Yesterday it finally happened. Someone from the conservative side of America was able to take the stage and bring to the spotlight the dangers of a bloated government that has ignored American citizens' constitutional rights.
And the people responded.
Yesterday Rand Paul talked on the floor of the Senate for nearly 13 hours in order to block the approval of John Brennan as the next director of the CIA. He did this not simply to block the approval but to ask the president and his administration to clearly state that American citizens will have their Fifth Amendment rights preserved.
This is what we have been waiting for. Paul stood up to the establishment and with almost no support from his fellow senators stayed committed to his conviction that government works for the people and must preserve the rights of every citizen as outlined in the Constitution.
This is a message that has not been present for far too long. We didn't see this when Bush was in the White House - it is his policies on drone strikes Paul is speaking out against! We certainly didn't see it from Romney during his presidential campaign last year. This lack of true conservatives in the Republican party blows my mind. These positions of limited government and Constitutional protections are held by the majority of Americans. The reason Republicans can't get a man in the Oval Office is because they have yet to give us anyone who can communicate these ideas.
"#StandwithRand" was the #1 trending tag on Twitter yesterday. I can't overemphasize how important this is. The majority of Twitter users are young adults - one of the demographics Obama won to capture his presidency both times. Often the older generations say the youth don't care about civics but I argue that we are disillusioned to our government because it has lacked statesmen like Paul. We want to be involved in the political process, but lack any hope that true change will happen.
Paul's stance is also one that reaches across the aisle. While only a handful of senators participated in his filibuster, one was the democratic senator from Oregon Ron Wyden who spoke passionately with Paul about the need for the freedoms of citizens to be protected. When Paul finally yielded the floor the entire Senate rose in a bipartisan show of support and applauded his efforts - and Senators are forbidden to show approval or disapproval.
Today we've heard some of the critics of Paul respond. The two loudest are Senators McCain and Graham. It should be noted these men have rarely gotten along with Paul because of their views on how the government should treat terrorism. McCain said Paul's filibuster was a distraction to the people. Graham thought Paul's questions were insulting.
These hawks are part of the Republican establishment that have led the party to be irrelevant. McCain's failure of a campaign in '08 is evidence enough of that.
Yesterday Mr. Paul went to Washington and raised his voice against tyranny, and the people have begun to respond. The GOP should take note and follow suit or forever be lost to the pages of history.
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