Libertarian Rand Paul Is Suddenly Very Concerned About The Right To Free Assembly

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is usually described as a doctrinaire libertarian, and in many of his policy complaints, this is reliably borne out. For example, Paul is of the opinion that the Americans With Disabilities Act is an egregious infringement on liberty, when the "common sense solution" is obviously to herd wheelchair-bound workers to the first floor of every office building.

That's what Paul believes and he usually sticks to it. So I'm as surprised as the next guy to learn that Paul now believes that certain people should be jailed for merely exercising their right to assemble under the Constitution of the United States.

According to Alex Seitz-Wald, Paul's sudden shift on civil liberties all went down on Sean Hannity's radio show last Friday:

PAUL: I'm not for profiling people on the color of their skin, or on their religion, but I would take into account where they've been traveling and perhaps, you might have to indirectly take into account whether or not they've been going to radical political speeches by religious leaders. It wouldn't be that they are Islamic. But if someone is attending speeches from someone who is promoting the violent overthrow of our government, that's really an offense that we should be going after -- they should be deported or put in prison.

Hey, now! Suddenly we're deporting and jailing people for attending speeches? Um ...

Paul's suggestion that people be imprisoned or deported for merely attending a political speech would be a fairly egregious violation on the First Amendment, not to mention due process. What if someone attended a radical speech as a curious bystander? Should they too be thrown in prison? And who defines what is considered so "radical" that it is worth imprisonment?

*snip*

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/01/libertarian-rand-paul-free-assembly_n_869754.html

Rand Paul is still a reactionary piece of s**t.
Jack Conway will always be superior to Randy.

Come on, Huffington Post. In today's America, we don't need to worry about "due process" or any of that other constitutional mumbo-jumbo. I have been reliably assured, even right here at DU, that efficiency and effectiveness demand that we cut right to the heart of the matter, and dispense with these constitutional niceties that we simply can't afford anymore. Here there be terrorists, and who better to decide what's best than our own trusted elected officials?

Get with the program.

I stand with Rand on this one :rofl:

Not really, but it is amusing to think about all the members of The Family being rounded up and deported.

-Hoot

If I read that correctly, Paul would have anyone going to a Beck rally, which is heavy on religion and wanting to overthrow the Federal Government, arrested, imprisoned or deported.

Paul is what his father is, a racist and a fascist hiding as a Libertarian.

They espouse a political philosophy that is the farthest thing from Libertarianism as can be, they don't actually believe in civil liberties, they believe in corporate supremacy over personal liberties.


If Paul got his way, the prisons would be full of Christian White-supremacist militia-types, as his words describe them perfectly.