There is a reason why #StandwithRand is trending on social media: Rand Paul is standing up to President Donald Trump over his recent nominations of Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel.
The Kentucky Republican Senator stated that Pompeo’s support of the Iraq War and his endorsement of enhanced interrogation techniques should disqualify him from serving as Secretary of State. He also claimed that Haspel is “gleeful” about her support of torture methods.
Is a filibuster coming? He told Politico:
“People complain sometimes about the filibuster; they complain about trying to obstruct. I think the debate over whether or not America is a country in favor of torture or not is an important one. I’m going to do everything I can to block them,” Paul said.
“I’m perplexed by the nomination of people who love the Iraq War so much that they would advocate for a war with Iran next. It goes against most of the things President Trump campaigned on, that the unintended consequences of regime change in Iraq led to instability in the Middle East.”
This could be a major battle in the Senate because the GOP holds a one-seat advantage on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Democrats will likely oppose Pompeo, so Paul’s disapproval will be a considerable roadblock for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Good for Paul.
But he is already getting denounced by neocons like Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She tweeted that Senator Paul “is defending and sympathizing with terrorists.”
Gina Haspel has spent her career defending the American people and homeland. @RandPaul is defending and sympathizing with terrorists. https://t.co/NNddDvSsRm
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 14, 2018
Uh huh. That’s just as bad as Senator John McCain accusing Paul of working for Vladimir Putin (SEE: John McCain accuses Rand Paul of ‘now working for Vladimir Putin’).
Pompeo and Haspel are disasters.
Not only was Pompeo in full support of the Iraq War, he wants a conflict with Iran.
What about Haspel who could lead the CIA? Here’s from USA Today:
Haspel “reportedly ran a secret prison in Thailand in 2002 where terrorism suspects were waterboarded and subjected to other so-called enhanced interrogations.” The ACLU’s deputy director in Washington, Christopher Anders, decried the “illegal and shameful” chapter, describing Haspel as having been “up to her eyeballs in torture.”
“She was up to her eyeballs in torture: both in running a secret torture prison in Thailand, and carrying out an order to cover up torture crimes by destroying videotapes,” said Anders. “One man held at the secret prison she ran was waterboarded 83 times, slammed against walls, sleep deprived, and locked in a coffin-like box.”
Considering how much he slammed the foreign policy of the last 17 years and the neoconservatives, why would Trump want such people in his administration? This is something that Hillary Clinton would have done. So, how the heck is Trump any different from Clinton?
That said. this is the Paul that should have run in 2016, not the disinterested, boring, and GOP-lite presidential candidate.
If he keeps it up, the senator should certainly compete against President Trump in 2020.
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