Archive for the ‘Rand Paul’ Category

The Gross Hellscape That Awaits Ted Cruz on Parler – The Bulwark

Note: This article includes offensive screenshots from Parler users.

As incendiary Twitter accounts have increasingly been held accountable by the enforcement of Twitters terms of service, some right-wing users have taken to crying censorship.

Here is what transpired. The accounts in question mademultipleoffenses. They appeared toviolate the rules. They werewarned. They weregiven explanations. Nevertheless,they persisted.

And now several Republican officials have taken notice and concluded that this is a grave constitutional issue. Free speech itself is in danger. For Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Devin Nunes, and others, ensuring that even the dregs of society can post with impunity is a priority without peer. A private company is putting a warning label on users who inject violent or racist material on its platform? Somebody call James Madison, the Constitution is on fire!

If you are like Ted, Rand, and Devin and are wondering whether Twitter is just a wee bit too politewhether it could be more welcoming of fringe viewpointshave we got good news for you.

These Republican leaders are pretending to leave Twitter, joining such intellectual luminaries as Dan Bongino, Jacob Wohl, Eric Trump, and Dinesh DSouza, in the Autonomous Safe Zone App, Parler.

The Parler website even has a Declaration Of Internet Independence slamming the Technofascism of Silicon Valley and Twitter and claiming that millionsyes, millionshave been banned for their political ideology. We The People have had enough! they cry, demanding Free Speech and Liberties and other good things with Randomly Capitalized Letters.

Doesnt that sound like a wonderful company?

In reality, the largest group of accounts targeted for suspension from Twitter have been bots and terrorists, like the tens of millions of fake accounts removed after the scale of Russian interference in the 2016 election became clear, or the roughly 250,000 accounts associated with ISIS/ISIL removed after the 2015 terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

And when right-wing activists have gone to court to complain about getting kicked off Twitter, it hasnt gone well for themLaura Loomer sued in 2018 over having been banned from the platform and the court threw out her case. As Forbes reported at the time, The judges dismissed the claim that the tech companies violated their First Amendment rights, noting that the suit didnt show how those rights could have been violated since the First Amendment only protects against governmental infringement on speech. The facts dont care about your feelings.

But if your feelings are telling you youre still in danger of being silenced by the evil left-wing technofascist bros of the Bay Area, we figured you might have a few questions. So heres a quick peek at what itll look like when you pop into Parler, based on an eight-minute perusal of the app.

PARLER FAQ:

1) Do you have questions about whether the George Floyd murder is a false flag? If so, this is a good place to explore those theories.

2) Are you interested in exploring theories about Jewish history or Judaism?

3) Do you like to learn about history . . . and the influence of Judaism on key historical figures?

4) Are you interested in current events? . . . and, again, the influence of Judaism therein?

5) Have you felt that the existing social media platforms dont provide you enough opportunity to post pro-slavery memes?

6) Jesus was white and had blue eyes. Agree or Agree?

If youve gotten this far and are interested, we do have a bit of bad news. Most of the available user names containing the N-word have already been taken by the original settlers:

This looks like a grotesque hellscape of racist incels who have the emotional maturity of 13-year-old brats at a segregated boys prep school. And it reveals that the problem going forward for conservatives is deeper than just Donald Trump. Parler and the fanciful rage that supports it are symptomatic of a party and a movement that are overrun by grifters and intellectually bereft trolls championing constitutional illiteracy.

But for Ted and Rand and Devin, this is just what a web free from evil cEnSoRs looks like.

So enjoy, fellas, and congrats on your new neighbors and your freedom from @jacks oppressive hand.

See you back on Twitter in a few weeks (hours).

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The Gross Hellscape That Awaits Ted Cruz on Parler - The Bulwark

6 Reasons Why 2020 May Actually Be the Year of Hope – Cleveland Scene

The killing of George Floyd wrought riots in the streets, yet police shootings continue to mount.

And for all their efforts, the Founding Fathers never stopped to pose an obvious question: How can we save the nation from someday being destroyed by a large orange raccoon?

If it all feels rather apocalyptic, take solace, fellow citizens. All this misery seems to have delivered us a rare bout of introspection. Look beneath the hood, and youll find a seismic shift in public sentiment, suggesting we may have finally decided to mend our ways.

Here are six reasons for hope, by the numbers:

54

The percentage of Americans who believe protesters were justified in burning a Minneapolis police precinct.

Okay, so no one really likes torching government buildings, since it amounts to setting fire to our own property. Yet with police killings now caught on tape for all the world to see, the old tropes of dont get arrested, dont resist, and he probably deserved it are being roundly detonated on instant replay.

Five years ago, only half the country considered racism a big problem. Today its at 76 percent. Meanwhile, just 7 percent believe our police system is essentially sound. When an awakening arrives of this magnitude, things change quickly even in the most unlikely of places.

98-0

That was the vote in the Iowa House for a new law that bans chokeholds and bars officers from working again in the state if theyve been fired for misconduct. More surprising: It was approved by a Republican majority. Then theres Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Only a few weeks ago he was single-handedly holding up an anti-lynching bill. Now hes seeking a nationwide ban on no-knock warrants, the kind that put eight bullets into emergency room technician Breonna Taylor as she slept.

Even the Human Incendiary Device, Donald Trump, is feeling the pressure. He signed an executive order that would track police misconduct and raise standards for use of force.

Yes, its meaningless, since its nothing more than a series of guiding principles. But when a man with Ted Bundys sense of empathy feels obliged to feign compassion, you know the times are changing.

If Black Lives Matter was a presidential candidate, it would crush Trump in a landslide. BLMs current approval rating: 62 percent, nearly double what it was four years ago. Donald Trumps: 40.

1/3

The percentage of Tucker Carlson Tonight revenue propped up by a single advertiser, MyPillow.

Its hard to have a moderately sane country when top-rated news hosts are triggered by Sesame Street specials on racism. Combined with talk radio and an army of frothing websites, one could argue that Fear Thy Neighbor Television is the greatest propaganda force since the Third Reich, dispensing an alternate reality where the white mans besieged, the villain de jour is coming to take your riding lawn mower, and the only road to salvation is to give all our money to the job creators.

As Foxs resident blueblood recently put it:

This may be a lot of things, this moment we are living through. But it is definitely not about black lives. And remember that when they come for you.

Yet the boardroom caste has belatedly discovered theyre funding the wrong side of history. Carlsons show is hemorrhaging advertisers, an exodus that includes Disney, Papa Johns, T-Mobile, Pacific Life and Farmers Insurance.

When the Beast loses its primary source of nutrition, good things are in store. So the next time you see a Wendys commercial vowing nebulous solidarity, think of it not as another shallow attempt to ingratiate. Think of it as the dawn of a transformational moment in the executive suite.

They may not understand it all. They may not even agree. But theyre getting the distinct sense they can no longer be seen in polite society with the Tucker Carlsons of the world, lest they imperil their one true love money.

29

The number of states with surging Covid cases.

No, this is not actually a good thing. But its what happens when half the country believes its mastered epidemiology by glancing at a Facebook meme. And in a painful, backward way, it may be the one thing that spares the nation from Death By Gooberism.

The surge is concentrated in the sunbelt states, where governors fear that adhering to science makes them look weak and effete. (Point of order: Youre doing just fine with that on your own, pal.) So they pretended a global pandemic just went away.

Think of it as the All Lives Matter Except Grandmas Campaign. The peasantry was sent back to work, the job creators remained safely ensconced at home, and Trump could finally launch his much anticipated Risk Death to Celebrate Me summer tour.

If tens of thousands of more people died, so be it as long as the death part handled by a different department.

In many ways, weve become akin to the country that still uses bloodletting and leeches after the rest of the world discovers penicillin. Yet theres an upside to this self-inflicted agony.

Once upon a time less than half the nation thought climate change was real. Then Mother Nature sent hurricanes, rising seas and 100-year floods to the homelands of Gooberville, the sunbelt. Suddenly, climate change could no longer be dismissed as someone elses problem. Belief rose to 80 percent.

Consider the latest Covid surge another Pavlovian lesson, targeting the Disciples of Mean Jesus who wont make the smallest sacrifice for thy neighbor. And its carrying the gift of enlightenment.

1.4 percent

Joe Bidens lead among voters 65 and older.

No ones confusing Biden with the Second Coming. Or even a minor saint whos nonetheless pleasant at dinner parties. But when the alternative is the Worlds Most Vile Attempted Human , its a bit like saying, I know we should get rid of Stalin, but shouldnt we wait to find the perfect replacement?No. We must drive the serpent from the temple. Now.

And our elders may prove our saviors.

In 2016, Trump won in part by a 13-point lead with the elder vote. He did so with a Republican playbook thats worked for decades: Pound them with fear of changing world. Make them tremble at the immigrant hordes invading our shores. Promise that the country could be great again if only they elected an incompetent daddys boy, just like the great presidents of yesteryear.

It wasnt exactly a masters class in propaganda. But if youre old, isolated, and frame your worldview from the nightly prattle of Sean Hannity, you believed. This was especially important because about 70 percent of older people vote in presidential elections. By contrast, the under-30 crowd hasnt broken 50 percent in the last 40 years. (Want someone to blame for our odious leaders, Sweet Youth of America? Examine the mirror tomorrow morning.)

But Trumps handling of the coronavirus has made his intentions clear. In a choice between the Dow Jones Industrial Average or some 70-year-olds continued breathing, hes definitely going with the Dow.

Thats left older voters to bail en masse. Biden and Trump are now in a statistical dead heat. Weirdly enough, when the elderly must choose who to fear more a Mexican meatpacker or a president doing his best to make them dead the Mexican doesnt seem so scary anymore.

25 percent

Bidens current lead among women.

In 2016, Trump received just 41 percent of the womens vote, a nonetheless impressive showing for a serial sex offender. But among white women alone, he rose to 52 percent. This tragic figure led some to believe that women could eventually prove as dumb as men. Yet polling now shows a full recovery from this bout of madness. Bidens lead among women is the highest in polling history. Its not only enough to boot the man-child-in-chief, but may well portend the coming of female-dominant governance.

Judging by mans track record alone, we should already have a constitutional amendment barring anyone in possession of a penis from public office. Were the people who brought you school massacres, congressional gridlock, corporations as humans, the anti-Christ McConnell, and the most expensive health care in the world. And these are just the appetizers.

Even if women just decided to, say, value human life as much as the stock market, wed be rocketing toward a bold new world.

The numbers say that world is coming.

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6 Reasons Why 2020 May Actually Be the Year of Hope - Cleveland Scene

Latest Kentucky news, sports, business and entertainment at 1:20 am EDT – WBKO

ELECTION 2020-KENTUCKY SENATE-BOOKER

Police protests upend Democratic Senate contest in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) For months, Charles Booker languished in the shadows talking about racial and economic justice in a long-shot bid for the chance to take on Republican powerhouse Mitch McConnell in the fall. Now, Bookers campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination from the left wing of Kentucky politics has won mainstream support in whats become a serious bid for the nomination in Tuesdays primary. His efforts to bridge gaps between white and Black Kentuckians have drawn in new supporters and left longtime Kentucky political observers wondering if he might be the right man for the moment.

AMERICA PROTESTS-KENTUCKY

Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting to be fired

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Louisville's mayor says one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be fired. Mayor Greg Fischer said Friday that interim Louisville police Chief Robert Schroeder has started termination proceedings for Officer Brett Hankison. Two other officers remain on administrative reassignment while the shooting is investigated. Fischer said officials could not answer questions about the firing because of state law. He referred all questions to the Jefferson County attorneys office. Taylor was shot eight times by officers who burst into her Louisville home using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her home.

CONGRESSMAN'S WIFE DEAD-FUNERAL

Funeral for U.S. Rep. Andy Barr's wife to be held on Monday

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) A funeral service for the wife of U.S. Rep. Andy Barr will be held on Monday in Kentucky. Eleanor Carol Barr died unexpectedly this week at the age of 39. An announcement for the service says she will be laid to rest at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. There will also be a visitation service for her Sunday. Her husband said on Twitter the services will be a beautiful tribute to a beautiful life. The family is requiring social distancing and masks for those planning to attend. The announcement said those who dont feel comfortable attending due to the coronavirus pandemic can stream the funeral service on YouTube.

ELECTION 2020-KENTUCKY NEWS GUIDE

Senate, House races among decisions in Kentucky primary

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Among the races that will be decided in Kentucky on Election Day are party nominations for a U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a contentious primary for U.S. Representative in the Fourth District. Two Democrats have risen to the forefront in the Senate race: retired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, who has raised the most money to challenge McConnell, and progressive state Rep. Charles Booker, who's been gaining momentum recently with several key endorsements. In the House race, attorney Todd McMurtry is posing a strong challenge to Republican incumbent Thomas Massie.

ELECTION 2020-KENTUCKY-SENATE

Booker picks up Warren endorsement in Kentucky Senate race

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Democrat Charles Booker has picked up another national endorsement, from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as he seeks the nomination in Kentuckys primary election next week to run against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this fall. Warren said in a tweet Thursday that Booker is a lifelong Kentuckian who has seen how Mitch McConnell and Washington, D.C. have failed working families." Booker, a freshman state lawmaker from Louisville, was endorsed earlier by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

RAND PAUL-ASSAULTED

Date set for resentencing of man who attacked Rand Paul

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) A new sentencing date was set for a Kentucky man who tackled U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, breaking several of the lawmaker's ribs. Rene Boucher was scheduled to be resentenced on July 27. Boucher served a 30-day sentence and paid a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to attacking his then-neighbor Paul. Federal prosecutors appealed the sentence, stating 30 days was too lenient considering Pauls injuries. A federal appeals court agreed to resentence Boucher and vacate his 30-day sentence. Bouchers attorney said the decision to resentence Boucher was giving prosecutors a second chance and this wouldn't happen if the incident didnt involved a senator.

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John Bolton’s Book Reveals the Depth of His Hostility Toward Iran – Foreign Policy

Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Boltons revenge book hasnt revealed much that is new. It mostly adds details to already-known episodes of President Donald Trumps mismanagement of world affairs. But there is one exception: the story of Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus efforts to sabotage Trumps would-be diplomacy with Tehran. This episode reveals something crucial and until now not fully appreciated: Netanyahus ferocious opposition to the Iran nuclear deal had little to do with the deal itself and everything to do with the very idea of the United States striking any deal with Iran. The same is true for Saudi Arabia. Whomever occupies the White House next year must address head-on the Israeli prime minister and the Saudi crown princes commitment to keeping the United States bogged down in conflict with Iran.

Bolton boasts about his extensive coordination with Pompeo and Netanyahu to scuttle mediation efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron and to, at all costs, prevent a meeting between Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, in 2019.

Desperate to block any opening between the United States and Iran, Bolton instructed his staff to prepare a flight for him to return to Washington in protest. The idea of the Americans and Iranians talking to each other so offended Bolton that he prepared a two-sentence letter of resignation if the meeting were to go ahead. He had no such letter in hand before Trumps summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In fact, Bolton himself participated in that meeting and shook Kims handdemonstrating that as hawkish as he is on North Korea, he views Iran as a separate sort of pariah altogether. He had already succeeded in scuttling an effort by Republican Sen. Rand Paul to get Zarif to visit the White House. Pompeo assured Bolton that he would follow his lead in resigning if Trump met with Zarif, though, publicly, Pompeo continues to insist that his goal is to get the Iranians to come to the table.

Bolton appears to have had no qualms about working with a foreign leader to undermine the expressed desire of the U.S. president he was supposedly serving. When Netanyahu tried to dissuade Trump from meeting with Zarif, Trumps son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner blocked the Israeli prime ministers attempts to reach Trump, as he believed it was inappropriate for a foreign leader to try to dictate to the U.S. president whom he should and shouldnt speak to. Bolton had no such trepidation and instead accused Kushner of being a Democrat.

But behind the banal palace intrigue that Bolton details lurks a geopolitical reality that the United States must come to terms with. The Netanyahu government and the Israeli security apparatusalbeit not all parts of itwere not opposed to former President Barack Obamas nuclear deal because of its alleged flaws. They were then and now remain opposed to any deal with Iran due to its geopolitical implications.

Boltons account indicates that there simply wasnt anything the Obama administration could have done to placate Netanyahu and the Saudi regime. It wasnt that Obama was insufficiently sympathetic to Israeli and Saudi security concerns or that his bad rapport with Netanyahu and the Saudi royals fueled their misgivings about the nuclear talks.

After all, in Trump, Netanyahu found a very different U.S. president. In Trump, he had a president willing to break with all his predecessors in acquiescing to almost all key Israeli demands: moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli control of the Golan Heights, accepting Israeli annexation of Palestinian land, and even promising Netanyahu that the United States will support Israel if it chooses to start a war with Iran.

Both Presidents George W. Bush and Obama had pressed Israel not to take military action and only offered U.S. backing if the Iranians initiated the fighting. It is then no surprise that the Israeli prime minister has hailed the former reality TV star as the the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.

It is hard to imagine a bigger pushover in the White House from Netanyahus standpoint. Yet, he repeatedly worked with Bolton and Pompeo to prevent even a single meeting between Trump and the Iranians, fearing that it would lead to an agreement between Tehran and Washington that would dial back their animosity.

Netanyahus calculation is not terribly difficult to understand. Israels longest-serving prime minister and many within the Israeli security establishment have feared that U.S.-Iranian diplomacy ultimately would lead to an agreement that would reduce U.S.-Iranian tensions without necessarily decreasing the Israeli-Iranian animus proportionally. With Iran largely moving off of the United States radar, the U.S. government would be freed to shift its focus and resources away from the Middle East, leaving Israel abandoned to deal with Iran without the automatic backing of the United States. This would reduce Israeli maneuverability in the Middle East and affect the configuration of the regional balance of power in a way that negatively impacts Israeli interests.

Supremely confident that he could bend Washingtons will to his own, Netanyahu opted to prevent U.S.-Iranian diplomacy and sabotage any potential negotiationseven at the expense of damaging his relations with Obama or Israels relations with the Democratic Party.

The calculation of the House of Saud was very similar. Saudi Arabias partnership with the United States has allowed it to enjoy a position in the region that its own power never could justify. But for that benefit to be enduring, the United States must remain committed to keeping a large military presence in the region to check Riyadhs rivals. A U.S.-Iranian accommodation would not only jeopardize Saudi Arabias beneficial position, but it would also force Riyadh to confront Tehran alonesomething it lacks the military and political competence to do, unlike Israel.

In that sense, Saudi Arabias anxiety about losing U.S. backing is more understandable. Israel is a powerful nuclear-equipped nation with one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world. It has deterred and pushed back Irans position in Syria without any help from the United States. Saudi Arabia cant point to any such achievement.

For the United Stateswhether led by Trump or by his rival candidate Joe Bidenthis implies that any effort to square the circle of diplomatically resolving the dispute with Iran while satisfying Saudi Arabias and Israels geostrategic needs simply may not be possible.

Boltons inside account has inadvertently clarified that Washington must choose between either satisfying its own interest in bringing U.S. troops home from the Middle East and avoiding an unnecessary war with Iran or satisfying Netanyahu and the Saudi royal familys interest in keeping the United States trapped in a cycle of enmity with Iran that keeps the regions balance in their favor.

The reality is that none of the United States core interests warrants a major U.S. military presence in the Middle East, let alone U.S. military domination of the region. Retaining such a force structure in order to sustain a partnership with Israel and Saudi Arabia gets the very purpose of alliances backward. However problematic or erroneous their approach may be, Israel and Saudi Arabia have defined their interests vis--vis America and are pursuing them unapologetically. The U.S. government should do the same.

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John Bolton's Book Reveals the Depth of His Hostility Toward Iran - Foreign Policy

Rand Paul stalls bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime – The Guardian

Amid the visceral national outcry for racial justice in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, a lone US senator is standing in the way of a bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime.

Rand Paul, a Republican with a reputation as a one-man awkward squad in the US Senate, has put the historic legislation into limbo, frustrating black colleagues and civil rights leaders, including the Rev Jesse Jackson.

About 4,075 African Americans were lynched in 12 southern states between 1877 and 1950, according to a 2015 report by the Equal Justice Initiative. Some were watched by crowds, as if attending a form of public entertainment.

Ida B Wells, a crusading African American journalist, once said: Our countrys national crime is lynching.

The killing of Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, caught on film and seen by millions, has been likened to a 21st-century lynching. It spurred more than two weeks of worldwide protests.

From 1882 to 1986, Congress failed to pass anti-lynching legislation 200 times, but this moment appeared to be different.

Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Tim Scott, the only three African American members of the Senate, led the unanimous passage of the legislation in that chamber in 2018 and 2019. The House of Representatives then passed it by a 410-4 vote in February but renamed it for Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955.

That was the only change that returned the bill to the Senate, which makes Pauls sudden objection all the more idiosyncratic.

The Democratic congressman Bobby Rush, who proposed the House legislation, tweeted: The language of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is IDENTICAL to the bill that was unanimously approved by the Senate. The only conclusion I can draw from Rand Pauls sudden opposition is he has an issue with the House bill being named after Emmett Till.

But Paul, a licensed doctor, is notorious for rousing colleagues ire by stalling legislation and for a life and career that are seldom conventional.

In 2017 he was physically assaulted by a neighbour while mowing his lawn; in 2018 he visited Russia and delivered a letter from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin; earlier this year he became the first senator to test positive for coronavirus, shortly after being the only one to vote against a bipartisan $8bn deal to provide emergency coronavirus funding.

He now argues that the anti-lynching legislation is drafted too broadly and could define minor assaults as lynching.

The bill as written would allow altercations resulting in a cut, abrasion, bruise, or any other injury no matter how temporary to be subject to a 10-year penalty, Paul said. My amendment would simply apply a serious bodily injury standard, which would ensure crimes resulting in substantial risk of death and extreme physical pain be prosecuted as alynching.

He has previously worked with Democrats in pushing for criminal justice reform and taken a more progressive stance than many Republican colleagues.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, while speaking with activists in Louisville in his home state of Kentucky, Paul criticised no-knock search warrants, such as the one used at the home of Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead by police in March, and the militarisation of police departments. And he said he is likely to support some form of federal legislation aimed at overhauling police procedures.

Challenged about his opposition to the bill, Paul called lynchings a horror of American history and said he supports the bill, the AP added, but reiterated that its language is too broad.

Last Thursday, as Floyd was mourned at a memorial service in Minneapolis, Paul proposed an amendment to the bill, which would require a vote of the full Senate and would send the bill back to the House currently out of session for additional consideration.

The amendment was defeated after emotions ran high on the Senate floor. Booker, of New Jersey, said: One man, one man is standing in the way of the law of the land changing because of a difference of interpretation. Does America need a win today on racial justice?

Appearing on The View on the ABC network, Harris described the senators contrarian stance as insulting, adding: What Rand Paul is doing, which is one man holding up what would be a historic bill recognising one of the great sins of America and it was on the day of George Floyds funeral which just added insult to injury and frankly made it so painful that on that day thats what was happening.

Although Paul is often an outlier, there are fears that the holdup could be indicative of wider Republican reluctance to tackle systemic racism in the police and embrace reforms. Moe Vela, a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, said on Wednesday: My thoughts on it are very simple: birds of a feather.

If Rand Paul somehow doesnt believe we need an anti-lynching bill in the United States and his Republican colleagues cant get him to release the hold, to me it says everything Americans need to know about the Republican party. Either youre for lynching or youre against lynching. Its that simple.

But Tara Setmayer, a political commentator and former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, was less critical, noting the consistency of Pauls libertarian streak.

I understand that he wants to strengthen the bill with certain language as an amendment, she said. He doesnt want it to go away. He wants it to be strengthened from his perspective.

But I think its a bit out of step with the political climate that were in So hes going to get the backlash, but Senator Tim Scott said hes going to talk to him and see if they can work something out in the language. I think they will come to some type of agreement and it will eventually pass. I dont see it being held up forever.

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Rand Paul stalls bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime - The Guardian