Rand Paul's fake out filibuster

Still basking in the afterglow of his orgasmic 13 hours as the biggest thing on the twitters, Rand Paul is now making the media rounds for interviews. With his ego so thoroughly satisfied, Rand has an announcement to make:

Paul himself seemed to appreciate that this was an important moment for himself, confidently acknowledging to POLITICO in an interview that he was “seriously” considering running for president in 2016.

I'm sure you're as shocked as I am to hear this bold proclamation. In other words, not at all.

If you were perhaps wondering if Rand's fantastic filibuster sprung from a moment of divine inspiration, well the answer is no. Rand cleared the spectacle with McConnell well in advance of the grandstanding.

National Journal reports Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) "had lined up the tacit approval of the GOP leadership" for his filibuster earlier this week of John Brennan's nomination to be CIA Director.

"For a politician who earned his stripes as a political outsider, Paul's filibuster performance and planning demonstrated his aptitude at the inside D.C. game."

Hear that folks? That's what matters on Capitol Hill. It's not about good governance at all anymore. It's about how well you play the game. And how much money you can raise for the party's war chests of course. Rand scored on both counts with his turn at center stage in the eternal kabuki, so today he's the GOP hero. A serious contender!

As for how genuine Mr. Paul's concerns about drones are, Betty Cracker discovered Rand had a different message for Rushbo's dittoheads. Also, not quite sure what Bill Scher is talking about here, but this tweet suggests Rand's rhetoric was more sleight of hand than putting the cards on the table.

‏@billscher: Wow. Paul's drone bill allows exception for U.S. citizens who pose "imminent threat." What a colossal waste of time this has been.

So maybe we can stop pretending Rand is some big champion of due process and civil rights? [photo via]