◼ Nobody should be surprised that Rand Paul got so warm a welcome Wednesday, even in a city whose name is often preceded in conversation by "The People's Republic of..." - Josh Richman/San Jose Mercury News (image source)
After all, the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky and likely contender for 2016's Republican presidential nomination is following in his father's footsteps by drawing crowds of enthusiastic young followers, particularly on college campuses, wherever he goes.
And his policies -- particularly criticizing government surveillance programs, avoiding military actions that aren't vital to national security, and rethinking the war on drugs -- draw voters from across the spectrum, including some of Berkeley's famed lefties....
In a speech peppered with references to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," Paul told a crowd of about 400 that he will call for creation of a bipartisan committee to probe and reform the intelligence community. Much like the post-Watergate Church Committee of the 1970s, "It should watch the watchers."
...Just as Edward Snowden broke the law by leaking information about these programs, so too did Director of National Intelligence James Clapper break the law by lying to Congress, Paul said. The nation is under watch by "an intelligence community that's drunk with power, unrepentant and unwilling to relinquish power," he said. "The sheer arrogance of this: They're only sorry that they got caught. Without the Snowden leaks, these spies would still be doing whatever they please."
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich watched from the back of the room.
"There are not too many people who can get a standing ovation at CPAC and a standing ovation at Berkeley," said Reich, now a UC-Berkeley professor.
...Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom walked over from the UC Regents meeting to hear Paul speak.
"The issue of privacy is the issue of our time," Newsom said. "We're all figuring this out in real-time... and his voice is an important one in this conversation."
◼ Rand Paul: Sleeping with the Enemy at Berkeley - Roger L. Simon/PJM
Whatever you think of Rand Paul, he’s actually doing something that politicians rarely do – talking at length to audiences who don’t usually agree with him. And winning over new friends in the process. His recent speech at UC Berkeley, where he apparently got a standing ovation for excoriating runaway government spying on Americans, is only the latest example.◼ Rand Paul Invokes Martin Luther King Jr. to Slam Obama, Others on NSA Spying - AP/The Blaze
Historically, the Republican Party has been just what the public thinks it is, largely a bunch of risk averse white men who are totally clueless at public relations, even though they are on the right (correct) side of almost every issue. Meanwhile, the liberal Democrats haven’t had a decent rational argument about anything for years, if they ever did. They ream young people, blacks and virtually every other “interest group”that supports them with their policies and they still win most national elections. What a disgraceful group of losers that makes the Republicans. There are literally thousands of chips on the table and they’re living them all behind.
Rand Paul is smart enough to realize this and actually goes out and does things about it.
◼ Rand Paul gets standing ovation at Berkeley: ‘Your right to privacy is under assault’ - Alex Pappas/Daily Caller
That Paul decided to take his libertarian-leaning message to one of the most liberal campuses in the country is no mistake. He is actively making an effort to appear before crowds that have not been supportive of Republicans to demonstrate his ability to appeal to a broader electorate.◼ RAND PAUL GETS A STANDING O AT BERKELEY - John Hayward/Human Events @Doc_o
The Mercury News gives Rand Paul credit for holding much of the youth enthusiasm generated by his father Ron, but it seems like Rand’s appeal is reaching beyond the energetic young Paulite base. Not to start any fights at the next Paul family picnic, but I don’t think Ron could have done quite this well at Berkeley in his prime. That’s partially a result of changing circumstances, of course, ranging from growing public disillusionment with the competence of the Leviathan State, to the current fears about getting spied upon by one of Leviathan’s many electronic eyes.
In fact, rather than pigeon-holing himself as the guy who complains about the NSA all the time, Paul is shaping the Surveillance State into the tip of a broader critique against Big Government. You might say he’s turned it into a wedge issue for Democrats, particularly young ones. He’s doing a great job of teaching them the importance of inalienable rights – privacy, dignity, and the presumption of innocence. There are some other inalienable rights to be discussed, once Paul has young people on board with those.
A big State is, inevitably, a nosy State; control requires information. As power grows, the spheres of both liberty and privacy collapse in tandem. The surveillance issue gives Paul a great opening to talk about the many other dangers of centralized power… increasingly centralized in one branch of the government, and vested in bureaucratic organisms even the unitary President Obama claims he cannot understand or control.
“If the CIA is spying on Congress, who exactly can, or will, stop them?” Paul asked the Berkeley crowd. ”I look into the eyes of Senators, and I think I see real fear. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I think I perceive fear of an intelligence community that’s drunk with power – unrepentant, and un-inclined to relinquish power. I’m honestly worried and concerned about who is, truly, in charge of our government.”
