Say, remember the good ol' days - a couple of weeks or so ago - when everyone said Harold Ford, Jr. was the bright young future of the Democratic Party?

Nostalgia aside, ever since then he has seemingly charted a different course. Now he just seems kinda nutty.

In Knoxville yesterday, he included Australia among those nations he says are seeking nukes and would pose a threat to the US. Not surprisingly, they noticed this Down Under. Geoff Elliott of The Australian reports:

HAROLD Ford, a handsome 36-year-old from Tennessee, has become one of the sensations of the mid-term elections in the US and a reason why Democrats are a good chance of winning back control of the US Congress for the first time in 12 years.

But if Mr Ford, already a US congressman, wins his bid to become a more powerful senator, Australia had better watch out.

Because according to Mr Ford, Australia has an interest in nuclear weapons and is part of the broader nuclear threat to the US.

* * * * *

"Here we are in a world today where more countries have access to nuclear weapons than ever before," Mr Ford said, adding that when he left college in 1992 he thought the nuclear age had come to an end "and America would find ways to eliminate the number of chances that a rogue group or a rogue nation would get their hands on nuclear material".

"Today nine countries have it - more than ever before - and 40 are seeking it, including Argentina, Australia and South Africa," he said.

* * * * *

On North Korea, he claimed Pyongyang had conducted two nuclear tests, the first of which he said occurred on July 4. This confuses the ballistic tests Pyongyang carried out on that date with the single nuclear test earlier this month.

The gaffes were lost on the audience and he was given a rousing standing ovation from Democrats and Republicans alike. Any chance of clarifying Mr Ford's remarks with the man himself was impossible as minders shielded any international media from asking questions, ushering Mr Ford away.

"You don't win us any votes," said his spokeswoman. And she might have added that it also means he is insulated from pesky questions probing his limitations on enunciating a foreign policy involving a trusted ally.

Read the whole article at the link above. Australia and Argentina seeking nukes is news to me. South Africa, as anyone who has been following world affairs for the past couple of decades knows, HAD the bomb and gave it up.

The sad part is that Ford IS one of the brighter Democrats around, which is why we need to let Ted Kennedy keep manning the bar and Nancy Pelosi stay in the private waiting room of her plastic surgeon, and keep the grown-ups in charge.

Hat-tip to Riehl World View for pointing to this story.