American senator Rand Paul of Kentucky State and a member of the Republican party held the nation spellbound on Wednesday by debating for almost 13 hours. So far it ranks as the 9th longest debate time by a single senator in American senate history. The issue at hand is the confirmation vote for a new CIA director. President Obama nominated John Brennan for the position and it will come up for votes as soon as Senator Paul concludes his debate. However, the fiery senator is using this debate to protest the administration's drone policy. It used to target only foreign nationals or US citizens outside US borders but in recent years it has been expanded to include targeting US citizens in US soil IF THE NEED FOR IT ARISES, such as if an american citizen were confirmed to be involved in imminent terrorist attacks.

The entire nation has been held spellbound since his debate started at 11:47 ET. He has taken a few short breaks to snack or go to the bathroom while other senators filled in for him. He promised to keep speaking until he could no longer speak, or until the administration provides the answers he seeks.

This should be a lesson for our own senators, who took years to pass the FOI and have yet to pass the PIB bill, that being a senator is not all about sharing money in ghana-must-go bags. It should also be a lesson to our citizens that we have to ask hard questions of our elected representatives. To not do so is to abdicate our God-given rights. Good leadership depends on good followership and that is not all about saying 'yes sir' like a sheep all the time.

Twitter was literally on fire all through as citizens stood by the senator in a rare show of support for a senator that is frankly not well-liked

For more on the story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rand-paul-conducts-filibuster-in-opposition-to-john-brennan-obamas-drone-policy/2013/03/06/1367b1b4-868c-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394_story.html?hpid=z1

chingyjant: If Republicans nor die for Obama matter na small thing.What questions and answer made each and every member of the committee to seat that long?Simply because they want to rubbish every candidate of Obama that he has nominated.Republicans ain't different from APC in Nigeria.Opposition with bitterness

Uhm... I don't quite think so. It's a civil liberties question, and one democrat joined the debate in support. Frankly, most people were surprised that more democrats didn't join as civil liberties has always been their forte. I guess they don't want to sound like they're opposing Obama. As for APC, I think an opposition's duty is always to seek to contrast positions with the ruling party wherever they can. It doesn't necessarily make it "opposition with bitterness".

Filibuster, or is that not what it is called? It's permissible in the US Senate, but I'm not sure whther the rules permit or forbid it in Nigeria's National Assembly. I can imagine the Senate President (or indeed any other disgruntled senator) calling you to order if you attempt to filibuster (for a merely 20 minutes sef) to prevent the passage of bill and whatnot.

In any case, we do not have sufficient number of intelligent people in the Senate to debate on any meaningful matter for close to one hour, let alone 13 hours. Although they can share money for 48 hours non-stop.

intelligent? He was talking about Jay-z and Lil Wayne at one point lol.

Filibusters are common in the US. One man read the entire NY phone-book on time which gives the phone numbers of over 12 million people and 5 million plus businesses.

pro01: Filibuster, or is that not what it is called? It's permissible in the US Senate, but I'm not sure whther the rules permit or forbid it in Nigeria's National Assembly. I can imagine the Senate President (or indeed any other disgruntled senator) calling you to order if you attempt to filibuster (for a merely 20 minutes sef) to prevent the passage of bill and whatnot.

In any case, we do not have sufficient number of intelligent people in the Senate to debate on any meaningful matter for close to one hour, let alone 13 hours. Although they can share money for 48 hours non-stop.

Exactly. And that is largely because of the political climate in Nigeria which screens out intelligent, career people leaving thugs to run the show, most of the time at least. See the case with the Ogun state house of assembly recently. In the US the culture and process ensures that such people are weeded out most of the time. You have to do fundraising from ordinary people and corporations, and you better have some good policy ideas to relay to them. You also have to debate a few times with your opponents. That's also an opportunity to weed out thugs and unserious people. But in Naija all you need is a godfather to bankroll the whole thing and rig elections and you're elected.

I know they didn't get there in one day, so hopefully we will get there too. Let's hope the military continue to stay in their barracks and leave democracy to grow. We should self-adjust with time.

intelligent? He was talking about Jay-z and Lil Wayne at one point lol.

Filibusters are common in the US. One man read the entire NY phone-book on time which gives the phone numbers of over 12 million people and 5 million plus businesses.

LOL. That must have been a wingnut, reading an entire phone book. And the surprising thing is that they let you have your say, until you willingly yield the floor. I was reading of a debate in the Nigerian senate where someone stood up to oppose what another was saying. He asked the senate president to stop the man from talking because he was reading facts from a newspaper. How weird is that? Why can't you corroborate your points with newspaper articles? It's supposed to be a debate for goodness sake.

Maje Official :
intelligent? He was talking about Jay-z and Lil Wayne at one point lol.

Filibusters are common in the US. One man read the entire NY phone-book on time which gives the phone numbers of over 12 million people and 5 million plus businesses.

Not true! if it takes 1 second to read one name tha is 17 million seconds =283333 minutes = 4722 hours =196 days assuming no breaks

Guy cool down Abeg!

Senator Rand Paul raised some vital civil liberties issues during his filibuster. Many may view it as political theatre, but the American people have to really consider the ethics/legality of US drones targeting individuals within US territory.

pro01: Filibuster, or is that not what it is called? It's permissible in the US Senate, but I'm not sure whther the rules permit or forbid it in Nigeria's National Assembly. I can imagine the Senate President (or indeed any other disgruntled senator) calling you to order if you attempt to filibuster (for a merely 20 minutes sef) to prevent the passage of bill and whatnot.

In any case, we do not have sufficient number of intelligent people in the Senate to debate on any meaningful matter for close to one hour, let alone 13 hours. Although they can share money for 48 hours non-stop.

First time we are in agreement.

CFCfan: Senator Rand Paul raised some vital civil liberties issues during his filibuster. Many may view it as political theatre, but the American people have to really consider the ethics/legality of US drones targeting individuals within US territory.

I think they've clarified that now. They cannot target people with drones within US borders. Thanks to the man. That's what debates are supposed to be for - about issues, not personalities.

They love their country. It is just great. In Africa the sell-out would connive behing close doors and appoint a dummy who in return would put his country's national security at risk.