Given the circumstances, it’s not surprising that various presidential candidates are going to insist that they, and they alone, are uniquely suited to combat global terrorism. Some of the arguments are coherent but unpersuasive (John McCain emphasizes that he’s the only candidate who served in the military), while other arguments are plainly ridiculous (Rudy Giuliani argues that he’s the only candidate to serve as mayor of a city attacked by terrorists).

But former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, chatting with crazed TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, offered an entirely new argument about his own qualifications.

“People look at my record and say that I’m as strong on immigration, strong on terror as anybody. In fact I think I’m stronger than most people because I truly understand the nature of the war that we are in with Islamo fascism. These are people that want to kill us. It’s a theocratic war. And I don’t know if anybody fully understands that. I’m the only guy on that stage with a theology degree. I think I understand it really well.” (emphasis added)

Pointing to a theology degree is really the wrong way to go. Indeed, the follow-up question is fairly obvious: just how much did the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary teach Huckabee in the 1970s about 21st-century fundamentalist Islam? Here’s a wild guess: not much.