THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And gets a great big belly rub from Mitch McConnell as thanks for voting for Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State. Now Mike will be able to join The Muttering Moustache of Mendacity in planning the discard of the Iran Deal and the follow on war with Iran for Bibi.

Sen. Rand Paul wanted assurances that Mike Pompeo would not advocate more war and that the White House would at least discuss curbs on government surveillance.

Once he heard what he needed to hear, the Kentucky Republican senator dropped his opposition to Pompeo’s nomination as secretary of state, delivering President Donald Trump a huge win Monday.

The reversal, though, did raise new questions about how far Paul was willing to go with his defiance. While he got assurances he’d get an airing, he got no concrete change in policy Monday.

He dismissed suggestions that he is developing a reputation of protesting but then falling in line.

Trump had lobbied Paul hard. The senator said he talked with both the president and Pompeo several times on Monday before the committee vote, which wound up sending the nomination to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. Confirmation, which now appears all but assured, is likely later this week.

Paul said that Trump promised him a discussion on curbing government surveillance and databases.

“I haven’t been given anything or promised anything, I don’t get a bridge built somewhere, but I have asked that we consider the liberty of the individual and the Constitution,” Paul said.

He has long been a critic of government surveillance programs, warning that they are a breach of privacy. In December, he temporarily stalled confirmation of one of Trump's Justice Department nominees over concerns about warrantless wiretaps and surveillance.

Earlier this year Paul threatened to filibuster a measure to extend and expand massive U.S. surveillance powers.

Pompeo, now the CIA director, in 2016 endorsed a plan to have surveillance agencies collect "all metadata" and combine it with "publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database."

Paul said he was "absolutely, unquestionably, unequivocally opposed to more databases" particularly one that involves information about lifestyles. "That's just a recipe for 1984 on steroids," he said. But he said he'd talked to both Pompeo and Trump and they assured him there would be a discussion.

Paul also said he got guarantees that Pompeo, a former Kansas congressman who the senator criticized for hawkish views, won’t drag the president into more wars. The senator said that he got assurances that Pompeo agreed with Trump that the Iraq War "was a mistake" and that the United States "must end" its involvement in Afghanistan.

Is Randy Paul auditioning for the role of the next Susan Collins so she can retire gracefully ? Or does the Senate have room for both of them ?