Senator Rand Paul Plays Messenger Boy Between Trump and Putin

Seriously. What has happened to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul?

Did I miss something?

I get that as the offspring of Ron Paul, there’s going to be a bit of “weirdness” to endure. I haven’t always agreed with his positions. I’ve found him to be a bit of an isolationist, like his pop, and I don’t see that as a winning position, given the fast-moving connectiveness of the world, today.

I’ve never, however, doubted the sincerity of Rand Paul, or questioned his motives.

As has happened with so many in the age of Trump, I now have to step back and look at the senator with a certain level of suspicion.

How is it that the bold, free-spirited Libertarian-leaning Paul is now the subservient lackey and messenger boy, running notes between President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin?

Paul, once a critic of President Trump’s, has of late been toeing the Trump-Kremlin approved line, regarding the ongoing Russia probe, as well as the relationship between the United States and Russia.

He recently went on a weeklong trip to Russia, in order to meet with Russian officials. Today, he announced that he delivered a note from the president to Putin.

“The letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges,” Paul said in a statement.

Questions regarding the note were directed to the White House, but at this point, they’re not really commenting.

I was honored to deliver a letter from President Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration. The letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges.

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 8, 2018

Paul’s trip to Russia comes after a July 4^th weekend trip by a group of Republican lawmakers to speak with Russian officials in Moscow.

This is part of the GOP’s “Please forgive us for Ronald Reagan” tour of fallen communist regimes.

In addition to delivering the letter, Paul met this week with Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Relations, and invited Russian lawmakers to Washington, D.C.

He also met with former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, saying he understood the “critical necessity of engagement” between the United States and Russia.

Will Russia interfere in the 2018 election process?

Some in Washington have that concern.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents, said late last month that Russian intelligence agents had targeted her staff with an attempted breach ahead of the November midterms.

Because of that, senators are considering hitting Russia with more sanctions – a move Senator Paul voted against last year.

He also blocked a resolution last month from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to support the intelligence community’s findings that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election and back Trump sitting down with special counsel Robert Mueller.

“We should stand firm and say, ‘Stay the hell out of our elections,’ but we should not stick our head in the ground and say we’re not going to talk to them,” Paul said from the Senate floor.

Talk to them, yes, but from a position of strength, not a position of surrender.

If you’re not willing to stand with the U.S. intelligence community, openly, and you don’t want every move to be made to get to the truth, then one must wonder whose side you’re on.