Letters to the Editor
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He could still be President though
George W. Bush wouldn't have gotten anywhere at all if he was just by himself. Put the right team behind him and Fred Thompson might be successfully marketed as the new Ronald Reagan.
Remember, perception matters more than reality.
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I'm afraid wysiwyg's right.....
Still, the fcat that the MSM is bringing this up tells me the Inside-the-Beltway crowd is starting to have second thoughts about the guy. Seems like it was only yesterday that Sally Quinn was telling us in the Washington Post that "Everybody loves Fred!"
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Watergate still matters after all these years . . .
Just look at where Cheney and Rumsfeld and now Thompson were in those years, what they were doing, who were they working for? Look at Iran-Contra, look at every major scandal of the last 35 years (with the exception of the Presidential BJ Crisis) and you will see the faces and fingerprints of the lunatics currently shaping our world.
Oh to live in a world where blatant proven malfeance towards the Constitution and the American People was a liability rather than an asset.
To hell with these people.
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Dumb as Hell
I don't see a problem here. Since Reagan, "dumb as hell" seems to be a desired attribute for Republican candidates.
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EMStoveken
To hell with these people.
Unfortunately, they're determined to take everyone else with them.
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This information is good to know.
This way, as Cheney continues to pull and manipulate the strings, Thompson will be a friendly puppet for the "puppet master".The new President Puppet who has replaced the old President Puppet. Nice to see we'll have such seamless change.
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Just Republicans?
"Dumb as Hell" doesn't just seem to be a Republican preferred trait.
Unfortunately, it seems an American preference.
Americans vote in these people - the Republican party just knows and caters to the intended audience better than any other party.
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Who's writing the script?
The scary part about this guy is he's a pretty good actor.
So, now we have to worry about who's writing the script, since he's too dumb to make stuff up for himself.
Here we go again ...
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Gotta go with Anony on this
Not that I think that Americans are generally dumb, but certainly I would say that education levels are abysmal. They don't want to learn the nuances of the issues, and they don't want to be talked down to, which means they don't want to hear nuanced analysis from leaders. This culture of anti-intellectualism engenders mistrust of would-be leaders who come off as too articulate, too clever, too savvy.
Therefore a really intelligent leader would just alienate a huge part of the population. It's a liability. In order to win, you run an affable idiot (or somebody who is good at playing that role), then depend on the brains and machinations of an unelected cabal of back-room schemers, all of whom are plenty smart.
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So what?
two shrubs became presidents.
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a different reading
I'd say that the exchange says more about Nixon's wishful thinking and regard for his own "strategic insights" than it does about Thompson's actual smarts.
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I'd like to have a beer with him
And that's Presidential enough for me!
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I have no problem electing a retard
Hell I'd elect a dog.
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Fred
I remember reading about this several months ago. Of course, that was before Fred officially entered the race. It was back when Chris Matthews and friends were extolling the manly virtues of Fred (maybe they still do; I stopped paying attention). More importantly, it was on blogs and before ABC news decided to bring it up.
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the drinking buddy factor
It occurred to me recently why (unlike the pundits) I really don't care whether the president is somebody I'd like to have a beer with:
The odds of my ever getting a chance to "down a cold one" with the POTUS are extremely low. While not absolutely impossible, the series of events leading to such an encounter are bordering on fantasies of winning the lottery.
On the other hand, the odds are near certain that any sitting president is going to make decisions that affect my money, how it is spent, and even the future of my children. These decisions are often based on very difficult policy questions. If made randomly, stupidly, or based on strict ideological views, they will probably lead to disaster. Even if made in an informed and wise manner, they will probably lead to unintended consequences, which is why I want a smart, adaptable, practical person at the helm who is willing to acknowledge and correct past mistakes.
In brief, I'll vote for any president that might not screw everything up, even if he doesn't seem like the ideal drinking buddy. Given that he's not going to be my drinking buddy anyway, I don't see this as a very painful tradeoff.
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There they go again . . .
Thompson thinks he is the next Ronald Reagan.
He probably is.
Who owns NBC?
They think he is the next Ronald Reagan too.
Hell, they KNOW he is the next Ronald Reagan.
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Republicans and dumb
I was listening to Diane Rehm a few weeks ago, and they had one of those typical Republican talking heads who manages to sound insufferably smug and self-satisfied, while doing nothing more than repeating party talking points over and over again. He at one point started whining about how often Republican candidates are portrayed or caricatured as being dumb. I know that this line with Thompson will provoke similar whines ad nauseum. I wonder, though, if they really believe in this whine, or if they realize that it wouldn't pop up so much if the Republican establishment didn't so favor anti-intellectual stances. They like their candidates to seem un-informed and not terribly bright whether or not this is the case. Take note: if you don't actively try to seem stupid, you won't often be portrayed or mistaken as stupid.
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Dumb is the goal...
because the Repugs know that EDUCATION is national security.
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Sounds Like a Perfect Candidate for Another Photo-Op Presidency
Seems like the perfect qualifications for another sock-puppet President who can stand in front of disaster scenes & hold a bullhorn; stride across aircraft carriers triumphantly in a flight suit; recite canned speeches and utter macho slogans defiantly; and distract the American people while the people who REALLY run the country from the shadows set about their business. Oh, and stay out of the way of those same shadowy types.
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how come...
he never puts his gig as rosanne barr's boss in the widget factory on his acting resume?