GOP - Rand Paul's Presidential Highlight Reel w/ his Libertarian Twist

[iCEBREAKER]

[Video] Rand Paul and Kelley Paul on The Kelly File 5/26/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsKMXcYGrgo
Judge the exchange for yourself, especially the wife's.

Heh, Megyn obv loves both of them and must try extra-hard to keep up her professional tough-at-nails take-no-guff front.   

Mrs. Paul is a million times better than Billy Bob as a potential first lady.  She's a star; Rand's 'Secret Weapon' wins over Hilldog's female voters on contact.

[miki77miki]

Sadly, I doubt Rand will ever make it, politics is all about who can suck the most billionares cocks.

[Chef Ramsay]

Chef, you should update this or start a new thread to align with the newest candidates in the running!

I've been thinking about changing the name of the thread because this has pretty much expanded into a full blown highlight reel/news blog that I keep updating about Rand's presidential run rather than just the initial polling thread. I just thought by now that all interested parties would note what is going on in here. I'm open to title suggestions tho.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul stokes feud with GOP leaders over NSA: 'We are on opposite sides'

Rand Paul rejected criticism that his 10-hour filibuster against the government’s bulk data collection programs was a fundraising ploy on Tuesday, casting it as “an unfair characterization” while calling on Barack Obama and Paul’s fellow Republicans to push for further clampdowns on the legal justification for the NSA’s dragnet surveillance.

Last week, Paul conducted a marathon speech in an attempt to halt the US government’s mass surveillance of Americans’ phone records and to derail an extension of the Patriot Act. His talkathon led to a legislative impasse on the USA Freedom Act, as the Obama administration effectively ended its bulk dragnet.

Embarking on a week-long book tour in between Senate sessions, the Republican presidential contender said on Tuesday he still thinks the Senate can “win that vote” on bulk collection.

More...http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/26/rand-paul-nsa-surveillance-reform-republicans

[Chef Ramsay]

Standing With Rand at the Strand
At New York City's famous bookstore, the most literary Republican 2016 candidate greets his base.

The jacket copy of Senator Rand Paul’s new book, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America, out Tuesday, says that “Rand Paul’s Republican Party is for young and old, black and white, those with tattoos and those without. This is not your grandfather’s GOP.”

His appearance at the Strand bookstore in lower Manhattan Tuesday night appeared to attract that new GOP: young children and old retirees, some people who weren’t white, and at least one guy with several bright tattoos up and down his arms. Dan Rossano, a 40-year-old office manager and independent voter, said he stopped by to see what Paul was about and was leaving more likely to vote for him.

“The vibe I got is that he seems to be the most independent out of everyone, and if you can equally annoy Democrats and Republicans at the same time, you’re probably a decent guy,” Rossano said as he waited in the book-signing line.

Though Paul canceled a scheduled question-and-answer session to leave for another event, he briefly addressed a large, standing-room-only crowd of people in the Strand’s rare-books room to promote his new publication. At his side was his wife, Kelley, who briefly talked about her own book about the women in her family, released last month. The couple was introduced by Nancy Bass Wyden, the store’s co-owner and the wife of Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Paul's Patriot Act-fighting friend on the left. (Paul ended the night by saying that there are “things that are much more important than party and I value the friendship that I have with Senator Wyden.”)

...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-27/standing-with-rand-at-the-strand

[Chef Ramsay]

Hopes dim for the Patriot Act

The PATRIOT Act is going to need a miracle to survive the weekend unscathed.
Backers of the post-9/11 anti-terror measure are scrambling this week to prevent the law’s key surveillance programs from lapsing at midnight Sunday. But with the Senate not slated to return to Washington until just hours before that deadline, opponents like Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) showing no signs of budging, and the House so far unwilling to bail out the upper chamber, the prospects for an eleventh-hour breakthrough look slim.

Pressing their advantage over Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others who lost a late-night gambit last weekend to prolong the current law, even for a matter of days, reform backers say the only way out of the jam is simple: Pass our bill. They’re claiming momentum for the USA Freedom Act, which would rein in current surveillance initiatives by ending the so-called bulk collection program, among other reforms. The House approved the legislation overwhelmingly, and on Saturday, it fell just three votes shy of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance in the Senate.

“Our options are a lot more limited” given the time constraints, said Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the chief Republican backer of the bill in the Senate. “We can either let the provisions at issue expire, or we can pass the House-passed USA Freedom Act.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/prospects-dim-for-11th-hour-patriot-act-deal-118300.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Rep. Labrador signs on for official role in Rand Paul's presidential campaign

Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential campaign today named Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador to an official role with the campaign, as western states co-chairman. “In this role, Congressman Labrador will provide the campaign with important insights from grassroots leaders,” the campaign said in a statement.

Paul said, "Congressman Labrador is a staunch defender of our Constitution and since taking office, he has fought for fiscal responsibility, regulatory restraint and individual liberties. Raúl has lived all across the western part of the country, and I am honored to have his support as the Western States Co-Chairman of Rand Paul for President."

I requested the names of the other western states co-chairmen, and got this response from Paul’s campaign press secretary, Eleanor May: “We have not announced that yet. Rep. Labrador is first.”

...

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2015/may/27/rep-labrador-signs-official-role-rand-pauls-presidential-campaign/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Campaigns in Chicago

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul will bring his campaign to Chicago Wednesday.
Paul is scheduled to discuss “failed liberal policies in Chicago” at a “Stand With Rand” rally at Project HOOD with South Side Pastor Corey Brooks.

He plans to talk about “unequal economic opportunity, failing schools and the broken criminal justice systems that plague cities all across the U.S., including Chicago.”

He will also headline an event with the Illinois Policy Institute Wednesday afternoon at 1871 in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart and attend the DuPage County Lincoln Day Dinner in Lisle later in the day.

Paul announced his candidacy last month, telling supporters that he was running for president because he wanted “a return to government restrained by the constitution” and “a return to privacy, opportunity, liberty.”

"Too often when Republicans have won, we've squandered our victory by becoming part of the Washington machine," he said as he officially kicked off his bid for his party's nomination for 2016. "That's not who I am."


Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Rand-Paul-to-Campaign-in-Chicago-Wednesday-305135891.html#ixzz3bMU8V6Sm

[Chef Ramsay]

Bobby Jindal slams Rand Paul as unfit to be commander-in-chief

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal lashed out at Sen. Rand Paul for his recent comments about Islamic State, saying the presidential contender is unfit to be commander in chief and is taking the “weakest, most liberal Democrat position” when it comes to fighting the militant group.

Using unusually harsh rhetoric and an unusual forum, Jindal posted a statement condemning Paul on his “office of the governor” website.

“This is a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief,” Jindal said. “We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Senator Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position. It’s one thing for Senator Paul to take an outlandish position as a Senator at Washington cocktail parties, but being Commander-in-Chief is an entirely different job. We should all be clear that evil and Radical Islam are at fault for the rise of ISIS, and people like President Obama and Hillary Clinton exacerbate it.”

...

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/bobby-jindal-rand-paul-unfit-president-118322.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Christie: Rand stands with 'criminal' Snowden

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) is taking aim at likely 2016 rival Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for opposing renewal of the Patriot Act, accusing him of siding with “criminal” leaker Edward Snowden.

Christie, a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate, slammed Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) for their vocal push to end the surveillance practices of the National Security Administration (NSA) that Snowden exposed to the world by releasing classified documents.

“He’s a criminal, he’s a criminal and he’s hiding in Russia, and he’s lecturing to us about the evils of authoritarian government while he lives under the protective umbrella of Vladimir Putin?” Christie said of Snowden on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”

“That’s who Mike Lee and Rand Paul are siding with — with Edward Snowden?” he added. “Come on.”

...

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/243183-christie-rand-stands-with-criminal-snowden

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul blames Republican hawks for growth of ISIS

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday blasted members of his party for sending arms to the Middle East that have ended up in the hands of Islamic militants.

Paul, a Republican presidential candidate who has often sparred with others over his non-interventionist positions on foreign policy, faulted GOP lawmakers for helping the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"Right now there are 1,500 groups, many of them bad people, including ISIS, that hawks in our party have been arming," Paul said during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
 
"ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party, who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS," he continued.

He made the remarks when asked about comments from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is expected to launch his own White House bid next Monday.

...

More...http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/243171-rand-paul-blames-republican-hawks-for-growth-of-isis

[Chef Ramsay]

MSNBC host praises Rand Paul's leadership on Patriot Act filibuster
Ari Melber, co-host of The Cyle on MSNBC - 5/27/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cPb57mfJF8

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul to Christie: 'That wasn't very nice'

TRENTON — Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday said Gov. Chris Christie's recent verbal jab at him "wasn't very nice."

Paul, who's no stranger to engaging in public spats with New Jersey's governor, responded during a TV interview over their differing opinions about the Patriot Act. Christie, without calling them out by name, recently criticized federal lawmakers who oppose the Patriot Act, a group that includes Paul. Christie said such opposition is "misguided."

Christie made the comment during a speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference on Friday. It mirrored a similar statement Christie released on Saturday when the governor slammed "misguided ideologues" with "no real world experience in fighting terrorism" for "putting their beliefs above the safety and security of our citizens" after the U.S. Senate failed to extend certain provisions of the Patriot Act.

In an interview on FOX & Friends, Paul was asked to respond.

"That just wasn't very nice, I'll put it that way," he said, before articulating his opposition to the government's intelligence gathering methods.

<snip>

"Christie worries about the dangers of freedom," said a message on Paul's Twitter feed. "I worry about the danger of losing that freedom. Spying without warrants is unconstitutional."

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/rand_paul_to_christie_that_wasnt_very_nice.html#incart_most-read_politics_article

[Chef Ramsay]

Rick Santorum (google last name for a laugh) Slams Rand Paul on ISIS: 'I'd Expect to Hear That From Maybe Bernie Sanders'

Newly-minted presidential candidate Rick Santorum today slammed fellow 2016 hopeful Rand Paul, who said he blames Republican hawks for the rise of terrorist group ISIS.

“I think that is just fundamentally a misunderstanding of the nature of the enemy we face,” Santorum said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.

“ISIS didn't come about because of ... the arms that America left behind. ISIS came about because they hate everything that we believe in and we stand for,” Santorum added. “I think the idea that we accept now that this tripe from the left that it’s our fault that ISIS exists -- go back to the thousand-year history of Muslim expansionism, and look at some of the horrible things that were done to spread radical Islam. That is not something that America had anything to do with.”

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, Sen. Paul asserted GOP hawks “created” ISIS.
“ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately,” he said. “They created these people.”


But Santorum, who touted his national security credentials, took issue with Paul’s comment.
“I would expect to hear that from maybe Bernie Sanders. I don't expect to hear that from someone running for the Republican nomination,” Santorum told Stephanopoulos.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rick-santorum-slams-rand-paul-isis-id-expect/story?id=31343065

See how the attacks are piling on over Rand's obvious call of ISIS being created to begin with? Things are getting fun.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul on the Daily Show (Comedy Central w/ Jon Stewart) the other night (Tues)
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/full-episodes/kmy1ta/may-26--2015---rand-paul
Very entertaining and epic interview, crowd loved him as did the host.

[iCEBREAKER]

MSNBC host praises Rand Paul

brb prepping for apocalypse.

[Chef Ramsay]

GOP rep (Peter King-neocon/terrorist sympathizer) criticizes Rand Paul's ISIS remarks: He doesn't belong in the GOP

Andrea Mitchell talks with Rep. Peter King about concerns over the accidental mailing of anthrax to 19 labs in the U.S. and an American military base in South Korea. King also responds to Rand Paul's remarks that ISIS was created by Republican hawks.

Video...http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/gop-rep--rand-paul-is-not-fit-to-be-president-453343299892

[Chef Ramsay]

‘Rand Paul Should Just Run as a Democrat': The New GOP Talking Point

Over the past 24 hours, an extraordinary conservative talking point was born: If Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) thinks so poorly of his own party’s aggressive foreign policy vision, then he should just pack up and leave.

Senator Paul’s act of heresy? Daring to suggest that the Republican Party’s hyper-aggressive hawkish wing at least partially contributed to the environment in which the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant currently thrives.

The libertarian-leaning senator famously holds noninterventionist views on foreign policy, and his opposition to the Patriot Act, NSA surveillance programs, and much of President Barack Obama‘s drone policy. Such positions have led to inevitable clashing with the likes of Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain, Rep. Peter King (shocker!), Govs. Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal, Fox News pundits, and certain publications who’ve nary met a war they didn’t like.

Each time, their line was nearly the same: Sen. Paul is “to the left” of President Obama on foreign policy. But with his Morning Joe soundbite on Wednesday came a ramped-up talking point that will likely last throughout the rest of the GOP primary: Rand Paul should just run as a Democrat already.

...

http://www.mediaite.com/online/rand-paul-should-just-run-as-a-democrat-the-new-gop-talking-point/

[Chef Ramsay]

Want to Run For President But Lack Momentum? Attack Rand Paul!

On Wednesday, not one but two Republican likely presidential prospects attacked Sen. Rand Paul for his stances on terrorism and National Security Agency surveillance.

First, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie put Paul and Sen. Mike Lee on blast for opposing the Patriot Act, and accused them of "siding with" Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor.

"He's a criminal and he's hiding in Russia, and he's lecturing to us about the evils of authoritarian government while he lives under the protective umbrella of Vladimir Putin?" Christie said in a Fox News interview. "That's who Mike Lee and Rand Paul are siding with? With Edward Snowden? Hey, come on."

Later in the day, the office of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal sent out a press release saying Paul is "unsuited" to be commander in chief, after Paul attacked Republican hawks on MSNBC's Morning Joe Wednesday morning. "ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party, who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS," Paul said.

...

Christie and Jindal are united in three ways: They are Republican governors; they fall on the hawkish side of foreign policy; and they (most likely) would like to see themselves in the White House at some point in the future. However, polls show that Jindal—and to a lesser extent, Christie—are struggling to gain that all-important momentum with Republican primary voters. A recent Fox News poll found that 6 percent of respondents would like Christie to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2016, while just 1 percent of respondents would want Jindal to win the nomination.

...

http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/want-to-run-for-president-but-lack-much-momentum-attack-rand-paul-20150527

[Chef Ramsay]

Scarborough (MSNBC host): "If We Followed Rand Paul's Foreign Policy There Would Be No ISIS;" Hillary Wrong About Iraq Twice

On Thursday's Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough reacted to an opinion piece by the Wall Street Journal editorial board which responded to Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul blaming the hawks in the Republican party for the formation and growth of ISIS. The Journal explains why Rand Paul and his foreign policy is at fault for ISIS.

"If we followed Rand Paul's foreign policy, there would be no ISIS, because we would never have gone into Iraq and Saddam Hussein would still be there, ISIS would not," Scarborough said.

Scarborough also brought up part of the op-ed where it is explained how Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was wrong about Iraq twice.

"The argument you could make is if you're a Republican, that the Wall Street Journal did make, is that it was Hillary Clinton, people like Hillary Clinton that were wrong both times," Scarborough said. "That were wrong saying let's go into Iraq and then let's leave Iraq quickly that created the first void."

More...http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/05/28/scarborough_if_we_followed_rand_pauls_foreign_policy_there_would_be_no_isis_hillary_wrong_about_iraq_twice.html