Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
    • Reason TV
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • Just Asking Questions
    • Free Media
    • The Reason Interview
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Print Subscription
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Civil Liberties

Brawl for Liberty: Watch Rand Paul's Awesome New Wrestling-Inspired Attack Ad

And in this corner... Obama the email reader

Robby Soave | 5.29.2015 9:43 AM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests
Large image on homepages | Liberty Pac
(Liberty Pac)

Sen. Rand Paul draws first blood this campaign season with an attack ad that riffs off WWE commercials. The ad, paid for by a pro-Paul PAC, promises that Sunday will be the "biggest brawl for liberty of the century." That's the day that Congress will reconvene to debate Patriot Act reauthorization—something Paul and other libertarian-leaning Republicans are fighting against.

The ad notes that Paul's opponents include "Obama the Email Reader" and "his so-called conservative accomplices, the capitulating Canadian, Ted Cruz." Sen. Lindsey Graham also gets a shoutout.

Paul's opponents liked to chide him for supposedly "running to Obama's left" on civil liberties and national security. But it's the other Republican candidates who are marching in lockstep with the president to protect a law that violates the freedoms of every American in service of ever-expanding federal powers. Cruz, Graham, et al clearly have a poor conception of individual liberty if they can't recognize that the Patriot Act tramples the U.S. Constitution every bit as much as Obamacare, something they all oppose.

We'll see if Republican primary voters buy the bogus argument that constantly sacrificing liberty for the federal government's dubious security goals is somehow a conservative position.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Tonight's Stossel: The College Scam, with Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds

Robby Soave is a senior editor at Reason.

Civil LibertiesRand PaulElection 2016Patriot Act
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (76)

Latest

2 Controversies Over Political Rhetoric Illustrate the Perils of Blaming Gun Control Critics for Murder

Jacob Sullum | 10.9.2025 4:30 PM

Bari Weiss Is Powerful, Establishment Media Is Not

Robby Soave | 10.9.2025 4:00 PM

D.C. Will Arrest This CEO if His Rideshare Alternative Doesn't Shut Down by Friday

Jack Nicastro | 10.9.2025 3:45 PM

Original Zyn: FDA Failures Allow Fake Nicotine Pouches To Flood U.S. Market

Sofia Hamilton | 10.9.2025 3:30 PM

What the Democrats Are Doing Right Now Won't Lower Health Care Costs—but Here's What Actually Would

Veronique de Rugy | 10.9.2025 3:12 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2025 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300