Sen. Rand Paul tried to explain to MSNBC why he abruptly changed his position and agreed to support the nomination of Mike Pompeo as the new Secretary of State.
All it took was a little lip service about why the Iraq War was wrong?
RAND PAUL: You know, every time I talk to the president, I become more and more of the belief that he truly does share my notion we've been at war too long and at too many places. Whether Director Pompeo says that he thinks the president is right, the president's vision for the world is going to be his job, and I think we'll hear from him publicly more specifically that our foreign policy hasn't worked in the past and that regime change hasn't worked. so these are the things I've been pushing for and I felt like in the end, I did get some satisfaction.
Last week the Kentucky Senator claimed he would block Pompeo's nomination at all costs, and was going to do “everything I can to block” Pompeo, citing Pompeo’s hawkish views on foreign policy, especially as it relates to the war in Iraq.
It was apparent to many of us that Sen. Paul was going to back down when he had to cast an actual vote. He just needed some talking points to validate his flip-flop, and he found them by using Pompeo's secret trip to North Korea and Trump's views on Iraq.
Neocons do not usually discard their views out of hand, but obviously Sen. Paul didn't really want to be held accountable for another humiliation being hoisted on the Trump administration.
Rachel Maddow said it best last night: Stop pretending that Rand Paul is a "maverick."
