And This Is Why I Like Fred Thompson
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in 2008 | Fred Thompson — Comments (48) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
From the diaries by Erick. . .
John and Ann Berenberk dutifully watched the umpteenth Republican presidential debate on television on Thursday night and had an epiphany. It was about the candidate they had previously referred to as the tall, silent one. Fred D. Thompson.
The last of the candidates to enter the race, Mr. Thompson, 65, a former Tennessee senator, has so far seemed to distinguish himself mainly by a laconic style that has made him almost invisible beside the others on the stage in past debates, the Berenberks said.
"But then last night -- we hadn't even been thinking about him -- all of a sudden it was clear he was the one," said Mr. Berenberk, a retired teacher. "The bluntness, the forcefulness. He was really impressive."
How impressive? Well, remember all of those comments about Republicans being stupid? They were and are stereotypical and ridiculous, of course, but it bears pointing out that even the Times can't make those arguments with a straight face when it comes to Fred Thompson:
Read on . . .
In person, Mr. Thompson, who is a television and movie actor in his life outside politics, conveys a message that perfectly matches the medium of his slow, well-paced, deep-baritone voice: He says the problems facing the next president "cannot be fixed overnight," and admonishes voters not to believe candidates who say they can.
At some events, he prefers to talk sitting down rather than standing up, and has a habit of rocking on the back legs of his chair. In answer to questions, he tends to give long, discursive answers that start with "let's go back to where this all started."
In matters of foreign policy, economic policy and military affairs, he usually ends up with an endorsement of the way things have turned out. In answer to questions about Social Security, social programs and morality, he most often draws the conclusion that things need to change.
With a well-worn face atop an angular, 6-foot-4 frame, he looks like the smartest man in town holding forth at the county courthouse.
He probably is. And in a day and age when we are facing exceedingly difficult challenges, having the smartest man in town armed with the smartest belief system in history is a winning combination.
I have said it before. I shall say it again: Fred Thompson for President.
The NY Times will speak well of a Republican when that Republican is a liberal too. But that's sure not the case here.
The more I learn about Mike Huckabee, the more I am impressed with what he stands for. I do agree with Fred Thompson however, this election is for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
For the past decade, or more, we’ve been sold a bill of goods. Under the banner of “fiscal conservatism” we’ve run our national debt to nearly 10 trillion dollars. We’ve destroyed our manufacturing base, shipping jobs to who knows where, and we “little people” are told to shut up; that we’re too stupid to understand their economics.
I’m no economist, but one thing I can certainly understand is that these 535 members of congress have left IOUs that are going to be paid by generations to come.
If it were our local government, we would have run them off.
Where were Fred Thompson’s press conferences warning the people of what this congress was doing. Where were John McCain and Ron Paul imploring our leadership to come to its senses?
I remember in the early 90’s when Newt Gingrich, Bob Dornan, Duncan Hunter and others rallied the leadership and sold the Contract With America. That regime is gone. What we replaced it with was meaningless rhetoric.
Yes there is a war, but the war didn’t cost 5 trillion dollars. In my opinion, our leadership in congress has maintained an arrogant bunker mentality with the American people.
Mike Huckabee represents a new idea, which really is an age old idea, a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Amidst all the political rhetoric, to me, he is a voice of reason. Can we really afford to buy the same line we’ve always bought? Its way too expensive and doesn’t live up to its promise.
Hucks line is nothing new. The Dems have been spewing class warefare, defeatist national security policies, capitulation to illegal immigration and tax and spend for years. Nothing new about Huck.
Your absolutely right! Hucks line is not new, and neither is the spin of Thompson, McCain and Paul.
We've pimped out the immigration issue, floundered on Social Security and run up a near 10 trillion dollar debt.
I see nothing of class warfare in Huckabee, but a plain simple truth.
Thompson hasn't used my faith in an offensive manner to manipulate people and satisfy his political ambitions.
Since when did Conservatives care what the Government is going to do for them? Have you lost your mind? Believing that electing the Clown Pastor Huckabee is going to somehow validate the Evangelical vote. I can't believe there are people out there who believe this garbage about 'the little guy'. It sounds identical to John Edwards' made up farce about "The two Americas". If you are worried about what the government is going to do for you, then YOU are not a Conservative. I think maybe voting for Hillary, Ewards or Obama would be the best thing for you. You are nothing but a Liberal.
I am not concerned a bit about what government is doing for me. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT GOVERNMENT IS DOING TO ME. The amount of debt that has been created out of sheer incompetency is mind boggling.
George Bush inherited a 5 trillion dollar debt. He along with our "fiscally conservative brothers" have run the debt to 10 trillion in 5 years. Heck, Bill Clinton only ran it up 1 trillion.
You tell me who is liberal? Kind of reminds me of the old fable where the kid says "The Emporer has no clothes".
If I'm a liberal, you're nothing more than an idot.
George Bush inherited a record budget surplus from Bill Clinton.
You sound like someone who should be listening to HWNSBS or whatever the letters are.
Except for his somewhat badly-applied tax cuts and some other minor issues, Bush was a strident fiscal liberal, much to Fiscal conservatives' angst. If you think that electing Mike Huckabee will alleviate that problem, you should check into his record and see both the Cato Institute and the Club for Growth's papers on his fiscal conservatism or lack therof.
You know, if you're gonna go after somebody's intelligence, spell check helps. Just sayin'.
Fred Thompson, 2008
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
when he issued his report "Government on the Brink" in June 2001. That is where Fred was, is, and always will be. If you think Huckabee will be the slightest bit effective in shrinking government and the spending you obviously disdain, you are in for a very rude awakening. I implore you to look deeper into who and what Thompson is; you will be pleasantly surprised. Jump off the bandwagon, we will gladly welcome you back to the fold of true conservatism.
------------
"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." - A. Lincoln
The more I learn about Huckabee, the more I am impressed by the fact that he hasn't been traded to the Democratic contest. Huckabee's "new idea" is being a Republican on one or two issues, and then doing his thinking in a liberal fantasy world where national borders don't exist and honest working men and women subsidize the "I don't feel like working" class.
Fred Thompson is the ONLY true conservative in this race.
in the context of the Republican party. On the surface, Huckabee's ideas have been the 'norm' in the modern-Democratic party. Progressive-lite.
Running from his record as Arkansas governor, he defends only the highlights that makes himself look good in a 30-second soundbite. His 1000+ commutations, etc. are defended by Huckabee's telling how one pardon was for some kid who deserved a break.
Huckabee has re-made himself for the national stage, relying on others' coalitions and others' positions. Rather smart for a politician. FairTax.org and his baptist connections. His immigration plan - LIFTED AND TWEAKD FROM A NATIONAL REVIEW ARTICLE.
It may have stung to have been referred to as a 'liberal' in the last debate, but it should be no surprise as conservative talk radio and columnists have been saying as much for months now. To have to wait until the next morning to come up with another lame joke as his defense (after the "catching flak" comment) is appallingly shallow. That's what where I find Mike Huckabee at times - shallow.
His plus has only been an ability to explain what conservatism can do for the regular folk. He makes a connect there, but then the populism starts ringing in.
It's as though Gov. Huckabee doesn't know when to stop... maybe a habit born of his overeating days? He easily allows his ego to be stoked and enjoys being egged on by commentators (ergo Joe Scarborough on MSNBC Friday). Maybe this explains all the WWE wrestling support, from the top rope - Bodyslam!
I used to think it would be a good thing to have a candidate so committed to Christianity. The kind of president who would fight to "free" people from the government so they could live and worship without all the ACLU-type interferrence. Gov. Huckabee is not a federalist at all in this regard. He just talks a good game.
After a parusal of the Huckabee campaign website, there is a real belief that this is where the "Reagan coalition" gets revitalized. That this is the candidate that wins the nomination and the presidency.
However there is a serious level of disbelief afoot. Provided Huckabee secured the nomination, a good portion of FisCon and DefCons would sit out the election, 5-10% of the GOP base (I would be one of them). This despite the threat of a Hillary presidency.
Then there's the Dems bringing back the "Christian Candidate" ad and the likes of Huckabee's "taking this nation back for Christ" comments. What does that do to the independent vote? It evaporates.
Regardless of the Democratic nominee, a Huckabee with his "new" ideas would lose and lose badly. 54% to 45% of the national vote (on a good day) and somewhere along the lines of 423 to 115 electoral votes. A throbbing.
Welcome to the Conservative Coalition Crackup.
So say we all!
So say we all!
So say we all!
So say we all!
Which reminds me, is BSG affected by this writer's strike like everybody else? I've been looking for their return for many months, and that Razor thing somewhat underwhelmed....
Stare decisis is fo' suckas -- Feddie
The last I heard, the new season of BSG is slated for a March release (they pushed it back from January). I'm having withdrawals.
Okay, my idea for the series finale of BSG:
The human fleet reaches Earth with the Cylons in hot pursuit. The Earth Defense Force is ready to enter the battle... and Fred Thompson is the fleet commander....
-- digitalhap
And I'll officially end this thread-jack that I created!
Back to all Fred, all the time! The dude has raised $848,890 since Jan 5 (at least on the web site). I'm sure that pales by comparison to some, and several have major war chests.
But with money comes the ability to run ads, get his name on the lips of more people who SHOULD be getting to know him.
Stare decisis is fo' suckas -- Feddie
The additional funds does represent a significant upswing for Fred, especially if you consider the amount of funds that came in post SC debate. That's clearly an indicator that people felt Fred improved his fortunes.
Have you noticed, that for the most part, Fred reviews always talk about the most recent debate as being Fred's best debate showing? In other words, he consistently improves upon his performance.
-- digitalhap
That the supposed remake of BSG didn't use writers at all...
"Guns don't kill people...
"...But they sure help!"
-Paul Giamatti, Shoot 'Em Up
They just reuse old scripts from Days of our Lives and the Young and the Restless.
---
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
the NYT is right once in it.
You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
Fred Thompson may well be the smartest man in town, but I am reminded of Bill Buckley's comment. When he was called the smartest man in Washington he commented it was like saying "that's the tallest building in Topeka."
he's the smartest man in EVERY town. Eventually that means you're the smart guy.
Stare decisis is fo' suckas -- Feddie
he LOOKS like the smartest man in town. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that each of Hillary and Obama are objectively more intelligent than Fred. Certainly each of their academic resumes bolster my belief. Having a laconic speaking style and refusing to speak in soundbites does not provide conclusive evidence of one's intelligence. *Note: I am a liberal*
No joke. What was our first clue? Oh, yeah. Another one of those "Our guys are smarter than your guys" comments.
Well, I happen to think that if you combined Hillary and Obama, they would still be dumber than a box of rocks.
To bring back an old comparison, if brains were dynamite, they wouldn't have enough to blow their noses.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
---
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
The only thing her thighness ever did well was to control the constant bimbo eruptions that descended from her husbands constant infidelity and sociopathic tendencies. As for Barry, I agree. I don't think Fred would have ever considered the possibility of subsidizing a home purchase by allowing a now indicted partisan hack like Tony Rezko to buy his side yard to knock a couple hundred grand of the asking price. I guess that was "objectively" brilliant. Nice try jxhusa, but there's only so much of a liberals "brilliance" I can take, and I'm proud that Fred's sleazoid brilliance gene doesn't seem to function like Barry's!
Tim Schieferecke
Hear! Hear!..read an article that will leave you in awe.at wwwintellectualconservative.com......The absolute truth .I have printed it and passed it around to all my frieds.Go Fred!
It is absolutely incredible that it is almost a year away from a presidential election, and for some reason so many supposedly conservative voters, people who purportedly think critically, have seemingly because of political pundits and news commentators, decided first that Senator Thompson was lazy, and upon this erroneous characterization being vitiated by his 50-city Iowa bus tour in 2-3 weeks, and better than predicted performance in Iowa, beating Senator McCain, not to mention his successful legal, polictical, and acting careers, that now, after his clearly winning debate performance in South Carolina, it is too late for his candidacy for the Republican nomination. This is remarkable reasoning. Why is it too late? Who says so? See the full comment at:
Fred showed us how true conservatism works the other night in the debate. He was stellar. I almost sent money to his campaign. If he could just bottle it up and uncork it on the campaign trail he'd be the run away leader of the GOP field. If he wins SC I will have to consider becoming a Fredhead.
Almost!!!! sent money??? Are you some kind of coward? Get off the bench and get in the game. Show some courage. Send money, it will get you invested in the process. Jeeeezzzz....
We don't need the kind of "support" your post shows. Thank you.
"Guns don't kill people...
"...But they sure help!"
-Paul Giamatti, Shoot 'Em Up
I am just curious as to what everyone here thinks would be most beneficial for Fred -- a McCain win or a Romney win in MI?
On the one hand, I McCain win may get some Romney supporters behind Fred in Michigan. If Romney wins, though, it will give McCain more momentum going in to S.C.
Any thoughts?
It undercuts McCain in SC. If Fred could pull of the miracle in SC and either win or finish ahead of Huck then it allows Fred to enter the south in a stronge position where he will play much better than either Mitt or McCain.
An additional advantage for Fred if Mitt wins is it extends the time without a front runner and give Fred a longer grace period if he can finish strong in SC. It also keeps Mitt and his money in it and might mean that Mitt attacks Huck and Fred doesn't have too.
In the near future Fred and Mitt need the same thing.
Mitt needs to beat McCain and Huck in MI and NV to stop their momentum and then Fred needs to beat them in SC. That will make it a free for all in Florida. If they don't stop McHuck now the future don't look too bright.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
The New York Times is being nice to FDT because they know he is the weakest national candidate. The NYT wants us to nominate another stereotypical Republican, so their candidate can tee off in November.
between a 'stereotypical' republican and the 'stereotypical' leftist the democrats will run. Thompson is the closet thing we have to a true Jeffersonian. Let the people see a Jeffersonian standing next to a true Marxist. If they can no longer tell the difference, than what the hell difference does it make?
No immediate if vague, wandering, and canned answers, words for the sake of words and saying something or anything. Then he would have a better reception among audiences conditioned over years to respond to sounds instead of substance.
But no, Fred pauses, hesitates, and probably actually thinks before he speaks, how sad. No tears, no faked laughter designed to buy time and show nonchalance, just an unfortunate honesty.
Much of the American people won't like this, surely our precious undecideds won't, they want and demand crap and if you don't give it to them they won't vote for you.
Sorry Fred, it's the wrong time, the wrong generation for you. You don't measure up, or is it measure down, to the current electorate.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
... I agree with your assessment of what appears to be the average voter. I'd love to say you're wrong, but I'm becoming less and less convinced. Oh, well... at least I'll be able to sleep at night knowing I voted for the guy who'd be the best -president- instead of simply the best candidate.
Fred Thompson, 2008
When the NY Times speaks so well of a conservative Republican candidate, you know he must be special.