On “The Daily Show” last night, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., skewered Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for his now-famous eye-roll during Paul’s 10-hour filibuster to protest the renewal of the Patriot Act.
Host Jon Stewart started off asking Republican presidential hopeful Paul about apparent contradictions in the Republican attitude toward freedom.
“Your party is known for wanting to defend the people of America from government overreach. ‘To protect liberty,’ I believe they call it. They have signs,” said Stewart. “But when it comes to government surveillance, when it comes to the security state, they seem very willing to allow the government, with what appears to be very little oversight, to get whatever they want.”
“You didn’t see the other sign that they have: ‘We don’t like big government, until we do like big government,” Paul said to audience laughter.
“That’s my point,” said Stewart.
“There is an inconsistency there,” said Paul. “That’s what separates some of us, who are more from the libertarian wing of the Republican party, is that we don’t like big government anywhere.”
Stewart then asked what made Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-N.C., roll his eyes during Paul’s filibuster.
“It was mostly I think people were unhappy about debating the Bill of Rights when they could’ve been on Memorial Day weekend,” replied Paul, who held the Senate floor for 10 hours to stop the renewal of the Patriot Act.
Paul said senators are using “scare tactics” to get him to sign on to the bill: “Because if anything happens or anyone dies for any reason in the whole world I’m now responsible for it.”
Explaining his opposition to the renewal of the Patriot Act, Paul said, “If we’re fighting this war against terrorism, we’re fighting to defend our freedoms. If we give up who we are in the process, I’m worried will the battle have been worth it.”
“The problem now is we’re in a war that they say is perpetual,” Paul said. “They say the battleground is everywhere and that it will go on forever. And so when are we ever getting our freedoms back?”
“But I know young men who’ve lost two legs, lost three limbs, and I asked them what they fought for and they said they were fighting for The Bill of Rights,” continued Paul. “And so I think it’s a disservice to their memory for me to say ‘Oh well, I’m just gonna roll my eyes and the Bill of Rights is out the window, because I’m not willing to stay here on the weekend and fight for something our Founding Fathers thought was pretty important, important enough to put into the Fourth Amendment.'”
“Well I’m glad you didn’t frame that in an inflammatory way,” joked Stewart, to audience laughter.
Parodying Paul, Stewart said: “‘I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t mind working a weekend if it means our soldiers didn’t die in vain! I guess Lindsey Graham is a different kind of guy.'”
Paul was on the show to promote his book, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America, out today.
