Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) seems to be dealing with an internal battle over how to approach quarantines in the U.S. for people who may have been exposed to Ebola.
“It’s a tough question because the Libertarian in me is sort of horrified at indefinitely detaining or detaining anyone without trial,” Paul said on CNN’s “State of the Union” while discussing nurse Kaci Hickox who has been fighting government attempts to enforce a quarantine while she isn’t symptomatic.
Paul said that he supports some restrictions on those who have been near patients with the virus, but he thinks that government should approach it reasonably.
“I think there is a reasonable public concern to say, ‘You know what, you really should be going to the discotheque; you shouldn’t be going to the local bar; you shouldn’t be going to the local school cafeteria, so I think there are reasonable precautions,'” he said. “I think we have to be very careful of people’s civil liberties, but I’m also not saying that the government doesn’t have a role in trying to prevent contagion.”
Watch the clip via CNN:
I wouldn’t classify his response as honest uncertainty - I would call it political opportunism. He brands himself as a libertarian, but being consistent with that line of thinking wouldn’t have allowed him to knock the “government” (i.e. Obama administration). And there is that “appealing to the Republican base” angle, too.
this is a really slippery dude here, way more than other pols
Doesn’t know how to feel because he can’t figure out how to use it to his political advantage.
The “discotheque”? Is disco still a thing in Kentucky?
Well, I don’t like the guy, but seems like a reasonable reasoning through. However, he’s careful not to propose anything he can’t later deny.