Opinion: Paul filibuster begins shift in Washington politics
A week ago today, the Republican Party felt the beginnings of a seismic shift in their foundation. They felt the power of a youth movement scratching and pounding through the walls of Twitter and onto the Senate floor. They felt the distant remnants of a backbone being reconstructed word by word and hour upon hour by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a backbone that has been broken time and time again over the past 12 years mostly by their own doing. On paper Paul’s 13 hour talking filibuster was against then-CIA director nominee John Brennan. But its true purpose had nothing to do with blocking a nomination or a vote, and Paul would be the first to admit that. This was a branch vs. branch issue. A constitutional issue. This was the result of our White House not being able to answer a simple question over the usage of domestic drones: “Can you kill an American on American soil without due process?” President Obama’s response was essentially: “Well, we haven’t killed anyone yet.” What happened next has changed the landscape of the Republican Party.To be able to truly understand how things have swayed so drastically so quickly, one needs to look no further than Rand’s father Ron Paul, who in his farewell speech this past fall delivered this line to his followers: “The number one responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves, with hope that others will follow. This is of greater importance than working on changing the government.” And oh did others follow. If last week’s “Randpage” was ignored and scoffed at by the general public, no political pundit or politician outside of your main liberty minded group would have said a word. But freedom is popular, and because of this the flood gates have opened.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joined Paul on the floor last Wednesday evening, praising the senator for his “tenacity” and “conviction.” Even Rush Limbaugh, the most powerful conservative demagogue in America known for supporting a hawkish foreign policy, recognized that neocons such as John McCain (R-Ari.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are paranoid over last Wednesday’s proceedings, saying they are worried Paul is “a kook that nobody thinks is a kook…It’s their thinking. I don’t think this,” Limbaugh emphasized while stealthily signifying a shift in his own mindset.On the same evening of Paul’s filibuster, news broke that traditional conservatives such as McCain and Graham were having dinner with President Obama. In their minds this was supposed to be their moment in the spotlight - powerful Republicans dining together with the President in a posh Washington restaurant. Dim lights warming the constructive talks as we finally see unity between our two parties. But the men who are guiding our country off the cliff forgot that citizens of this country are growing increasingly weary over our direction and don’t give a damn about party politics. They give a damn about what’s right.There is a youth movement waiting to grasp onto a new leader and waiting to follow a new direction. They’re tired of seeing us gift-wrap $250 million to Egypt after flipping out over sequestrations effects on our own economy. They’re tired of nation building and they’re tired of accidentally killing children in Pakistan because we missed our intended drone target (oops). And when the drones start to breathe down our necks in our own backyards and in our own cafés, that is our last straw. The opposition needed a hero and Rand Paul extended an olive branch. As young Americans sat in their dorm rooms watching C-SPAN2 at 11:38 in the evening as a man passionately spoke for hours on end, the Republican Party woke up.This was more than a “stunt to fire up impressionable libertarian kids in their college dorms,” as McCain so eloquently put it. This was a shift in the power structure of Washington that is just beginning. The neocons are running scared. They realize we have changed ourselves and those that don’t follow will be forgotten. This is the new Republican backbone, and Senator Paul is leading the charge.
