by such legislation. He argues, in essence, that states decide who votes in state elections, but the federal government has the final say on who can vote in federal elections. Roger Clegg makes short work of Paul’s contention: The U.S. Constitution itself explicitly gives
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