Dare We Hope

... that somehow out of the filibuster we might get a new GOP that focuses on freedom, liberty, limited government, and American optimism?  that presents a shining vision of America in opposition to the miserable pettiness of the status quo and its power-grubbing mandarins? OHGODPLEASE.  Paul, Rubio, Cruz, et al are making me dare to hope a little.  It's terrifying and exhilarating all at once.  Let it start here with the pushback against the abuse of power.  As Rand Paul just said, this isn't about Republicans or Democrats, but about executive power and the US Constitution.

UPDATE: It's 11:40 PM, and we're all still up and a-filibusterin'.  How much longer can everyone keep going? Honey, grad students don't sleep as a matter of course.  We're in for the long haul (while doing schoolwork, natch).  (Meanwhile, I note that a bunch of other people are finally showing up on the Senate floor to jump on Paul's bandwagon.  Shamed into action, eh?  GOOD.  Do the right thing for the wrong reason, eh?  So long as the right thing gets done in a snakepit like DC.)



Now there's this. WELL, IT'S ABOUT TIME.

Attention all Republican US Senators -> Please go to the floor and help out @senrandpaul #StandWithRand
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) March 7, 2013

Hey, some evidence that this is about larger issues of liberty and constitutionality beyond partisan concerns. Quoth Code Pink (yes, you read that right):

Why can't AG Eric Holder admit that killing American citizens (on or off US soil) with #drones is unconstitutional?? #StandWithRand
— CODEPINK (@codepink) March 7, 2013

Heck ... Dare we hope for something even bigger - dare we hope for a sea-change in which Americans of all political persuasions recall our common ground and heritage as American citizens, a free people, a gloriously independent and unruly nation of individuals who reject overweening government power and defend the Constitution?

Another thought about the entire drone issue as related to due process and American citizens on American soil: HOW IS THIS EVEN A QUESTION UNDER DEBATE?  The near-total absence of the Dems is very bad optics, by the way.

12:40 AM: Over, with a huge round of applause for Paul.  Well done, sir.  I think we all needed that moment of Rick Santellian clarity.