What the Hell Was Rand Paul Doing On MSNBC?

Joe Scarborough asks the most obvious question surrounding the whole Rand Paul affair. As I wrote at the time, you can't even debate nuanced states-rights positions with radical leftists, much less Rachel Maddow, who's basically a kook netroots blogger with her own television gig:

I'm not sure how Dr. Paul prevails here. I do know that it takes either a tremendous amount of courage or a tremendous amount of stupidity to take such a firm yet thoughtful stand on the left's signature bludgeon of political demonology.

And check the interesting roundup from Max Fischer, by the way, "Rand Paul Inspires Debate on Barry Goldwater's Legacy." As many have noted, this is a deeply intellectually --- honestly intellectual --- political debate. Indeed, that's why David Weigel has stood firm in his defense of Rand Paul (with links). I'm a big fan of Goldwater too, much more so than Rand Paul, because Goldwater was a firm advocate for a robust national defense. Frankly, I doubt I'd ever vote for Paul given his disastrous libertarian isolationism.

Interesting, in any case.

RELATED: From Lisa Graas, "Louisville Tea Party Organizers Defend Rand Paul."