Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticizing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the deadly events at Benghazi :
“The people who make judgment errors need to be replaced, fired and no longer in a position to make judgment calls… I would have relieved you of your post.. I think it’s inexcusable. ” (1)
Let’s Discuss Reality:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has an approval rating of about 68%. The approval rating for Congress is about 14%.
The tables should be turned, with the American people behind the lectern, and Senator
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Paul being made to sit at the witness table, facing American citizens. He should explain why he should not be fired for his and 534 colleagues in Congress gross incompetence, continuing errors in judgement and playing partisan politics with the lives of the citizens. He could explain his despicable grandstanding on the graves of four Americans serving their country.
Or at the very least, he could explain why he and his Republican buddies cut the security budget for the Department of State shortly before the Benghazi tragedy.
It is he should be relieved of his post, and told that we Americans consider his performance inexcusable.
But that’s just a short me, today…
(1) Taken from the daily app of the Washington Post, 1/23/13
I’m totally ignoring the Rand Paul thing. He is just so annoying. As for the Mrs. Clinton, wanted her for president the first go-round. Cheered wildly when she came to Fresno High. Would vote for her in a heart’s beat, right now, for any office. She is so smart, so savvy, and has an amazing constitution to keep going even though not feeling well. We need more like her.
By all accounts, Clinton’s 2008 campaign was made up mostly of Bill Clinton retreads, and were a disasterous combination of misplaced ego’s and chauvinism. I was not a fan of hers in the past.
However, I think she has been one of the best Secretary’s of State in history, and her work ethic and focus are above reproach. Assuming she decides to run in 2016, and can put her own team in place (I also think she has matured (politically) significantly since then), then I would support her in a heartbeat.
I like Biden a great deal, and really respect him, but by then, he will be just too old. We don’t need another tottering Reagan-like man in the White House.
Thanks for writing
Our impulse to re-elect our incumbants contributes to their attitude of superiority and invicibility to say and vote without regard to their constituents’ opinions. Term limits on congressional representatives and senators would be a good step. This would not necessarily keep the effective and compassionate leaders out, because they would have the option to run for different offices, whether that would be moving up from local to state to national positions, or taking appointed positions, such as Mrs. Clinton has done. On the other hand, you can lie about hiking the Appalanchian Trial while running off to a South American country to appeal to your mistress, lose your state office and then try to run for national office. Hmmm. Maybe the parlimenatry system in which the whole government can be dissolved has some merit?! Well, either is better than armed rebellion or revolution.
Oscar
As I’ve always said, we agree to “throw the bums out, except for our guy, he’s ok.” Thus they all get re-elected. I tend to agree with the concept of term limits, but am concerned that the focus on finding their next job is as bad as what we see today in maintaining their job, it is just different. I’m beginning to like the parlimentary system, one where we can dissolve the whole govt, as you suggest. What we have isn’t working, and the compromises already worked out in the last two weeks do not bode well for the next 4 years.
I did get one nice letter from a reader claiming that Paul is rapidly becoming a liability in his own state of Kentucky, and that there are forces about to insure he is not re-elected in 2014.
Thanks for writing
Now, you would not be thinking of Joe Manchin, the junior Senator from WV, would you? While he was governor, Senator Byrd was found to have fosilized in his senate chair. Manchin, who as governor, had the state constitutional authority to nominate someone to finish off Byrds term. But, he resigns his position, appointing Tomblin to fill the governor’s position. Tomblim selects Manchin to fill the sentate seat until a special election (cost WV $3M) allows the voters to “elect” Manchin to till the term, which is only about 6 months longer. That leads to a primary election ($3M) to nominate Manchin to the senate for the democrates, which leads to a general election ($3M, but this included a lot of other condidates in different races). We did not even get any moonshine out all that politicing!
Well, I think you win in the convoluted politics contest! That is some puzzle book they put together.
Senator Paul’s approval rating in KY is sinking fast. One of my cousins says that the pastor of her church mentioned that he should be punished for voting against bills that would have brought jobs to Kentucky and arguing against the Highway bill when the bridges that connect Kentucky to Illinois and Ohio are crumbling and some of the highways are in such bad condition that truckers have to travel hundreds of miles out of their way to avoid damaging their tires and having even higher costs. A PASTOR who knows more about the economics of transport than a Senator!! But Paul is rather dumb. Remember, he claimed to be a “board certified” eye doctor but the board was his own creation and he was not certified by the REAL board. He lied repeatedly.
Thanks for the information and insight on Paul. I know he is a great believer in his own PR, and has a faith that he is a viable 2013 candidate. I think his chances are close to zero. I think he is in over his head, and equates being a boisterous and loud bully with skill as a senator. Thanks for all the insight, and the fact that he is losing support in his own state. Interesting.
Thanks for writing and the comments.
Welcome to my blog.
Still relying on you to bring me my news… and this little tidbit makes me so happy I have permanently turned off the TV news. Sticking my head in the sand has been a refreshingly sane move.
I actually try to avoid TV/Cable news now, and try to read over 2-3 newspapers to try to get a better perspective. Living here allows us to control the input we are faced with, and some days, the best thing in the world is to sit looking out over the mountains, with nothing more than a steaming cup of coffee and an empty mind. BTW, have traded in my second cup of coffee for a cinammon tea from Trader Joe’s.
Sounds like all is going well for you and Stanley. That’s great!
Nothing better than a warm cup and a nice view
Particularly the view!!!
The consensus I heard from reputable news is Rand Paul went well over the top. One of the things I don’t like is when things are not funded and you cut expenses and then when something hits the fan, the folks who cut the funding said how could you let that happen? I see this at all levels of government – local, state and federal. I think this is a collective failure to secure our people abroad. Of course, the State Dept is culpable, but so are others who don’t fund protection. I think the fact Clinton and team are executing on fixing the 29 things noted in the report is commendable. But, back to the Rand point. Clinton has been one of our most successful Secretaries of State and our position in the world (as reported by non-US survey data) has improved since 2008 dramatically. Clinton had a heavy hand in that. So, Rand if you were her supervisor, you would need to look at the whole picture which shows she has done her job far better than you have done yours. Great post, BTG
PS – I would say to Mr. Rand, falsifying information and a story that led us to invade Iraq where thousands of Americans and our allies and tens of thousands of Iraqis died is a bigger tragedy than this. That is criminal in my mind and you may recall Scooter Libby went to jail when he took the fall for releasing classified information to discredit a CIA agent, Valerie Plame, who had proof against some of the false information. Libby was just the tip of the spear.
Paul is grandstanding for his future run for the White House in 2016. Benghazi was NOT a consulate, it was a remote office. He and other Repubs specifically cut the budget for State Dept. security. He went way over the top, yesterday, and I do believe it will come back to haunt him. The Repubs are supposedly working to repair their image in order to survive, and rants like his and the House Republican yesterday who attacked Clinton, then accused her of “Theatrics” aren’t helping.
Thanks for writing
It would not be politically correct to say this, but Paul can be real prick at times. This is not his first venture in this territory. I cannot see him for this reason ever being a serious candidate for president.
Since I don’t suffer from, and am apparently immune to Political Correctness, I can wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Paul. I see his chances as being as close to zero as possible, though he might be a political spoiler, much in the image of Gingrich.
You called him Senator.
During his questioning he stated ‘If he were President’.
Rand ‘If I Were President’ Paul.
That will come back to haunt him from both Dems and Repubs alike in 2016.
I agree. He, like his father, has an unrealistic vision of himself and how he would be a great President. Its amazing to me how these guys, including Mittens, have this dysfunctional view of how right they are for the job. I think this attack on Clinton will also come back to haunt him.
Thanks for writing
I agree with your view of Rand Paul, and I have little more regard for his father, Libertarian icon and Ayn Randite Ron Paul. Neither one of them have a clue about what goes on in this country, or the world at large, today.
This was a blatant act of political grandstanding of the worst sort. The Republicans just had a 3 day meeting on how to improve their image, and then this nut job sticks his head up. A little less pomp, a lot more actual work, might help the image of Congress. But sadly, I still don’t think they get it.
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Maybe we should be sceptical of any politician with the first or last name “Paul”.
Start with “Paul” then go to McConnell, then possibly Boehner, Reid, Ryan, McCain, Cantor, McCarthy, …Oh heck, just go through the list from A to Z.