Open Thread. UPDATE Mr. Paul Goes To Washington

I had a fantastic post loaded with content ready to go but...the sequester.

One thing that hasn't been cut because of sequester....talking in DC. Rand Paul is going old school and filibustering the nomination of John Brennan by talking. He's holding up the nomination because he didn't like Eric Holder's answer to his question about whether Obama claims the right to be able to use a drone on an American citizen.

I think Paul asked the wrong question and I'm not sure he's right about Holder's answer.

“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the president to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States," Holder said.

Holder said "catastrophic" attacks such as the Sept. 11 attacks or the attack on Pearl Harbor are examples of circumstances where the president could conceivably feel such an action is necessary.

I read Holder's answer (full letter here- PDF) as basically adopting the same position as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney position that they had the authority to down a jet that might have been part of the 9/11 attacks. That's just awkward for everyone.

posted by DrewM. at 12:24 PM

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