Rand Paul Rails Against ‘Autocrat’ Obama in Value Voters Speech

by Andrew Kirell, Mediaite

Shortly after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) exited the 2014 Value Voters Summit stage, his colleague Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took the podium to rail against the “arrogance” of President Obama and suggest social conservatives and libertarians can work together, rather than be deeply opposed.

“Some seem to believe you must choose either liberty or virtue — that to be virtuous you can’t have too much liberty,” Paul told the conference. “That is exactly wrong. Liberty is absolutely essential to virtue. It is our freedom to make individual choices that allows us to be virtuous.”

The senator also played to the socially conservative crowd, discussing abortion a great deal: “The debate isn’t really about whether government has a role in protecting life. The debate really hinges on when life begins.” He added that, as a Christian, he will stand up for the defenseless, including both the unborn but oppressed minorities around the world.

Like his opening act, Sen. Cruz, the Kentucky senator discussed the story of Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian who sought refugee with the U.S. Embassy after being sentenced to death for marrying a non-Muslim man.

Video of Paul’s remarks below:

Screenshot: YouTube

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GOP House Candidate Has No Qualms About War With Mexico To Stop Illegal Immigration

by Andrew Kirell, Mediaite.

The Republican candidate for U.S. House in North Carolina’s 6th district recently suggested that the United States military could use force in Mexico to prevent the flow of foreigners crossing the border with drug cartels.

During a GOP runoff forum in June, hosted by a Tea Party group in Rockingham County, Mark Walker was asked how he would secure the United States’ southern border.

“My first answer is we’re going to utilize the National Guard as much as we can,” he said in a video originally posted by liberal blog Daily Kos.

He continued: “But I will tell you, if you have foreigners who were sneaking in with drug cartels to me that is a national threat and if we’ve got to go laser or blitz somebody with a couple of fighter jets for a little while to make our point, I don’t have a problem with that either.”

An off-camera voice then asked him if he’d have “any qualms about starting up a little war with Mexico.”

His response: “Well, we did it before. If we need to do it again, I don’t have a qualm about it.”

Walker is a Baptist minister who came from behind to defeat GOP frontrunner Phil Berger Jr. in a runoff primary earlier this year. Both were vying for the nomination to replace retiring 30-year GOP Rep. Howard Coble. Most polling data currently available show Walker enjoying a lead over Democratic nominee Laura Fjeld.

Video of Walker’s remarks is below: