Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) likes to think of himself as a principled iconoclast in a party of lemmings.

Perhaps the reality of his principled stands are slightly less critical than in his mind, but let's not be picky on this point.

Because Paul told host Jake Tapper on State of the Union that he opposes the nominations of Mike Pompeo to Secretary of State and Gina Haspel to head the CIA, and was willing to do what it takes--including filibustering--to make it clear.

"I'll do whatever it takes, and that includes filibuster. I will try to make a point to the American people and maybe the American people will rise up and say, you know, we stand in solidarity with those who seek freedom from torture, not the freedom to a people, to have someone run our spy agency that has all of this enormous power, who is intimately involved with torture and from everything we're reading, was supportive of the policy. So, no,I can't support that. And I will do everything I can, including filibuster." Rand stated.

That also means, especially since John McCain is taking an extended leave of absence for to battle cancer, that Trump will have to attract at least a few Democratic votes to get these nominations through.

CREDO has a petition to object to Gina Haspel's nomination and it's a good time to voice your opinion to your senators (Republican or Democrat alike, they're all supposed to log in these calls).

Exercise the democracy Trump is trying to slice away from us.