THERE'D BE ONLY ONE THING WORSE THAN HUCKABEE AT THE TOP OF THE TICKET

AND THAT'S A TICKET WITH HUCKABEE AT THE TOP... AND RON PAUL ON THE BOTTOM.

JUAN COLE IS ENAMORED WITH RANK POPULIST, BORDERLINE ANTI-SEMITE RON PAUL. OF COURSE HE IS.

Juan Cole has another insipid article out in a mainstream magazine. because he's such an expert, you see. It's filled with his typical faux more-intellectual-than-thou fantasies, all delivered with the kind of conceit that only someone who spends his life surrounded by sycophants can muster ("as most of my readers know - what a douche). . There's the mindbogglingly insane claim that Ahmadinejad never claimed to wipe out Israel - which is obviously a lie, but wow does the anti-Israel left love the warm blanket of sophistication that comes with being able to say "but Juan Cole says there's no idiom like that in Persian". There's the you've-got-to-be-kidding claim that Iran couldn't have threatened to nuke Israel because Iran doesn't have nukes yet - duh says your fashionable sophisticated Leftist. Etc. But that's not what we're giddy about. This is what we're giddy about:

Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul continue to show themselves among the few in Congress with any integrity and backbone. They declined to go along with a resolution charging Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad with incitement to genocide, given his alleged call for Israel to be 'wiped off the face of the map.'

On the floor of the US House, Ron Paul gave a speech accusing "neoconservatives", "profiteers", and "blind loyalty to various governments in the Middle East" for current instability in that region. What government do you think he's talking about? We think probably Syria, right? But at least Juan Cole thinks he's a standup guy!

[Read an extended version of this post at Mere Rhetoric]

ERIC DONDERO TO CHALLENGE RON PAUL FOR HIS HOUSE SEAT

I suspect Republicans will be flooding to support Eric Dondero in his bid to unseat Ron Paul. Name one Republican that likes Ron Paul right now, except for maybe Chuck Hagel. Perhaps Rudy too, for Paul making him look good at the debate. Otherwise, he is an outcast that not only doesn't have a prayer of winning the Republican nomination for President but is also likely to lose his House seat.

Nate Nelson had this to say about Eric Dondero on his blog:

Congressman Ron Paul is like a sore on the behind of Republican libertarianism. He makes it seem as though Republican libertarianism is nothing more than Buchananesque defeatism and isolationism. Eric Dondero is a positive alternative to Ron Paul: unabashedly Republican, unabashedly conservative, unabashedly libertarian, and unabashedly willing to balance these three systems. Perhaps most importantly, he is unabashedly willing to vote in favor of defending our country. He is a better choice for Texas' 14th District and for America.

Eric Dondero also has his own blog. If you live in Texas, I encourage you to throw your support behind him.

2008 CANDIDATE HIGHLIGHTS

1) McCain is snubbing more conservatives and his campaign is sinking like the Titanic.

2) Chuck Hagel cracked me up by announcing yesterday that he will not announce his candidacy yet. As Hannity pointed out on his radio show yesterday, how arrogant to have a press conference to announce nothing!! Chuck Hagel has no prayer of getting the nomination unless he is planning on running as a Democrat. I can save Hagel time and money right now by urging him not to even consider running for the Republican nomination.

3) Fred Thompson looks like he may actually jump into this race. I like Thompson and when Rush pointed out all his positives today I would seriously consider supporting him. He is probably my 2nd favorite right now after Rudy and as many have pointed out he would make an excellent VP for Rudy. He could help alleviate many social conservatives' concerns.

4) Ron Paul declares he will run for the Republican nomination as well. I had never heard of this guy until some fellow bloggers brought him to my attention. He is great on immigration and some other issues but he doesn't have much name recognition and I won't even consider him because he was one of 17 Republicans that voted for us to lose in Iraq.