Rand Paul is still the only real conservative in the race

If you’ve written off Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) presidential campaign because of declining polling numbers, it may be time to take another look as the GOP presidential hopeful reminds voters that he’s still the only small-government, big-liberty option.

During a visit to George Mason University in Virginia on Thursday, Paul discussed the stupidity of government officials calling for more spying power following the Islamist attacks on Paris.

“So when they stand up on television and says, ‘The tragedy in Paris means you have to give up your liberty. We need more phone surveillance.’ Bullshit.” Paul said.

Paul followed with a jab to oversensitivity on college campuses, joking “Are you allowed to use profanity? Is that part of the — are we in the free-speech zone?”

“But here’s the thing is they are collecting your phone records as we speak. They did not miss a beat. And even though we voted on reform, all of your phone records are still being collected and stored in Utah.” Paul said.

“Did it stop the attack in Paris? Not one iota.” Paul concluded.

While Paul’s position on government surveillance hasn’t changed, two of his fellow GOP candidates are joining establishment hawks like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in calling for a vast expansion in surveillance.

During a speech at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush promised to restore and strengthen Patriot Act provisions to rifle through Americans digital communications metadata.

And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has criticized Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz on the campaign trail for their support of the 4^th Amendment.

“At least two of my colleagues in the Senate aspiring to be president have voted to weaken the U.S. intelligence program,” Rubio said at a conference on Monday. “The weakening of our intelligence gathering capabilities leaves America vulnerable, and that is exactly what’s happened.”

The Bush/Rubio view on government spying plays directly into law enforcements’ current battle against strong digital encryption in the U.S.

It also aligns the two with another big-government fixture: Hillary Clinton.

“We should take the concerns of law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals seriously. They have warned that impenetrable encryption may prevent them from accessing terrorist communications and preventing a future attack,” she said. “On the other hand, we know there are legitimate concerns about government intrusion, network security, and creating new vulnerabilities that bad actors can and would exploit. So we need Silicon Valley not to view government as its adversary.”

The post Rand Paul is still the only real conservative in the race appeared first on Personal Liberty®.

from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/rand-paul-is-still-the-only-real-conservative-in-the-race/

from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/rand-paul-is-still-the-only-real-conservative-in-the-race/