Rand Paul is 100% correct about the budget deal, should be applauded for his stand. And yet...

A few years ago, when Rand Paul launched into his epic filibuster, Republicans were ecstatic. They applauded, they tweeted #StandWithRand until their fingers bled, they stayed up all night watching, and they cheered until they were hoarse. Back then, there was a Democrat in the White House. Now, there's Donald Trump. Since he's at least nominally a Republican, congressional GOP members saw Rand Paul approach the microphone and the look of dread was obvious. They wanted their atrocious, deficit-ballooning budget deal to pass, and they hoped it would pass quietly in the dead of night. With Paul holding the floor, that wasn't going to happen. People were going to know how bad this thing is, they were going to know what embarrassing hypocrites populate the Republican party, and they were going to know there was no supposed principle that Republicans won't abandon.

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EVERYONE - who professes to be a small-government fiscal conservative should be giving a standing ovation to ALL of this

In short, it was going to make damaging our nation's future so inconvenient for them. ...And if there's one thing they hate, it's whenever their cushy little lives are inconvenienced by the rabble. Make no mistake. Rand Paul is 100% Right about the disgusting, phony, spineless, cowards that surround him. They don't believe one damn word of the platitudes they spouted for the last 8 years, and they never really did. Everyone - EVERYONE - who professes to be a small-government fiscal conservative should be giving a standing ovation to ALL of this:

Sen. Rand Paul on the new senate spending bill: "If you were against President Obama's deficits, and now you're for the Republican deficits, isn't that the very definition of hypocrisy?" https://t.co/EPCvGs13hW pic.twitter.com/24yiMZ7ZqG

— ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2018

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I ran for office because I was very critical of President Obama's trillion-dollar deficits. Now we have Republicans hand-in-hand with Democrats offering us trillion-dollar deficits.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 8, 2018

When the Democrats are in power, Republicans appear to be the conservative party. But when Republicans are in power, it seems there is no conservative party.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 8, 2018

When both parties are happy, they're usually looting the Treasury. And that's what this bill does.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 8, 2018

Government's job is not to get you stuff, or to get somebody else's stuff for you. It's to preserve your liberty.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 8, 2018

Yes, I want a strong national defense. I believe it's actually the most important thing the federal government does. But you have to ask yourself whether a $20 trillion debt makes us a stronger country or a weaker country.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 9, 2018

Tonight, you could feel the frustration and embarrassment growing in Congress as we exposed the hypocrisy of Republicans who are joining in an unholy alliance and spending free-for-all with Democrats at the expense of the American people and our party’s supposed principles.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 9, 2018

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Last night, as has become the norm, Rand Paul again revealed himself to be one of only two or three Republicans with any real convictions. Yet, this morning, some conservatives are still trying to give him flak about taking a stand. One of them writes for this site. Dan Calabrese name-checked me this morning, so I'll return the favor. In his piece about last night's brief shutdown, he wrote:

Now you know if you read this site that Rand Paul is Rob's favorite senator and that he's one of my least, mainly because he talks all the time about high and mighty principles but usually finds an excuse not to go along with any move in the direction of what he claims to want. Nothing is ever perfect enough for him, and it has to be all or nothing or he'll bail. In this case, the budget deal is so awful that I can hardly blame the guy for speaking in opposition to it, although a nine-hour barnburner just to make sure everyone is stuck staying up late and we get a technical "shutdown" to give people something to talk about is a perfect example of talk for the sake of talk. That said, Paul's words were mostly correct, and needed to be said.

Everyone was stuck staying up late? Boo-freaking-hoo.

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Me, I still #StandWithRand

Frankly, I think this is another example of Dan's personal disdain for Paul clouding his judgement. That said, if he'd like to explain to me how Rand was right, what was said needed to be said, the deal IS terrible, and yet Rand is still just "talk for the sake of talk" I'm all ears. The fact is, almost no one else in the GOP is saying - or fighting for - ANY of this. Even Ted Cruz sold the country down the river with his pathetic "yes" vote. This bill flies in the face of literally everything conservatives claim to want - including the full repeal of ObamaCare - and yet the only guy who has the stones to say so is accused of being "all talk?" How does that make any sense at all? It's baffling, and I won't sit here pretending to understand it. What if, instead of trashing the one guy fighting for their beliefs, alleged fiscal conservatives applauded him? What if, instead of attacking Paul, they demanded that other Senators get off their lazy, entitled, rumps and joined Paul's cause? Maybe, just maybe, we could actually move the needle. ...But no, I guess it's better just to pile on. Me, I still #StandWithRand.

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