Rand Paul wants to send a message to his colleagues about U.S. policy toward Egypt policy, but he's doing it by adding one wrong to another.
Like millions of other Americans, Republican Senator Rand Paul is upset that the United States isn't currently doing more (more publicly, that is) to protest Egypt's recent detention of 19 Americans, non-governmental workers who stand accused of illegally receiving foreign funding. Unlike those other millions, however, Paul can do something about it. So how is the junior senator from Kentucky protesting Egypt's decision to prosecute the 19?
He decided to hold a hostage of his own: judicial nominee Adalberto Jose Jordan, a smart, talented, qualified Cuban-American nominee who is slotted to join the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Paul-induced drama won't last long -- it should be resolved by Wednesday at the latest -- but it's a tidy example of how and why recent polls reveal that the approval rating for our federal legislators is at an all-time low.
Paul wants to send a message to his colleagues about Egypt and American foreign policy -- and he's doing it by adding one wrong on top of another. Not only is the senator blocking Jordan's nomination for no legitimate reason, a choice which deprives the 11th Circuit of the judge it needs, in doing so he's also evidently delaying debate and consideration of jobs-related legislation. How dysfunctional is that quinella?