In what has to be the most inane op/ed I've read in months, the Washington Post does not attack Fred Thompson for his stand on the issues, no they hit him for his name. No, seriously:
In the swampy soup of hopefuls for the 2008 presidential election, there is a man with a funny name. (No, not that one.)
We're thinking of the one named Fred (Thompson).
Say it out loud. Do it. Fred. Fred. In the South, Fray-ud.
Fur-red-duh.
It has the tonal quality of something being dropped on the floor, something heavy and damp-ish.
Waterlogged paper towel.
Fred.
This drivel goes on for three entire Internet pages.
People get on bloggers such as myself for having no editors or filters, this woman wrote an entire opinion piece about the name "Fred." And yes, an editor in the stately offices of the WaPo allowed this to be printed in today's paper.
Thompson must truly have these people scared as they've smeared his wife (pole dancer, trophy wife), interviewed ex-girlfriends in hopes of getting some dirt and other ridiculous hit pieces. What they haven't been able to do is slam him on the issues and that's got to be galling to the MSM who know full-well that a Fred Thompson campaign would be hard to beat.
This is just the beginning of the idiocy, they'll question his brains next (and they intimate that most Fred's are stupid in this insipid piece) as they do with every GOP candidate even though he earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University (the very same school that Al Gore dramatically flopped at) and has generally been successful in every endeavor. It reminds one of the fawning the media did over Al Gore and his supposed genius" and the cover-up when it was discovered he had really mediocre grades in college (grades well below President Bush's) and failed out of divinity school while George W. Bush attained an MBA.
If this is the best they've got, Thompson sure has nothing to worry about.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. Thompson is a lazy lawmaker crazy for power.
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Patrick at 10:28AM on Aug 13th 2007
2. The liberals must really be living in fear to come up with this kind of inane drivel. I wait in hopeful expectation for Fred to enter the race and put an end to the Clinton dynasty or the horror of A "Barack".
karen reynolds at 12:04PM on Aug 13th 2007
3. Yes... Fred does indeed have a lot of people concerned... and concerned they should be if they're supporting another candidate... the worst they can say about him is as follows:
1. He was a lobbyist
2. He has a successful acting career
3. He has a beautiful young wife
4. He's a stuffed suit
5. His name is Fred
6. He's a member of the CFR
7. He's Lazy
8. He's a Washington Insider
9. He has no Washington Experience
10. He's not really a southerner
11. He's from Hollywood
That's pretty much it in a nut shell... I've memorized it because I've read it so many times... it must be written in some talking points somewhere...
Go Fred! Beat Hillary!
FRedStates.com at 12:41PM on Aug 13th 2007
4. Major newspapers are never funny. Check this out, might be funny, might make you mad, but it's better than the Post
www.newsgroper.com/fred-thompson
Laugh4@change at 3:18PM on Aug 13th 2007
5. LOL, so the name Fred is funny sounding. How about a female President names Hillary or a Male named Obama.
Where the heck are these people coming from? The left oooed and aaahed over Bobby Kennedy, now there is an adult name. OOOH, Bobby! How about Lyndon or do you remember Hubert H.? Hey huby baby! The left is truely showing just how shallow and small minded they really are. Go Fred Go!
Hey Hillary! WHat really happened to Vince Foster?
Gus Burk at 7:00PM on Aug 13th 2007
6. You have hit the nail on the head. The media is terrified of Fred Thompson. They can smell a Reagan like candidate and that does not bode well for a bunch of wacko liberal mainstream media types who want the Democrats fully in charge of Washington. As to those who accuse Thompson of not being conservative enough, that is the Ron Paul fringe who are pro-conspiracy and anti-Iraq war, all in the name of libertarianism. If Fred declares, he will be the next President of the United States. Write it down somewhere, you heard it here.
barneyrl at 1:12AM on Aug 14th 2007
7. You have hit the nail on the head. The media is terrified of Fred Thompson. They can smell a Reagan like candidate and that does not bode well for a bunch of wacko liberal mainstream media types who want the Democrats fully in charge of Washington. As to those who accuse Thompson of not being conservative enough, that is the Ron Paul fringe who are pro-conspiracy and anti-Iraq war, all in the name of libertarianism. If Fred declares, he will be the next President of the United States. Write it down somewhere, you heard it here.
Bob Barney at 1:12AM on Aug 14th 2007
8. With respect to Fred Dalton Thompson, I am patiently awaiting his decision on whether or not he will seek a bid as the Republican party's candidate for President. I have tentatively decided that Hillary Clinton is the most logical choice of the entire field of "wanna-be's," but Mr. Thompson intrigues me and many other voters. The rest of the field of Republicans and Democrats aren't worth getting exciting about and should drop out of the race ASAP to narrow the field to those candidates who have the right ideas about how to get this country back on track after the mess that George Bush has put us in.
I am also patiently awaiting to hear from the one candidate who has a sound plan to lead this country in a new direction, address the issues that are urgently needing attention; resolve this Iraq mess, illegal immigrants, social security, the infrastructure of this country and the remaining issues on a growing agenda that the current administration has either left unattended or too much political BS going on which prevents these demanding issues from being answered, both logically and intelligently . I thank God that there is a term limit in the Constitution for the Office of President.
Marvin at 1:24AM on Aug 14th 2007
9. Well I don't think that "fred" is as funny as Rhudi and Jhudi...Hillary and Billary...Obama Osama...how about the Ken-Doll Edwards...and Romney the Mormoney...None are really worth electing no matter what the what you call them...as a group they could be called the Stepford Husbands.
Arbus at 7:42PM on Aug 15th 2007
10. It all adds up to try to get someone in there that is not the statis quo,So damn tired of promises and the in-fighting, If Fred can't put up with the B.S. and becomes more of the same. Then we have to hope that some independent that is not in bed with the others to jump in, but most running now is justmore of the same B.S. Lets hear what Thompson has to say, just maybe he is a bright light for once.
larry abrams at 9:07PM on Aug 16th 2007
11. Go Fred Go!!! Go Fred Go!!! You have mine and my family s vote. We need you You are the best
claire grande at 1:03AM on Aug 17th 2007
12. there isn t anything wrong with the name Fred. My husband and son s names were Fred and both fought for our country. My husband in WW2 and my son in Vietnam. Is picking apart his name the best you can do
claire grande at 3:59PM on Aug 17th 2007
13. You are right, Fred has them worried. The Democrats have lined up behind a socialist with an extremely high negative rating. That will pull GOP voters out of the woodwork and tempt Independents to vote AGAINST her and FOR Fred Thompson. Beware Democrats on the lower end of THAT ticket! The GOP should, if it has not already, thanked the Democrats for using DemoLogic to put forth such a divisive figure to run our republic into the ground. I guess Democratic voters want to learn more about oral sex in the White House for their youngsters. With selective memory, I guess you can overlook that family value. For the most part, the arguments against Fred Thompson are illogical, emotional and somewhat personal and don't add up to a bucket of warm spit. If the Democrats were to stick to issues, I think they would lose not only the Presidential election, but based on their performance in Congress to date, some more seats. Hang on, Fred will be in in about 3 weeks. Stay tuned to Nashville.
sprinklebum at 10:53AM on Aug 17th 2007
14. Yes, folks, they are scared silly of Fred. As for him not being really Southern, that is a bucket of bullhonkey. Fred grew up in Lawrenceburg, Tn. and worked at a local manufacturing plant in his off time from college to pay his way thru school. His father ran a local used car dealership. How do I know this for the truth? I was born and grew up in this same small town. I see him as the only logical choice of the candidates running...On either side of the fence. Hillary is such a socialist and Obama lacks age and experience. The rest..well, just wannabes. Rudy is too damn moderate, as is McCain..Romney; well in my opinion more of the same..the rest, again wannabes.
jnewton1162 at 1:57PM on Aug 17th 2007
15. Washington outsider? As a lawyer, he came to Washington as Nixon's mole on the Senate Watergate Committee; from 1975 to 1993, he was a Washington lobbyist, some years to the tune of 80% of his income; as a paid lobbyist for the Tennessee Savings and Loan League, he lobbied for the 1982 Republicon savings-and-loan deregulation bill that brought on the savings and loans crashes during the first Bush administration and cost the US taxpayer a $1.4 trillion bail-out; already ithis year he's lied about being a lobbyist for the pro-choice Family Planning Council; and he was an undistinguished U.S. Senator. In the Senate, he voted against requiring criminal background checks for purchases at gun shows, and he believes the best deterrence to the Virginia Tech massacre would have been been mature students and faculty armed with concealed weapons on school grounds. Like Reagan, he's an actor, but Reagan had a long and distinguished career also as President of the Screen Actors Guild, Governor of California, and decades long leader of the Republican Revolution before becoming President, whereas Thompson has no such record of leadership. He's a pig-in-a-poke, even more than Bush II was a pig-in-a-poke, and you know where that's got us.
Fred Staggs at 5:25PM on Aug 17th 2007