Have I been drafted?

You never know what you're going to find in those wacky blogs.

For instance, I just learned from reading one that I have been promoted (or is it demoted?) to candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination.

TRENDING: May the Farce be with you

In a rant against atheist Christopher Hitchens, one blogger had this to say: "Already, Republican presidential candidate and WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah have called for nuking Muslim cities should America suffer another nuclear terrorist attack – even if the Muslims who would be nuked had no connection at all to the attack on America. That would kill tens of millions of people, including Christians and Jews who live there. And Farah says he's a Christian, even though his mad scheme violates Christian just-war doctrine."

What is it that is so hard to understand about the tried-and-tested doctrine of mutually assured destruction – about deterrence?

Have we been so dumbed-down as a nation since the early 1990s that we no longer remember this was the strategy that kept the uneasy peace between the U.S. and Soviet Union?

If not aggressive deterrence, I wonder what these folks think we should do to prevent nuclear terrorism – a threat that many of our leaders, in both parties, have recognized as the gravest danger we as a nation face?

I suppose I shouldn't worry too much about what someone who believes I am running for president has to say. Yet, I think the ideas put forward in this blog are actually pretty mainstream. Look at the way Tom Tancredo, a real Republican presidential candidate, and I were attacked for putting forth this simple concept.

In old schoolyard parlance, it was tit for tat.

You hit me, I hit you back.

You know what? It worked on the schoolyard and it worked in international relations from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Was it immoral then?

No.

Did it violate the just-war doctrine?

No.

Were those who advocated it branded as heretics back then?

No.

So what has changed? Morality is constant. It is immutable. What has changed is the ability of Americans to discern truth from fiction, wrong from right, up from down and left from right.

People get killed in war – even people who had nothing to do with starting it. That has been a fact of life from the beginning of time. It is why war is so ugly. And that's why we want to do everything in our power to prevent war – especially nuclear war.

How do we best achieve that goal?

There is only one way – by extracting a bitter and unacceptable price on our potential enemies, by letting them know in advance that if they attack us, they will be counterattacked and destroyed.

Do you want to know what would be immoral? It would be immoral for our enemies to think – even for one flashing moment – that they would not be nuked if they nuked us. Because that show of weakness and indecision would invite our worst fear.

I believe the best way to prevent the necessity of nuking Mecca, for instance, is by establishing in advance some ground rules with our enemy. They need to know what is coming. They need to know there is an unacceptable price tag associated with it. If they do, there will be no need for a nuclear counterattack. Only if we allow for doubt, will the need arise.

That's the way deterrence works.

That's the way it has always worked – even before nuclear weapons.

The goal is to save lives, not to take them.

But I wouldn't expect someone who thinks I'm running for president to get that.

Order Farah's latest book, "Stop the Presses: The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution"