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Filibuster!

Babbylonian said:
Indeed. I don't care if I agree with the obstructionists or not, as long as they have to step up and really work at their obstruction.
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Why is this technique OK in Congress but not in a court of law? It's prehistoric. Please get rid of it.
 
GlennB said:
Why is this technique OK in Congress but not in a court of law? It's prehistoric. Please get rid of it.
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It can be argued that it's okay in Congress because, in theory, we elect our representatives to fight for what they think is right and so that they'll have their say on any issue offered for consideration.

Further, the in-person filibuster is self-limiting because of the rules that have to be followed. The speaker must remain standing and speaking without any breaks. If they want to go until they drop, Mr. Smith style, that's their prerogative but at that point they've yielded the floor and business can proceed (assuming there remains a quorum).

As for courts of law, they don't follow parliamentary procedure or anything like it. The judge in a court is a virtually all-powerful dictator (subject to appeal of course) with bailiffs to enforce that power.
 
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You have to wonder if all these Right Wing Republicans who are joining Paul in his filibuster would do the same if it was a GOP Administration.....I doubt they asked many question about Dubya's policies......
 
It's not interesting until he goes for a couple of days or more. I hope people are not actually listening to it.
 
The filibuster should only be used to block voting for a Presidential nominee when there is substantial evidence that the nominee has participated in criminal, immoral, or highly unprofessional behavior.

Other than that, they should all get an up-or-down vote.

Anything less simply wastes the time of the Senate and wastes the money of the people.
 
angrysoba said:
It's not interesting until he goes for a couple of days or more. I hope people are not actually listening to it.
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Nope, I got a feeling that CSpan 2 is getting very low ratings right now....

Let's get to me about this whole thing is the bloody hypocrisy of it. Some of the GOP Senators supporting Paul were in the Senate in the Bush years and I have a feeling that if Bush had requested authority to make drone strikes, they would have rubber stamped it in a minute.
 
Dumb All Over said:
I believe his point is that the Obama Administration has not definitively ruled out drone strikes on people within the U.S. without due process.
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That's likely because, in highly limited circumstances, it's perfectly legal for the president to to order drone strikes (or Tomahawk strikes, or F-16 strikes, or [rebellious] state government overthrows, or National Guard mobilizations, etc.) on people within the US, without due process. He can't do it willy-nilly, but he is explicitly authorized to do so in certain circumstances, according to US law and the constitution.

Paul's apparent point is that the administration hasn't said that it's unconstitutional for them to use drone strikes willy-nilly on US soil, against US citizens, which is a use that they're explicitly rejected in any case. So this is basically a mix of Alex Jones paranoia and "OH MY GOD HE'S USING DRONES!!!"
 
The 'drones' aspect is a red herring and an odd fear mongering.
 
Courier said:
The filibuster should only be used to block voting for a Presidential nominee when there is substantial evidence that the nominee has participated in criminal, immoral, or highly unprofessional behavior.

Other than that, they should all get an up-or-down vote.

Anything less simply wastes the time of the Senate and wastes the money of the people.
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It’s not likely to last more than 24 hours, so what’s the harm? The benefit in all of this is the issue of drone strikes on Americans will become a top news item.
 
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