In last night’s GOP presidential debate, hosted by MSNBC, the Huckabilly former governor of Arkansas laid an egg and he can hardly blame Chuck Norris in absentia for such a wisecrack. Asked if the war in Iraq has been worth all the blood shed, Huckabilly defended Bush’s rationale by comparing the lack of evidence in the massive search for Iraqi WMDs to an Easter Egg hunt. A colorful comment for the Late Show, but one that ultimately leaves egg on his face. Asked later about his all-encompassing religious conservatism, the Huckabilly said he even respects Americans who do not have faith (as long as they vote for him, perhaps), although he conveniently avoided looking for Mormon support. It appears that part of his weight loss may have been in his cranium.

The Huckabilly’s problem is not just that he wears his religion on his sleeve, but he has no clue about the world outside Arkansas. After the debate, Chris Matthews asked him if he really thought there were WMDs still to be found in Iraq. Of all places, the Huckabilly suggested that they there was a good chance the WMDs were shipped off to Jordan. He was obviously confusing Jordan with Syria (at least he did not say King Asad), whose regime is still part of Bush’s sweeping Axis of Evil. But when Matthews asked him if King Abdullah would allow such a thing to happen, the Huckabilly still did not catch his mistake and noted that Abdullah is our friend. Someone get this guy a map of the Middle East. Who’s in China, by the way.

Luke R. E. Publican