George Will: Mr. Christie Himself May Be Dangerous

Pew Research: Republicans and Republican-leaners Like Rand Paul More than Chris Christie

Check this out from a recent Pew Research poll.  It looks like Rand Paul and Chris Christie are close to even among those who favor the NSA program but Rand Paul does overwhelmingly better amongst NSA program critics:

Rand Paul at Cato University

Paul, Cruz & Lee at the Young Americans for Liberty Convention

A great talk though the sound cuts in and out:



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Newt Gingrich is on Team Paul-Cruz

I have to admit I was a strong Newt Gingrich supporter in 2012.  I didn't agree with him on everything but he really could articulate the conservative position very well and had a great record to boot (unlike Moderate Mitt).  So it's nice to see him backing the guy who I like the most for 2016:

"I consistently have been on the side of having the courage that Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have, and I think it's sad to watch the establishment grow hysterical, but frankly they're hysterical because they have no answers," Gingrich said Thursday morning on "The Laura Ingraham Show."

...

Gingrich said though he supported both the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq, he has to "say the way that they were executed failed, and maybe we should have known better, those of us that supported them. … Republicans have a real obligation to ask themselves the question: Aren't there some pretty painful lessons to learn from the last 10 or 12 years? Don't we have to confront the reality that this didn't work as a strategy?"

The intraparty squabbles popping up now are evidence of the discomfort, Gingrich said.

"Trust me, Chris Christie is only the first sign, the establishment will grow more and more hysterical the more powerful Rand Paul and Ted Cruz become. They will gain strength as it's obvious that they are among the few people willing to raise the right questions," he said.

Gingrich also said he wasn't sure how much Christie knew about the issues, taking a shot at the man who has called Gingrich an embarrassment to the party.

"I think Christie is a very good governor of New Jersey, and I think that he is a very strong personality, and apparently in New Jersey tradition, he thinks bluster and strong language without facts can carry you a long way," Gingrich said.

Rand Paul Brilliantly Responds to the Critics of His Bill to Cutoff Aid to Egypt on the Senate Floor

As I mentioned before, I do disagree with Rand Paul on this issue.  I was all for cutting off aid to the Muslim Brotherhood, but now that they have been overthrown, I think we should be supporting the Egyptian military.  They are the most pro-western and pro-Israel institution in Egypt and are currently fighting both al-Qaeda and Hamas in the Sinai.  Giving aid to the Muslim Brotherhood and then cutting it off when they have been overthrown just sends the wrong signal.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed his response to his critics on the Senate floor yesterday.  Their arguments were basically:

1.  If we don't sell them F-16's, they will get their jets somewhere else.
2.  Cutting off aid will help the jihadists
3.  This is not the way we do things here.  We need to be slow.

His responses were really classic.  To the first point he very simply and clearly stated "they don't have any money!"  So to say they will "buy" the jets someplace else is a bit stupid.  To the second point he mentions that the very same people who are criticizing him now, criticized him when he wanted to stop funding the Muslim Brotherhood.  He said "these same people were for funding the jihadists just a few months ago!"  On the third and final point he simply states that he doesn't believe them when they say they will get to it in the future in a slow in measured pace "someplace, sometime in some fictitious committee".

Great stuff.  I clipped it from c-span, please watch the whole thing:

Video of Rand Paul Introducing His Amendment to Cutoff Egyptian Aid

While I actually don't agree with Rand Paul on this issue as I think it is in our interest to prop up the Egyptian military for as long as possible (and therefore keep the Muslim Brotherhood out), he really gave a great speech on the subject.  If I was someone who didn't really follow foreign affairs, I would probably be swayed by his argument: