Rand Paul Proves He Is Too Good For Us, As He Upsets the Right People – The Liberator Online
This article was featured in our weekly newsletter, the Liberator Online. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is notorious for being a principled voice for limited constitutional government. Even better, he amuses us with how swiftly he induces tantrums among the political establishments flunkies.
Aside from President Donald Trump, its Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who is usually the face of evil for liberals. But on Tuesday night, an NBC News story, based on two anonymous McConnell-linked sources, redirected the ire squarely on Paul.
What did the libertarian ophthalmologist-turned-politician do to deserve this? He did his job.
Paul proposed an amendment to the coronavirus bill being rushed through the Senate after passing the House 363-40. For those keeping track, libertarian-leaning Republican Thomas Massie didnt vote, and libertarian-leaning Independent Congressman Justin Amash voted present.
Pauls amendment, according to NBC News reporter Julie Tsirkin, was officially summarized as: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require a social security number for the purposes of the child tax credit, to provide the President the authority to transfer funds as necessary and to terminate United States military operations and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan.
Twitter is littered with righteous indignation constantly, but Tuesday night, it was mostly directed at Paul. And it was mostly thanks to the NBC News story poorly co-written by Tsirkin.
Before getting into the catty tone of the article, lets consider the actual concerns people have with Pauls amendment.
First, isnt there a national emergency going on? Now isnt the time for nitpicking whats legal under the Constitution or how Congress appropriates funds. Theres no time for delay, were led to believe.
The answer to this critique is short, because there simply is no delay in voting beyond a few minutes just because an amendment is proposed. All of this drama is just political theatre, with McConnell aides directing the show.
Second, and perhaps more reasonably, it may be asked what the war in Afghanistan has to do with this coronavirus. That almost begs the question though. Why is Congress leaping to this hot new political commodity known as a coronavirus when theyve skirted their true duties for so long?
Beyond the deadly Afghanistan misadventure being a drain on financial resources, its worth investigating how human resources are wasting away, mired down in that desert. In Syria, most of the U.S. troops are from the South Carolina National Guard. Might be nice to have them here!
Here Paul is doing the job all the other senators are supposed to be doing. Unfortunately for him, it doesnt fit into the narrative most comfortable for the political and media elites.
As a result, we end up with junior high school level journalism weaponized against patriotic dissent.
Paul is notorious for forcing votes on amendments he knows will not pass, the NBC News story goes.
It concluded in a similar fashion: He even briefly caused the government to shut down in 2018, using a procedural tactic to block the Senate from meeting the deadline to keep the government open because he objected to the price tag.
Both of these statements are lies, though the authors probably believe them. Its a sure sign of the deep divisions in the country.
Whether its the 9/11 Victims bill, the Ukrainegate impeachment failure, or foreign aid, Paul consistently upsets the right people by doing the right thing. This doesnt mean Paul is perfect, but it does mean Americans should appreciate his special role in Washington, DC.
Original post:
Rand Paul Proves He Is Too Good For Us, As He Upsets the Right People - The Liberator Online
- Letter to the Editor: Former Libertarian Chair urges representatives to remember their oath - Brown County Democrat - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Musk Invited to Join the U.S. Libertarian Party - Binance - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Former Libertarian Party chair speaks on One Big, Beautiful Bill - Purdue Exponent - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Libertarian Party Invites Elon Musk to Join Them in the Realm of Political Loserdom - Gizmodo - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- No Kings: Why California needs the Libertarian message more than ever - Orange County Register - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Libertarian Party courts Elon Musk amid third-party buzz: Join us, dont reinvent the wheel - Latest news from Azerbaijan - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Thomas Massie: The Maverick Congressman Shaping Libertarian Investing Ideas - Vocal - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Libertarian Party pitches Musk an alternative to creating new party: Join forces - Washington Examiner - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Elon Musk Receives Invitation To Join Libertarian Party: 'Making A New Third Party Would Be A Mistake' - Benzinga - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- None is Worse Than Less: Libertarian Monetarism, Ample Reserves, and the Crypto Mirage - International Policy Digest - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Chip Roy Goes Nuclear on Libertarian Witness Advocating For Due Process: Killing Americans! - Mediaite - June 26th, 2025 [June 26th, 2025]
- Review: What the Hell Is a 'Libertarian Authoritarian'? - Reason Magazine - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Conservative and Libertarian Public Interest Group Letter Opposing "Big Beautiful Bill" Provision that Undermines Access to Justice - Reason... - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- The paradise island where millionaires go to avoid death (and taxes): Isle for the libertarian super-rich attracts many more like Bryan Johnson - the... - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- 'I'm More Libertarian Than You!' Rand Paul Opens Up About His Conversations With Trump, Iran War - The Daily Signal - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Heres Why ELON MUSK Should JOIN The Libertarian Party! Robby Soave | RISING - The Hill - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Should Elon Musk Take Over The Libertarian Party? A Former Chairman Of The Party Says Yes OpEd - Eurasia Review - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Chapter 6: Friedrich Hayek - the archetypal libertarian - Great Economists, The [Book] - O'Reilly Media - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- LNC Chair Response to Trump "Over-criminalization of Federal Regulations" EO - Libertarian Party - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Feminist reformer Beatrice Faust was a sexual libertarian who did her homework, kept her cool and criticised wimp feminism - The Conversation - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- The Worst Parts of Trump's First 100 Days Involved Ignoring Libertarian Principles - Reason Magazine - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Libertarian candidate's vote getting in 2023 didn't revive the party in Vanderburgh County - Courier & Press - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Chile Has Its Own Milei, and the Libertarian Is Just as Radical - Bloomberg.com - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- 'Bizarre in many ways': Libertarian reveals whats behind far rights 'war on empathy' - AlterNet - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Goodbye, zoning? Arkansas could be the guinea pig for a libertarian plan to kneecap city government - Arkansas Times - March 25th, 2025 [March 25th, 2025]
- Milei's small libertarian party is in a minority in Congress but has formed ad hoc alliances to push through its cost-cutting agenda - Islander... - March 25th, 2025 [March 25th, 2025]
- Will Congress Ever Take The Libertarian Win And Embrace Automatic Shutdown? - Forbes - March 13th, 2025 [March 13th, 2025]
- State of the Union Response - Libertarian Party - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
- Libertarian Party of Georgia Hosts Annual Convention This Weekend - The Citizen.com - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Taibbi: Surprising And Wonderful To See Libertarian Consensus Forming In Washington On Free Speech - RealClearPolitics - March 3rd, 2025 [March 3rd, 2025]
- What Is the American Libertarian Movement? - Cato Institute - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- Libertarian reacts to DOGE cuts and discusses how to reduce the size of government - WXXI News - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- A Libertarian Island Dream in Honduras Is Now an $11 Billion Nightmare - Bloomberg - February 14th, 2025 [February 14th, 2025]
- DeepSeek: a wound to the ideological pride of Trump and Musk's libertarian doctrine - AgendaPublica - February 1st, 2025 [February 1st, 2025]
- Ross Ulbricht: The Greatest Victory of the Libertarian Movement - The American Conservative - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Angela McArdle: What Role Did the Libertarian Party Play in Freeing Ross Ulbricht? - Reason - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Is Trump the most libertarian president ever? Left and Right alike misunderstood his worldview - UnHerd - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- Its a Weird Time to Be a Libertarian - The New Republic - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- British politicians are turning me into a libertarian - The Critic - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Our Libertarian moment is coming. Why opposition will weather it better | Opinion - The Topeka Capital-Journal - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Libertarian Populism Killed the Spending Bill - The American Conservative - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Analysis | Will Trump have a Libertarian in his Cabinet? - The Washington Post - December 18th, 2024 [December 18th, 2024]
- Reports of the NC Libertarian Partys death have been exaggerated - Carolina Journal - December 18th, 2024 [December 18th, 2024]
- Time Reflects the Revolution of Libertarian Liberalism: Trump and Milei on the Global Stage - InfoNegocios Miami - December 14th, 2024 [December 14th, 2024]
- ARGT: Riding The Libertarian Wave Of Economic Revival - Seeking Alpha - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- The Washington Post's Kate Cohen Discovers Inner Libertarian - RealClearMarkets - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- Heres to hoping Trump delivers on some of his Libertarian promises - OCRegister - November 23rd, 2024 [November 23rd, 2024]
- Publish more libertarian and conservative voices, and more Cameron Smith columns | Letters - Tennessean - November 23rd, 2024 [November 23rd, 2024]
- Liberal, conservative and libertarian students discuss the state of the country after election - Wyoming Public Media - November 16th, 2024 [November 16th, 2024]
- Expecting pardon from Trump, libertarian writer pleads guilty in Capitol riot case - WUSA9.com - November 16th, 2024 [November 16th, 2024]
- ITS BEEN THE HONOR OF MY LIFETIME TO BE THE LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT - Chase Oliver - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- 2024 Election Wrap Up - Libertarian Party of Michigan - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- RFK Jr., who dropped out of presidential race in August, received more votes in Alabama than Green Party, Libertarian Party combined - Yahoo! Voices - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Who is Chase Oliver? What to know about the Libertarian candidate appearing on US ballots - USA TODAY - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Colorado fights Libertarian Party lawsuit seeking hand count after leak of voting-machine passwords - Washington Times - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- How the Libertarian presidential candidate could be a spoiler for Trump - Washington Examiner - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Excluding the Libertarian may have saved Miller-Meeks in IA-01 - Bleeding Heartland - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Who is Chase Oliver, Libertarian candidate garnering attention in the US elections? - Firstpost - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Colorado Libertarian Party calls for hand count in lawsuit over leaked voting-machine passwords - Washington Times - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Opinion: Masks are over, and so is the Libertarian Party in Indiana - IndyStar - October 31st, 2024 [October 31st, 2024]
- Mailer in CD-3 appears aimed at boosting Libertarian candidate - The Durango Herald - October 31st, 2024 [October 31st, 2024]
- Raw interview with Bernard Johnson, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Representative, District 19 - MyFoxZone.com KIDY - October 31st, 2024 [October 31st, 2024]
- Meet the Libertarian running for Congress in IN-3 - WANE - October 28th, 2024 [October 28th, 2024]
- Q&A: Gideon Oakes, Libertarian candidate for Public Utilities Commission - News From The States - October 16th, 2024 [October 16th, 2024]
- Libertarian Donald Rainwater thinks he can win it all in 2024 - WTHITV.com - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Libertarian Rainwater thinks he can win it all in 2024 - pharostribune.com - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Libertarian Donald Rainwater thinks he can win it all in 2024 - Chronicle-Tribune - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Harry Bronson, candidate for NYS Assembly; the state of the Libertarian party; How to make college more accessible: coming up on... - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- Opinion | Vivek Ramaswamy Is No Friend of the Libertarian Movement - The Wall Street Journal - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- Libertarian Party has the right platform to restore America -- Tim Johnson - Madison.com - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Lyon Countys current sheriff will appear on November ballot as Libertarian candidate - Dakota News Now - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- N.H. Libertarian Party encourages 'assassination' of Harris, drawing scrutiny from state, federal authorities - WBUR News - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Feds aware of' NH Libertarian Party's post glorifying killing of VP Harris - NBC Boston - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- N.H. Libertarian Party shares, deletes post on X endorsing the assassination of VP Harris - The Boston Globe - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Libertarian Party NH Posts Position on Political Assassinations - InDepthNH.org - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- New Hampshire Libertarian Party shares and deletes post that suggests assassinating Harris would be heroic - The Independent - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Lyon Countys current sheriff will appear on November ballot as Libertarian candidate - KTIV Siouxland's News Channel - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Libertarian Party of New Hampshires Post on X Urging Assassination of Harris Prompts Visit From FBI - The New York Sun - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Demands for investigation after NH Libertarian Party shares threatening Harris - AlterNet - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Libertarian candidates for Congress will not be on Iowa ballots after final court decision - KCRG - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]