Given the biased media coverage, it is safe to say many people would not have a favorable impression of Sen. Rand Paul. He was censored by YouTube for providing scientific studies about the efficacy of masks that rebutted prevailing liberal orthodoxy. But when presented with the facts, he might legitimately be one of the most competent officeholders we have.
Paul accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic and not being truthful about funding expenditures. Fauci and Paul have had multiple contentious exchanges during hearings in the Senate. Many Democrats and other left-wing pundits accused Paul of being ill-informed and wrong. Yet recent reports show that Paul was correct in his assessment of Fauci’s honesty.
Recently, Paul was questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken over whether a U.S. drone strike killed an intended ISIS-K target or an innocent aid worker. Blinken was unable to confirm the identity of the target.
“So, you don’t know or won’t tell us?” Paul asked Blinken.
“I don’t know because we’re reviewing it,” Blinken answered.
“You’d think you’d kind of know before you off someone,” Paul said in his exchange with Blinken. The accidental assassination of an innocent aid worker would severely compound the atrocious execution of the Afghanistan pullout and damage our international reputation. Such a grave error, Paul pointed out, it could lead to retaliation. “Maybe you’ve created hundreds or thousands of new potential terrorists from bombing the wrong people,” he said.
In the end, Blinken’s response does not appear truthful. It should be easy enough to confirm whether an aid worker is dead or alive.
Whatever one’s opinion of Paul, he deserves credit in his efforts to find out the truth, even when lots of people just don’t want to hear it. He is right to question authority and to question the public’s overreliance on dishonest authorities for information.
