Remember what Christ said about getting mad?

“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
-Matthew 5:22

Right… I remember. Sort of.

I was talking about something today, with someone. (That’s how it usually works.)
He said some things I thought were crazy dumb ridiculous. In fact, I thought it was so ridiculous, I put my head phones on and started to listen to C-SPAN (did you know you could do that online? awesome).

We were talking about politics.
Remember what Christ said about politics?
And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.
-Mark 12:17

We weren’t even really talking. I asked if he watched the filibuster.
He said, what filibuster? (double take)
Senator Rand Paul regarding drone strikes on Americans on American soil. (backgrounder here)
He said, oh, well don’t you think they should just legislate that? Make it a law?

Interesting, how he automatically jumped to this, not knowing any part of the discussion during the filibuster.
Check this out.

There you go. The Senator from Wisconsin explains the questions Paul was asking, why he was filibustering.

Remember how I work at a newspaper?

Yeah.

Remember how I’m Catholic?

It’s interesting how these don’t seem to be going together right now.

It’s interesting that a journalist would jump into talking about something he doesn’t know. It’s interesting that I have to DEMAND that conservatives that question the president get a fair shake in this newsroom.

He called Paul an idiot.
I would never call the president an idiot. I wouldn’t call any elected official an idiot.
I mean, really. How about a little respect?
How about a little bit of that tolerance for views that are different than your own.

He brought up the oath the president takes when assuming office… to protect the country against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Interesting.

So, the president gets to decide who an enemy of our country is.

What if he thinks “gun-tooting rednecks” are the enemy? What about people who read the Bible, believe in a higher truth, don’t want to pay for drugs that kill children and create hostility toward natural families?

Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.

Don’t be so quick to  give up your rights, you probably won’t get them back.

Some quotes from the Senator:

“I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination for the CIA I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court. That Americans could be killed in a cafe in San Francisco or in a restaurant in Houston or at their home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is an abomination.”

“When I asked the president, can you kill an American on American soil, it should have been an easy answer. It’s an easy question. It should have been a resounding and unequivocal, ‘no.’ The president’s response? He hasn’t killed anyone yet. We’re supposed to be comforted by that. The president says, I haven’t killed anyone yet. He goes on to say, ‘and I have no intention of killing Americans. But I might.'”Is that enough?”Are we satisfied by that?”Are we so complacent with our rights that we would allow a president to say he might kill Americans?”

“There has been discussion in our country about whether even the courts can sometimes make mistakes. Some states have gotten rid of the death penalty because they have made mistakes and through their DNA testing found that they sometimes convicted the wrong person. Can you imagine with all the checks and balances of our court system, which I think is the best in the entire world, with attorneys on both sides, whether you can afford one or not, there is argument back and forth and you have these procedural protections and you can appeal, and sometimes you can still get it wrong. If we can get it wrong in the best system in the world, do you think one politician might get it wrong? But you will a never know because nobody is told who is going to be killed. It is a secret list. So how do you protest? How do you say, I’m innocent? How do you say, yes, I email with my cousin who lives in the Middle East, and I didn’t know he was involved in that? Do you not get a chance to explain yourself in a court of law before you get a hellfire missile dropped on your head? So I think that really, it just amazes me that people are so willing and eager to throw out the bill of rights and just say, oh, that’s fine. You know, terrorists are a big threat to us. And, you know, I am a so fearful that they will attack me that I’m willing to give up my rights, I’m willing to give up on the bill of rights? I think we give up too easily.”

Find the “Cliff’s Notes version” here.

So, even though I was so upset, even though I wanted to punch him, I didn’t.

I just quieted and left him to his rambling. Sometimes that’s all I can do.

It’s not worth getting more angry. It’s not worth getting red-faced and raising my voice.

He won’t believe me.

God bless.