George Will casts his gaze upon Our Man In Washington, US Rep. Ron Paul

Our Congressman, Ron Paul, is fixin' to officially announce his candidacy for the presidency, so George Will, whose heavy-laden prose always manages to remind us of our intellectual inferiority, has decided to write about him.

OK, here's a reference right here that does that very thing of which we write:

"There, like Longfellow's youth "who bore, 'mid snow and ice, a banner with the strange device, Excelsior!" Paul will unfurl his banner ..."

That's George's way of telling us Rep. Paul will announce his presidential bid in New Hampshire next week.

But, I guess this enlightens us all, sort of, and I didn't stop reading, though I most definitely did not dig out my Norton Anthology of Poetry.

Anyway, up in New Hampshire, Rep. Paul says he plans to find out "how many real Republicans are left."

Will draws his stilletto and slices:

"This could be entertaining, meaning embarrassing."

RIMSHOT! HEY-OOOO...

Will continues:

Paul relishes his role as The Least Malleable Republican. Last week Paul, who voted not only against the 2002 authorization for war but the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act (he thinks "regime change" and its inevitable aftermath, "nation-building," are optional follies) was vehemently supporting the House resolution disapproving of the president's Iraq policy.

The bespectacled columnist went on to note some of the obscure fellows whose pictures line the walls of the Congressman's office in Washington, as well as some of the strict constructionist-rooted decisions in his personal life (he wouldn't let any of his kids use federal student loans, for example; but with an OB/GYN for a dad, would they really need it?; hey, just wonderin'.)

Will concludes Paul is a "cheerful anachronism," which is better than being an uncheerful anachronism any day of the week, the way we see it.

Still and all, Rep Paul must be onto something. After all, we re-elected him, and as a favorite son of Brazoria County (TX) we are proud, right here, right now, to endorse his candidacy.

RIMSHOT! HEY-OOOO!!!!

.....Balloon drop ....

Here's the rest of Will's column in Newsweek.