The leak was an attempt to bolster the libertarian brand. [View all]

[ProSense]

In late June, I said that the leak was an attempt to bolster the libertarian brand.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023065177

I mentioned some of the posturing by and for Rand Paul. Now it's becoming clear that this is the case. Reposting the information from the link and adding to it.

Ron Paul: ‘We Should Be Thankful’ For Edward Snowden
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022985822

Ron Paul Channel's very first show: Interview with Greenwald
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023474591

Assange/Wikileaks talk about who they admire…wait for it…& the answer is Ron/Rand Paul & Matt Drudge
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023472701

Assange Says Rand Paul Is The Only Hope For America
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023474700

The Rand Paul moment

By: Rich Lowry

<...>

This is the kind of issue Rand Paul was born and (literally) raised to raise holy hell over. And it isn’t just the NSA program lately. The leak about the program came on the heels of revelations that the IRS was singling out tea party groups for extra scrutiny and invasive questions, and on the heels of the AP and James Rosen investigations.

<...>

At least for some stretch of 2015, Rand Paul could well be the Republican front-runner, tapping into grass-roots enthusiasm on the model of Howard Dean in 2003. And it’s not inconceivable that he could go further than that famous representative of “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,” although the field will presumably be very crowded on the right.

Paul has a built-in online and grass-roots network of the sort it takes years to build. In fact, it did. His father built it, and now he’s working to expand it in his extensive travels. Over those years, his father welcomed into his fold cranks and haters, and one of Rand Paul’s quiet messages is that he has his father’s core convictions, without the loathsome baggage.

I’m far from a Rand Paul-ite. I don’t think there was ever any threat of Americans being droned sitting at cafes, nor do I think drones are the scariest invention in the history of flight. I’m not where Paul is on foreign or national security policy, and I doubt his libertarianism has as much cross-over appeal in blue states as he hopes. (Blue state moderates like government, alas.)...libertarianism is a significant strand on the right. It should be represented, and represented well. By and large, Rand Paul does that. Anyone underestimating him in 2016 does so at their peril.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/the-rand-paul-moment-93085.html

They are hoping that Paul can ride this wave to 2016.

Another NSA "Bombshell" Starts to Fizzle Out, as Greenwald Pushes Government Conspiracy Theory
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023478767

Rand Paul: ‘I’m Not A Firm Believer In Democracy…It Gave Us Jim Crow’

The New Republic's Julia Ioffe has a big profile with quite the cover photo on 2016 hopeful and Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that went online Monday.

Ioffe reports on a little publicized remark Paul made at Simmons College, a historically black college in Louisville, where Paul sat with students and professors.

"I'm not a firm believer in democracy," he said in April. "It gave us Jim Crow."

Here's the quote in its full context:

And rather than try to prove that the Republican Party had been good to blacks once upon a time, he focused on how the Republican Party could be good to them today. He talked about decriminalizing drug offenses and getting rid of the mandatory sentencing minimums that put so many young black men in jail. He talked about fixing the local school system, about not abolishing Pell grants “as long as it’s in the context of spending what you have.” To approving nods, he talked about how urban renewal had really meant “urban destruction” and about how “they tore down a lot of black businesses so people would go to white stores.” He found that this crowd, if not totally convinced, was receptive. Though he would still not give them a definitive answer on his position on the Civil Rights Act, he did say that he believed federal intervention had been justified. “I’m not a firm believer in democracy,” he explained. “It gave us Jim Crow."

In 2010 Paul controversially said that he oppossed certain aspects of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, specifically the provision that prohibits private businesses from excluding anyone on the basis of race. He has since backed away from this comment.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/rand-paul-im-not-firm-believer-in-democracy

FAIL!

Rand Paul in his own words
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023475014