Last night, they all (save Ron Paul) tried to out-Reagan Ronald Reagan!!

Fred Thompson said it most pointedly: "I think that governor Huckabee's campaign manager said it accurately, in terms of what they believe. They believe that it is over [the Reagan Revolution]. This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party, and its future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. On the other hand, you have the direction that Governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies and liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy, in the tradition of blame America first. He believes that Guantanamo should be shut down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system eventually. He believes in taxpayer funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas. He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA said it was because of his opposition to vouchers. He said he would sign a bill that would ban smoking nationwide. So much for federalism. So much for states rights. So much for individual rights. That's not the model of the Reagan coalition. That's the model of the Democratic Party".

Pin the tail on the largest elephant!!

But Huckabee's "gates of Hell" remark and others' references to Islamo-fascism and the Muslims' dream of a heaven of 72 virgins ... or whatever when commenting on the problems of late in the Strait of Hormuz were ... well, also a little frightening, although not as downright vicious as Fred Thompson's tirade against Mike Huckabee (quoted above).

Only Ron Paul tried to bring the tone back to a modicum of calm common sense.

Hopefully, the American people won't be driven to frothing at the mouth for World War III over some bothersome small boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Let's not forget the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" of a half century ago and the 58,000 Americans who died over that Department of Defense lie!