Rand Paul Will Sue Obama Over the NSA.

Rand Paul Will Sue Obama Over the NSA. HT: National Journal.

Here comes some fun. Sen. Rand Paul will join a lawsuit against President Obama, National Intelligence Director James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, and NSA Director Keith Alexander.

The suit, Paul says, is because Obama “has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Bill of Rights protects all citizens from general warrants. I expect this case to go all the way to the Supreme Court and I predict the American people will win.”

The Kentucky Republican is joining a suit from FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe. And to just round out the group, the lead counsel is Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate. 

In the press release from RandPac, Cuccinelli says that “we expect to be opposed by the vast resources of the federal government, yet I am optimistic that we will prevail.”

Paul will join the suit officially on Wednesday. After the filing, he’ll hold a presser in front of the courthouse with Cuccinelli and Kibbe. That’s scheduled for 11 a.m.

Paul has been threatening for months to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration for what he calls its unconstitutional use of sweeping surveillance programs housed at the National Security Agency. Last month he officially announced his plans to carry through with his suit, acting on revelations about the NSA’s spy programs that began surfacing last June from Edward Snowden.

Paul’s class-action suit has accrued hundreds of thousands of signatures via his his website, though some have pointed out that the list will likely double as a supporter database for future political aspirations, which may include a run for the White House in 2016.Read the full story here.

'Conservative' Rand Paul voted in favor to confirm Chuck Hagel, utters lame excuse for doing so.

'Conservative' Rand Paul voted in favor to confirm Chuck Hagel, utters lame excuse for doing so.(Yahoo).Though Paul held deep reservations of Hagel, voted to filibuster the man, he ends up casting a vote in his favor nonetheless, making one of the lousiest choices for a DOD secretary in modern U.S. history, a done deal. His press secretary offered this lame excuse:

“As he has said before, the president should be entitled to some leeway on his political appointments. That is why Sen. Paul voted in favor of Sen. John Kerry, with whom he largely disagrees on foreign policy, to serve as secretary of state, and that is why he voted for final passage of the nomination of Sen. Hagel this evening, with whom he also disagrees on a number of issues.”

This is pure B.S., no president is allowed by the constitution to use the nomination process of cabinet members as a carte blanche mechanism to rubber stamp all of his appointees, that’s why there’s a nomination process to begin with. It’s called the Senate confirmation hearings, not the ”Presidential Rubber Stamp Committee”.Hmmmm....The same 'conservative' who advocates stopping US mil Aid to Israel."By their fruits you will know them"?Read the full story here.

Video - Rand Paul goes after John FN Kerry for Obama's F-16 gifts to Egypt.

Video - Rand Paul goes after John FN Kerry for Obama's F-16 gifts to Egypt. HT: IsraelMatzav.Barry Rubin comments:
In the hands of a good realpolitik statesman, this balance would be managed well. For example, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger would have kept the Egyptian government off-balance and made it understand that Washington was doing it a favor by providing aid. In other words, leverage would be used.
But in Kerry’s hands, leverage is tossed away. He is so afraid of using power or being tough that he throws away leverage, believing there can be no risk of problems. The recipient must not be intimidated or pressed to change but shown that America is its friend and not the imperialist bully that people like Kerry and President Barack Obama see when they look back at U.S. history. Read the full story here.

Video - Rand Paul: Obama acting ‘like a king’ on guns, vows to fight executive actions.

U.S. Senate fails to ramp up Iran sanctions.

U.S. Senate fails to ramp up Iran sanctions.(AlArabiya).A U.S. Republican lawmaker on Tuesday blocked Democrats from passing legislation designed to further punish Iran for developing its nuclear program, and each side blamed the other for its failure in a presidential election year that will put extra scrutiny on President Barack Obama to be tough on Tehran.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, said it will request funding to expand Israel’s “Iron Dome” short-range air defense system.
The legislation, which had the backing of many Democratic and Republican Senators, focused on foreign banks that handle transactions for Iran’s national oil and tanker companies, and included a host of measures aimed to close loopholes in existing sanctions.
A handful of Republicans wanted to include additional measures to the bill such as sanctions on companies that insure trade with Iran. But Majority Leader Harry Reid wanted to take up the legislation without amendments.
“New changes to the bill at this time will only slow down its passage,” Reid, a Democrat, said before he sought unanimous consent from Senators to approve the legislation -- a procedure that allows no amendments, according to Reuters.
Senator Rand Paul formally objected to taking up the legislation unless the Senate would also consider his amendment to it saying that nothing in the bill could be construed as an authorization of war against Iran or Syria. This effectively blocked the bill from advancing.The timing of the next step was not immediately clear.
The latest set of penalties signed into law by President Barack Obama in December have made it increasingly difficult for Tehran to sell its oil. They are aimed at slowing Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran has said is purely for civilian purposes. The United States and some other Western countries say the program is for nuclear weapons.
The bill would have built on efforts by the United States and other Western nations to implement oil and banking sanctions.“These sanctions are a key tool as we work to stop (Iran) from obtaining a nuclear weapon, threatening Israel and ultimately jeopardizing U.S. national security,” Reid said earlier on Tuesday.
The Senate Banking Committee easily passed the sanctions bill on Feb. 2 and the full House of Representatives passed its version in December.
Before Paul blocked the bill, Reid said Democratic senators had agreed to move forward without offering any amendments, which could speed a vote. “I’m willing to move this bill without amendments at any time,” Reid said afterward.
Democrats were quick to blame Republicans for blocking the bill. “I hope that the select few Republicans who reportedly blocked this important bill will reconsider their opposition and allow it to move forward as soon as possible,” said Tim Johnson, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
A Republican congressional aide said it was “unfortunate” that Reid “seeks to silence both Democrats and Republicans who want to consider tougher sanctions against Iran.”Read the full story here.

Senator Rand Paul Has Been Detained By The TSA At Nashville Airport

Senator Rand Paul Has Been Detained By The TSA At Nashville Airport(BI).On the list of stupid things the Transportation Security Administration could do for their public image: detaining Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the politician most anxious to abolish them, is probably right near the top. But that's exactly what just happened, his Communications Director, Moira Bagley has confirmed it in a tweet. Kelly O'Donnell is reporting that aides say Paul was detained when he refused a full-body pat-down, after the scanner went off. Paul lifted his pant-leg to show he had no metal, and asked to be re-screened. He was denied this request. O'Donnell further reports that U.S. officials say that they didn't 'detain' him, though that is the word Paul's office is using. Bagley has now told Politico, “I spoke with him five minutes ago and he was being detained indefinitely... The image scan went off, he refused patdown.”I’m guessing that Rand Paul was en route to Washington for the Congressional session, in which case the TSA (and therefore the administration) have just violated the Speech and Debate Clause in the Constitution.I think we can safely say that the liberty-loving Senator may not have been a threat to board the airplane but he is likely to be a threat to the TSA from now on. Read the full story here and here.