What Was the Point?

Rand Paul's Superficial Question

At The Week, Jeb Golinkin details just how 100% substance-free was Rand Paul's great publicity stunt.

The administration did not change its answer at all. Immediately after reading portions of the letter, Carney added that "if the United States were under attack, [if] there were an imminent threat," the president has the authority to protect the country from that assault. Every lawyer with any knowledge relating to national security law recognizes that language as being no different from the hypothetical Holder emphasized in his first letter. Basically, all the attorney general did in his second letter was answer a straw man question: Could the president order a drone strike on a citizen not suspected of terrorist activity, who is on American soil, and without due process? Answer: No.

How informative.

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David Frum

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