I miss Rand Paul in the presidential race. I miss his voice of reason, his non-interventionist foreign policy, his protection of the Constitution and just logical answers to problems facing our nation today. The Republican field is now melted down to a fake libertarian, a megalomaniac, a neo-conservative, knife-hands, and Doctor Sleepy.
He was the only one who fought against the security state. He refused to sit down and let the NSA spy on us; he forced the expiration of the Patriot Act in Congress. His legendary battles with Chris Christie appeared in the debates, always bellowing that our right to privacy was paramount, even if it was unpopular among Republican voters. He told the truth about mass surveillance and how it didn't help at all. Rand called it for what it really was; bullshit.
And now we all have left are candidates who want to spy on the United States because they believe in temporary security instead of protecting the right to privacy.
He stands against a broken criminal justice system which imprisons non-violent drug offenders and imposes draconian mandatory minimums. No Republican on the stage was willing nor able to combat the war on drugs; his answer at the Fox debate in January won him accolades on Twitter and from libertarians and liberals alike. He called for the end on the war on drugs and for ending the prohibition on cannabis, using social media to showcase his ideas on Reddit.
But now we have an idiot who wants to build a wall because he thinks that will end drugs coming in and a Canadian who betrayed criminal justice reform because it was politically expedient.
The best part about Rand is his reach across the aisle. He’s worked with everyone, from Ron Wyden of Oregon to curtail NSA spying, to Cory Booker to reform the criminal justice system. He has a bill with Harry Reid which would give non-violent offenders their voting rights back; a significant amount of them are African-Americans. He has worked with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to federalize medical marijuana and reclassify cannabis from a Schedule One to a Schedule Two drug. Rand Paul has also worked with the senator to combat sexual assault in the military, (Ted Cruz also joined in on that one.)
And he recognizes the problem we have. Bipartisanship is what Rand Paul is doing, not making secret backroom deals to balloon our debt. He has a plan to fix the national debt and balance the budget. He realizes the true threat between left and right is unlimited spending. True fiscal conservatism, not just mindless dribble to throw to the masses and blaming just one party for the financial situation.
Rand Paul was supposed to lead a revolution in the Republican Party. Instead, they blew their chance.The only good thing that came out of this was that we finally pushed libertarianism into the mainstream.
When I go to the California primaries in June, I'll be voting for Rand. It might be a protest vote, it might not matter since he suspended his campaign, but damn it, I will vote with my conscience and who I think is the best choice for the Presidency in the Republican Party.
