Dancing in Dixie and the Midle East

Giuliani and Romney Shine at GOP Debate
Rudy Bitch Slaps Rep. Paul

Every limited government conservative or classical liberal loves Texas Congressman Ron Paul. When it comes to Domestic policy, nobody keeps the government in check better than the Texas Republican. Paul in reality is a Libertarian and everyone knows that your brilliant blogger identifies with Libertarians on most issues. Unfortunately, most Libertarians are isolationists and that type of thinking is extremely dangerous in a post 9/11 world.

During Tuesday nights debate in South Carolina, Paul was great when it came to Domestic issues, but when it came time to discuss foreign policy, mainly the war in Iraq and more importantly the war against Islamic fundamentalism, he wasn't just wrong, he was an idiot.

Paul lives under a false premise that many Americans believe. They think that if the United States isolated themselves from the rest of the world, especially the Middle East, 9/11 would of never happened and they would simply leave us alone.

The highlight of the evening was when former New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, had a heated exchange with Paul. The Texas congressman made comments that indirectly stated the United States brought 9/11 on itself. Giuliani interrupted the flow of the debate and called Paul's comments, "absurd" and asked him to "withdraw the statement ." I expected Paul to rip Giuliani for taking his words out of context, but instead he reiterated his comments, legitimizing Giuliani's accusation and giving the face of 9/11 heroism a moment to shine.

Throughout the evening nobody looked and sounded more Presidential than former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. When you look at him and his wife of 38 years, they remind me of JFK and Jackie O, beautiful and dignified. American Royalty if you will. However, it must be noted that Romney is not without substance. Being one of the top tier candidates, he took a lot of jabs for being a flip flopper, but to his credit he has developed concise responses and I do expect him to be in this race for the long haul.

It would not be fair if I didn't mention a few second tier candidates. Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee and Representative Duncan Hunter of California had good performances as well. One time front runner Sen. John McCain of Arizona appears lost sometimes. Unless he can show some piss and vinegar, money will continue to dwindle and his candidacy will end before the New Hampshire primary.

Finally, there is one other result stemming from Tuesdays debate. Rep. Paul may have looked like an ass to most people, but he does represent a significant amount of voters who believe he walks on water. Paul is considered by many to be the last remaining remnant of true fiscal conservatism. In fact most Republicans agree with him on issues related to domestic spending and the size of government. He has a strong following within the financial community and the Libertarian wing of the GOP. With that said, Paul can have an impact.

Right now there is a movement by some in the GOP to have him excluded from future debates because of his 9/11 remark. With the attention he has received from Tuesdays event, this would be the time for him to jump ship and run for President as an Independent or Libertarian. Obviously he cannot win the Presidency, but he can have an impact on the outcome. I can see him stealing upwards of 5% from the GOP nominee and that could be devastating, but he can even be more harmful for Democrats.

A Ron Paul run for the White House could destroy Hillary Clinton. The fact is that most anti-war voters don't trust her and they love Paul on the war and that will be good enough for them. He could take double the votes away from Hilary as he would from any Republican. You heard it here first.

Israeli civilians under attack
Hamas and Fatah killing each other

In recent weeks, Arab governments have put pressure on the Bush administration to get peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians back on track. There is one little problem with this noble idea...Israel doesn't have a partner to negotiate with.

The two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah are in the early stages of an all out civil war. Wednesday morning Hamas gunmen entered the home of the Fatah security chief and executed 6 of his bodyguards. Later that day Fatah had arrested 5 Hamas militants and while driving through Gaza, their vehicle was mistakenly ambushed by Hamas fighters, killing two Fatah policemen and their own comrades.

While Hamas is killing fellow Muslims they haven't neglected their hatred for Jews. The Israeli town of Sderot was bombarded with over 2 dozen rockets Wednesday wounding 26. Israel did respond with an air strike of a Hamas Command center. On Thursday Hamas launched rockets that struck a school in Sderot, thank God no one was killed, 2 injured. Hamas also stated that they will resume suicide bombings in Israel, unless the IDF stops launching strikes into Gaza.

Right now Israel can only sit on the sidelines and defend her citizens, while Hamas and Fatah kill each other. However if Hamas continues their air assault on Israeli civilians and adds suicide bombings to their daily regimen, Israel has an obligation to attack with full force, which means collateral damage. The Palestinian people are responsible for the Hamas government and are unwilling to reign in terror. There would be no innocent casualties, except for the tragedy of Children. However, Israel has to consider their kids first.

Paulie