Secret Drones

Can't say I like Rand Paul that much, but he has many positions, like all libertarians, that I sympathize with. Take his talking filibuster of John Brennan for CIA chief on the floor of the Senate tonight:

“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.”
...
At stake, Paul explained, was the prospect of unchecked power afforded to the executive branch if clear rules governing lethal force within the United States are not established.

I applaud such efforts! For too long, the power of the executive branch has gone unchecked, resulting in secret programs like FISA surveillance catch-22 ("our government may monitor certain communications by non-Americans located abroad subject to review by (secretive) courts, but without establishing probable cause or furnishing much in the way of details") or the horrible secrecy of our drone warfare. Here's hoping his actions will result in greater scrutiny of this program. But i'm not holding my breath.