I will simply note that he is to be commended, here. But now he and others… need to act.

He no longer takes the view that Tangerine 2.0 is an omni-potent dictator [above the law of mere mortals], one who may impose his violent will on the world stage, without consequence. That is nice progress.

But now, he and ALL other sensible GOP operatives… need to stand as one, and insist that their Congress vote to sanction these clearly unlawful killings. And run Hegseth out of government (and if need be, Trump, too — under the 25^th Amendment, if nothing else!)… That is the logical inference, of all that Paul correctly lays out.

Here is a quote from his post of the morning:

…My concern, though, is less with the killing of the two survivors — as indefensible as that might prove to be — than with the ongoing military strikes themselves. I believe they are unlawful.

The administration says the strikes are in furtherance of our efforts to combat “narco-terrorism.” But in my view, narco-terrorism is an oxymoron.

Terrorism occurs when random, unsuspecting people are killed or maimed in order to terrorize the general population. It is carried out for purposes of furthering a political/ideological program or, in some cases, just for the hell of it.

Narcotics trafficking fits none of this description. The victims are not random or unsuspecting. They are people who want to buy drugs. Nor is the purpose of selling the drugs political or ideological. It is commercial. The traffickers want to make money.

The administration seems to consider drug dealing by foreigners not just an act of terrorism by, at least in the case of Venezuelans, an act of war. It is not. It is a crime. See 21 U.S. Code § 952.

Furthermore, the crime of importing narcotics is not punishable by death. President Trump has at times advocated the death penalty for drug dealing, but U.S. law does not permit it.

Accordingly, Sen. Rand Paul calls the lethal strikes on drug-dealing Venezuelans “extrajudicial killings.” I agree.

The Trump administration claims that the Venezuelan government is behind the importation of narcotics by those running boats off that country’s coast. Apparently, Trump considers this an act of war against the U.S….

Ironically, Trump has just pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández who was convicted in a U.S. court on charges that he ran the Central American nation as a “narco-state” that helped bring South American cocaine to the United States. Hernández was charged during the first Trump administration. At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Hernández, as president of Honduras, helped to move at least 400 tons of cocaine to the United States while protecting traffickers from extradition and prosecution.

The pardon makes me wonder about the seriousness of Trump’s claim that state support of drug trafficking constitutes terrorism or war against the U.S. It also makes me wonder how much Trump really cares about such criminal activity. With Trump, things are often just personal. He dislikes Maduro. Apparently, he likes Hernández….

That last bit — in a nutshell — by Paul… makes the case for a 25^th Amendment proceeding.

Buckle-up — and with Rand Paul — get it going.

Show us you mean… what you type.

Onward.