Rand Paul's Filibuster Proves We're Farked

I don't always agree with Rand Paul but he's on the side of the angels today; as I type this he's almost twelve hours into his Senate filibuster against John Brennan's appointment to head the CIA. Paul's stance is that using drones to kill American citizens on American soil without a trial or any oversight should not be allowed, which somehow makes him a controversial figure in today's America. I don't know how this will play out, but even if Paul succeeds in keeping Brennan out of the CIA director's chair, that doesn't necessarily mean any aspects of the drone program will be scaled back.

Time flies when the constitution's falling apart; it's a little over two years now since I wrote a column about Jesse Ventura's then-current lawsuit attempt against the TSA (he lost, along with the rest of America), and said this: "Desperation is when once-proud and free Americans like me are reduced to pleading, 'Save us, Jesse Ventura, you're our only hope.'" And now, on a far worse civil-liberties violation, I'm reduced to making similar pleas about Rand Paul. Yet even if he succeeds, I'm not convinced anything meaningful will change.

In other news, TSA is letting people carry penknives on flights again, as we could before our collective freakout after 9/11, and everyone's acting like it's some great leap forward for freedom--you still can't fly unless you assume the position and submit to a fondling first, but once you arrive at your destination you may whittle at leisure with your very own Girl Scout knife.

EDIT: Former governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson posted this on his Facebook page:

In all the excitement about the extremely justified filibuster of Brennan's confirmation by Sen. Paul and his colleagues, let's not -- as much of the media is doing -- overlook the reason for that filibuster: We can't get a straight answer from the Administration to the simple question of whether they believe it is OK to execute an American citizen with NO due process. Unbelievable.