Marco Rubio civil libertarian?
by digby
Marco Rubio is very concerned that the government is abusing its surveillance powers. He said on CNN this morning:
The former Senator Ted Kennedy once said he was on a no-fly list. O mean, there are -- I -- we -- there are journalists on the no-fly list. There are others involved in the no-fly list that wind up there. These are everyday Americans that have nothing to do with terrorism and they wind up on the no-fly list. There is no due process and no way to get your name removed from it in a timely basis. And now they're having their Second Amendment rights being impeded upon.
If these were perfect lists it would be one thing. But there are 700,000 Americans on some list or another who would all be captured under this Amendment that the Democrats offered. And that's the problem. The vast --- there aren't 700,000 terrorists operating openly on watch lists. They include vast numbers of Americans who have names similar to someone we're looking for. Sometimes you're on that list because the FBI wants to talk to you about someone you know, not because you're a suspect. And again, now your Second Amendment right is being impeded with.
Do we have a heretofore silent civil libertarian on our hands? It sure sounds like it.
Actually, no... He has no problem impeding people's right to travel or their right to due process in any other circumstances. In fact, he'd pretty much like to give the government power to do anything it thinks it "needs". Except "impede" someone's Second Amendment rights:
Because too many in Washington have failed to grasp the nature of this enemy, we have less access to intelligence information now than we did just days ago. In the wake of Wednesday’s attack on innocent Americans doing nothing more than going about their daily lives, we must act swiftly to reverse the limitations imposed on these critical intelligence programs. Radical jihadists are trying to kill as many Americans as they can. Our law enforcement and intelligence professionals need access to this information. Failing to give them the tools they need to keep Americans safe is dangerous and irresponsible.
Spying on innocent people, stopping them from travelling, these are all necessary to keep us safe. But there can be no impediment to buying semi-automatic weapons and as much ammunition as you want under any circumstances ever.
Because freedom. And security.
I keep thinking this kind of incoherence is going to catch up with them but I'm no longer sure. In fact, I am only surprised at this point that Trump hasn't suggested simply not allowing Muslims to buy guns. You know his gun-toting followers think that would be perfectly fine. They're "the enemy" right? And it would tie his rivals up in knots.
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