There’s a man of questionable intelligence calling into Washington Journal on C-Span right now. I’ll wait a minute while you get over your shock at that statement.

The guest is Steven Schmidt, who Deputy Assistant to President Bush and Counselor to Vice President Cheney. The discussion is about the Roberts nomination. Mr. Schmidt is making the case that Judge Roberts is highly qualified for the Supreme Court. A Democrat from Nebraska is contributing to the dialogue by saying,

“You say that Judge Roberts is well qualified but I don’t put much credence in that (those with limited vocabularies often like the word “credence” because it makes them feel smart) because David Duke was elected to Congress and therefore I guess people thought he was well qualified. But, that doesn’t mean everyone wanted him there making decisions that affect (moron probably would spell this “effect”) the entire country.”

David Duke never even ran for Congress (author insert — please note the update below that notes my error here) let alone enter the Capitol as a elected member of the body. But, amazingly enough, that is the least ridiculous part of the caller’s statement. To this man, equating a highly successful lawyer who served in a Reagan administration while still in his twenties to a Grand Wizard of the KKK makes perfect sense!

I can just see the next ad from the People for the American Way now. It’s simple, but effective. The camera zooms in on a man decked in full KKK hate regalia and there’ s a lovely cross burning in the background. Then, the man lifts his white hood and exclaims, “Guess who?!” and we see Judge Roberts cackling with pure evil. After that NARAL ad, anything is possible.

UPDATE — As noted in one of the posted comments to this entry, I erred in my information about David Duke. He did run in a special election for Congress but did not win the nomination. I was aware of his State Senate run and try at the governor’s seat, but I missed the special election. Thanks for the correction.