Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pre-working on that human touch stuff
said to be so important to presidential candidates in these here
modern times, as he uses his Twitter
account for an alternately serious and comic “airing of the
grievances” for Festivus, the invented holiday from
Seinfeld.
He’s pissed at bipartisan compromise that always adds up to more
spending; at Senate policies that stifle debate; Federal Reserve
policy that harms the poor and savers; at politicians who only
selectively support the Bill of Rights; at D.C. parking
restrictions and at people (like some of his staff) who tell him
not to wear turtlenecks on TV.
A nice spinoff from the Twittering has been Paul engaging his
Senate colleague Cory Booker from New Jersey for not retweeting him
enough, giving Paul an opportunity to
hype his own efforts at drug war reform, including mandatory
minimum sentencing reform and industrial hemp legalization.
Late last week, one of Paul’s
presumptive opponents in a very likely presidential run in
2016, New York Rep. Peter King, helped remind Americans why it
might be nice having a Rand Paul on their side by saying
Paul has disgraced his office for such un-American acts as
calling out National Intelligence director James Clapper for
deliberately lying to a Senate committee.
This is exactly the kind of fight Paul can likely expect, from
GOP primary opponents likely of greater importance than the hapless
King. It was a mitzvah from King to get Paul primed for it. Paul
running in Republican primaries will be in part a fight over tribal
identity politics with the security state that imprison too many
Republicans, contrasting that ugly impulse with an actual
wide-range belief in limited, constitutional government that
respects Americans rights.
I am afraid it might be a harder fight than Paul expects, but
look forward to watching the melee.
from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/23/rand-paul-shows-some-charm-for-festivus
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