Rand Paul did something today that is not often done in Washington and by this I don’t mean simply a filibuster that stays on topic throughout. He touched on something far deeper and far loftier than partisan rhetoric or strategic messaging.
He brought upon the Senate a principle. The principle that, in America, the President is not a king; that, in America, the rule of law is supreme and not arbitrary power; that, in America, you have rights that not only exist independent of the government, but rule it.
This day will probably not go down in history with as much prestige as it deserves. It will be spun, it will be critiqued, its humorous bits will be extracted for soundbites, and the Senate will get back to being a body of old geezers who don’t believe in anything anymore.
I, however, will never forget it. I stood with Rand all day. I stood in shock that these things were being brought up in the Senate, that Lysander Spooner’s words are now on the public record, that “America is not a democracy, it is a republic” is on the public record.
But more than anything else, I will remember this day because it was the first time I felt such respect for a Senator. The respect I have for Rand Paul after today challenges the respect I have for his father. He espoused real constitutional principles and did so with conviction. He stood up within a den of vipers and thieves and stoof for liberty and your rights.
Its been almost 800 years since the Magna Carta and, in America it seems, we still have to debate the legitimacy of the protections it espoused. Nothing more effectively proves that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
I am so proud of Rand Paul. I am excited for the future of the liberty movement because this is a game-changer.
