Sitting here, watching the 13th hour of Rand Paul’s Senate filibuster, I see a lot of angst on Twitter about Senator Kelly Ayotte’s conspicuous absence from the #StandWithRand party in the US Capitol.
Now, I wasn’t able to watch the entire event, so I am not sure if Kelly showed up earlier to add her input. However, her absence, immediately following her “Cool Kid” dinner this evening with Obama at the swanky Jefferson hotel, is certainly concerning.
Surely, Senator Ayotte would not pass up the opportunity to show her face and make a pitch to the likely hundreds-of-thousands of Americans who are ceremoniously, albeit unusually, watching CSPAN2 at midnight – yet she’s nowhere to be found.
This filibuster is about a demand for a response from the President, to the question as to whether he (as his Attorney General Holder affirmed today) has the authority, without the benefit of due process, to order a drone-strike against a US citizen who is posing no imminent threat, on US soil. After 12 hours of waiting, the President has yet to answer and is not expected to.
Back to Kelly.
One of the theories of her absence is detailed in this blog, which states that she appears to be a large beneficiary of political donations from contractors who make drones, or who supply technology used in them, and are hoping to expand their market for these machines to the rest of the world.
• General Atomic– Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Northrop Grumman– Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Pat Toomey (R-PA). Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• BAE Systems– Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Marco Rubio (R-FL)
• Honeywell International– Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Lockheed Martin– Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) , Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Raytheon– Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
This could explain a lot of Senator Ayotte’s “Hawkish” behavior.
The filibuster just ended and Kelly is off the hook….for now.
H/T: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com
