A Spork in the Drawer

He Was Still Running For President?

Who knew?

I guess Fred decided to spend more time with the twins.

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Let Me Be Blunt

All Republicans are criminals and/or hypocrites:

[Fred] Thompson selected the businessman, Philip Martin, to raise seed money for his White House bid. Martin is one of four campaign co-chairmen and the head of a group called the "first day founders." Campaign aides jokingly began to refer to Martin, who has been friends with Thompson since the early 1990s, as the head of "Thompson's Airforce."

Thompson's frequent flights aboard Martin's twin-engine Cessna 560 Citation have saved him more than $100,000, because until the law changed in September, campaign-finance rules allowed presidential candidates to reimburse private jet owners for just a fraction of the true cost of flights.

Martin entered a plea of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979; the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation. He was charged in 1983 with violating his probation and with multiple counts of felony bookmaking, cocaine trafficking and conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from a plan to sell $30,000 worth of the drug, and was continued on probation.

Now for the funny part:

Karen Hanretty, Thompson's deputy communications director, said yesterday that "Senator Thompson was unaware of the information until this afternoon. Phil Martin has been a friend of the senator since the mid-1990s and remains so today." Thompson communications director Todd Harris added that Martin was not subjected to the campaign's standard vetting process because "he's a longtime friend."

Sure, Fred, sure.

The party of integrity and morality, my ass.

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The Wisdom Of Frederick Of Hollywood

Sage words:

"Every time you're somewhere, that means you're not somewhere else," Fred Thompson said to reporters after he filed here in New Hampshire.

[Via Taegan Goddard.]

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Speaking Of Iraq...

Frederick of Hollywood:

We will not be a safer country, we will not be a safer America if the whole world watches us being defeated by a bunch of kids with improvised explosive devices.

Doddering Fred is starting to sound like his hero. Remember what George said earlier this year?

...it is our job to “work to change the conditions that moved 19 kids to come on airplanes to murder our citizens. … I could not send a mother’s child into combat if I did not believe it was necessary."

I can' figure out which it is. Are terrorists twelve feet tall and made of steel or little children?

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The Laziest Man In Politics

Rob Rogers:

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We Knew This...

...but still:

As the investigation picked up speed, Nixon grew increasingly concerned about whether Thompson could stand up to the Democrats.

In this May 1973 recording, he shared his concern with then-chief of staff Alexander Haig.

"He's talking to Fred Thompson. I said you're not --," Haig begins.

"Oh sh--, he's dumb as hell. Fred Thompson," Nixon interjects. "Who is he? He won't say anything."

In another conversation some weeks later, Nixon and his advisers were still describing Thompson as not very smart but at least beginning to play ball.

"Our approach is now, we've got a pretty good rapport with Fred Thompson. He came through fine for us this morning," White House counsel Fred Buzhardt says on a tape from June 6.

"He isn't very smart, is he?" Nixon asks.

"Not extremely so, but --," Buzhardt says, interrupted by the president.

"But he's friendly," Nixon says.

"But he's, he's friendly," Buzhardt echoes.

"Good."

Thompson finishing a refreshing swim.

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The Base Isn't Going To Like This

Frederick of Hollywood today:

Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said Monday that while Osama bin Laden needs to be caught and killed, the terrorist mastermind would get the due process of law.

[...]"No, no, no, we've got due process to go through" depending on the circumstances, he said. "I'm not suggesting those things happen simultaneously."

Later, a Thompson spokesman explained that Thompson meant "the same rules ought to apply to him as to everyone at Guantanamo Bay, and there ought to be due process thru a special military court or commission."

"For anyone to suggest that we shouldn't squeeze out every last bit of intelligence information has absolutely no understanding how to fight a long term global war on terrorism," spokesman Todd Harris said. "It would be very dangerous for the long-term security of our country to not try to milk bin Laden for every ounce of information he has."

I happen to agree with Fred on this one - if trials are good enough for German Nazis they're good enough for Osama - but the lizard brains that choose the GOP candidates don't care much for the rule of law.

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Frederic Of Hollywood

I thought he looked familiar.

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What Fun!

Are there any Repubs not running for president?

Thompson's entry will have an immediate impact on the battle for the GOP nomination, adding a fourth candidate to the field's top tier, which includes former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Fred and the Thompson Twins.

Attaturk has an exclusive preview of Thompson's campaign strategy.

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