A presidential candidate who understands jihad, or more of the same?

That the question has to be asked gives cause for concern.

Tom Tancredo would not rule out erasing Mecca and Medina as a deterrent to OBL and his fellow inner spiritual strugglers, and I've heard that Mitt Romney has used the word "jihad" (Although if Hugh "Islam is a Religion of Peace because some apostate -- or deceptive, I can't tell the difference, but it doesn't really matter, does it? -- Muslims told me so" Hewitt supports Mitt, then how much can Mitt really know?)

Where's Fred Thompson on the vital issues?

-Excellent voting record in defense of the unborn? Yes.

-Directly condemns by name the NEA, ACLU, and Michael Moore? Yes.

-Opposes judicial activism? Yes.

-Recognizes that the powers of the Federal Government are limited to only those explicitly stated in the Constitution? Yes.

-Understands that small government, low taxes, secure borders, and military supremacy are essential to our prosperity and safety? Yes.

-Rejects the Big Government, Borrow-and-Spend, Open Borders recent history of the Republican Party (and how that lost the Congress)? Yes.

-Acknowledges the blessings and protections of Divine Providence -- and uses the language of the Founding Fathers in doing so? Yes.

-Understands, explains, and condemns jihad? There's a problem.

Debbie Schlussel and Michelle Malkin both wrote mid-year against Thompson's hiring of Spencer Abraham to his campaign. Ms. Schlussel notes that Abraham is an open-border, Islamized Christian who:

"favored pan-Islamists from HAMAS front group CAIR and others from Islamic charities raided by Customs Agents for laundering money to Al-Qaeda. He invited a man tied to one of the Al-Qaeda-related charities to the Bush White House to give out post-9/11 "awards." Abraham also took campaign contributions from Nijad Fares, the son of then-Hezbollah installed Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon.

We're glad that Abraham has now come out in the open and made it official that--as we've previously lamented--he can be bought by the highest Pan-Islamist Mid-East bidder. We only hope he does not share vital energy secrets with them.

. . . he became a whore to radical Islamic causes once he reached the U.S. Senate and to date.

There is some good news, though it presents another dilemma. When CAIR filed recently is galling and treasonous Flying Imams lawsuit, this was Thompson's response:

I've talked before about the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- most recently because it filed that lawsuit against Americans who reported suspicious behavior by Muslims on a U.S. Airways flight. Better known just as CAIR, the lobbying group has come under a lot of scrutiny lately for its connections to terror-supporting groups. This time, though, The Washington Times has uncovered some very good news about the group.

For years, CAIR has claimed to represent millions of American Muslims. In fact, they claim to represent more Muslims in America than ... there are in America. This has alarmed Americans in general as the group often seems to be more aligned with our enemies than us -- which isn't surprising as it spun off from a group funded by Hamas. As you know, Hamas has been waging a terrorist war against Israel and calls for its total destruction. It also promises to see America destroyed. Nowadays, Hamas is busy murdering its Palestinian political rivals.

Even with this history, and CAIR's conspicuous failure to condemn Hamas by name, it has been treated as if represents Muslim Americans by our own government. The good news is that the financial support CAIR claims to have among American Muslims is a myth. We know this because The Washington Times got hold of the group's IRS tax records.

CAIR's dues-paying membership has shrunk 90 percent since 9/11 -- from 29,000 in 2000 to only 1,700 last year. CAIR's annual income from dues plunged from $733,000 to $59,000. Clearly, America's Muslims are not supporting this group -- and I'm happy to hear about it.

Of course, every silver lining seems to have a cloud; and this cloud is that CAIR's spending is running about $3 million a year. They’ve opened 25 new chapters in major cities across the country even as their dues shrank to a pittance. The question is; who’s funding CAIR?

CAIR's not saying. The New York Times earlier this year reported that the backing is from "wealthy Persian Gulf governments" including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Obviously, we have a bigger problem here than the one with CAIR.

So, Fred recognizes the threat posed to America by CAIR and our "allies" in the Islamic world, but he hires someone who "favored" and served those same agents.

Only adding to the confusion is Fred Thompson's commentary on Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book Infidel:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali can’t leave her Washington D.C. home without guards.

Born a Muslim in the African nation of Somalia, she was treated as property. Hirsi Ali, though, escaped a marriage, arranged by her father, to a cousin in Canada she’d never met.

Granted exile in the Netherlands, Hirsi Ali rose like cream and was elected to the Dutch parliament. She also wrote a script based on her experience volunteering in battered women’s shelters. There, she learned that her fellow Somali immigrants were maintaining the feudal ways she thought she had left behind.

Filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, the great-grand-nephew of the famous painter, made her movie — but paid for it with his life. His Islamist murderer used a dagger to pin a note, promising Hirsi Ali’s death, to the director’s chest. Unsafe, and unwelcome to many, Hirsi Ali came to America last year and was able to live pretty much like a normal person.

But her new autobiography, Infidel, is out now and the usual suspects are furious that she would argue for the liberation of Muslim women. Due to serious and credible threats, she is once again surrounded by guards.

There were many Germans and other Europeans who came to America and warned of the Nazi threat in the 1930s, including writers and filmmakers. Can you imagine that any of them would have ever needed bodyguards?

Hirsi Ali does — right here in America. Yet too many people still don’t understand what our country is up against. They might if they read her book.

"Islamist," but not, "jihad." Though not directly comparing Islam to Nazism, at least he is unafraid to make the historical analogy.

Does Fred understand what our country -- and the rest of the non-Muslim world -- is up against?

Here's Fred Thompson before the Iowa Caucus: