Rand Paul

Pat Buchanan’s got a column up in which he revisits the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia around Ossetia. It’s a complicated history which, as Buchanan notes, saw McCain rallying to the side of the Georgians (who’s wacky president shared a adviser with McCain) and G.W.Bush softly chiding Putin for the strength of Russia’s response. Yadda yadda yadda… here’s Pat:

What makes this history relevant today?

Last week, Sen. Marco Rubio, rising star of the Republican right, on everyone’s short list for VP, called for a unanimous vote, without debate, on a resolution directing President Obama to accept Georgia’s plan for membership in NATO at the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.

Rubio was pushing to have the U.S. Senate pressure Obama into fast-tracking Georgia into NATO, making Tbilisi an ally the United States would be obligated by treaty to go to war to defend.

Now it is impossible to believe a senator, not a year in office, dreamed this up himself.

Patrick goes on to suggest that it’s the same forces behind the McCain-travesty, business interests who’ve long sought legitimacy for a crazed leader. But poor Marco Rubio, Patrick is happy to write, met with some resistance:

The answer is unknown. What is known is the name of the senator who blocked it — Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, who alone stepped in and objected, defeating Rubio’s effort to get a unanimous vote.

Meanwhile… in Iowa, Rand Paul has a column of his own, smashing Newt Gingrich in the Des Moines Register:

Rand Paul: Republicans would take a giant step backward by choosing Gingrich

….But what worries me is that the voters are being sold a bill of goods in Gingrich.

Gingrich began his career as a Rockefeller Republican from the liberal wing of the party. And though he has often spoken and occasionally acted like he left that wing, it is clear from his flip-flops and multiple “apologies” that his heart is still there.

His record features “highlights” such as global warming commercials with Nancy Pelosi, support for cap-and-trade, funding Planned Parenthood, and, recently, announcing that life does not begin at conception.

Not only that, but Gingrich took money as a Freddie Mac lobbyist — one of the well-known government-backed agencies that served as a root cause of the financial meltdown of 2008.

While one candidate in the race, my father, Rep. Ron Paul, was publicly warning about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the crisis they were helping to create, Gingrich was earning millions to not only endorse but also promote the status quo.

….While in Washington, Gingrich also refused to stand up on right-to-work laws and Second Amendment battles. He supported the Brady Bill and the Lautenberg rifle ban. He voted to create the U.S. Department of Education.

That’s right, folks. The Department of Education. Despicable.

Rand wraps up:

This list could go on. So I will conclude by saying two things: Gingrich is not from the tea party. He is not even a conservative.

He is part of the Washington establishment I was sent to fight. He has been wrong on many of the major issues of the day, and he has taken money from those who helped cause the housing crisis and create millions of foreclosures.

As the Associated Press reports, this Paul/Gingrich tug-of-war is great news for… Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney may have some help in Iowa: Ron Paul.

Any rival who drains votes away from the rising Newt Gingrich — as Paul’s allies believe he does — could help keep Romney’s chief opponent at bay here. But Paul’s traditional, all-out campaign in Iowa has pushed the libertarian congressman into second in a key Iowa poll — and the reality is that even if he wins the caucuses, many Republicans say, he likely can’t win the Republican presidential nomination.

That means, Romney allies privately say, that Paul’s success may be Romney’s gain.

Maybe Rand’s block of Rubio and Gingrich is part of an orchestrated move to place himself in the running for Romney’s running mate. Or maybe not. Maybe Ron Paul will win Iowa and then sweep through to the nomination.