Thursday, September 06, 2007

A Good Thing?

Fred Thompson has joined the race for the White House. Is this a good thing? I only ask because I have a vague memory of the excellent Captain B speaking well of him. Plus of course I've watched too many episodes of Law & Order not to love the man.

7 comments:

  1. I don't understand america - in what way is it a race? is it like they all get dumped in Nevada and first to reach the white house door gets to be president?

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  2. Yep that's right Ian - Steve Fossett was hoping to steal a march on the rest of them.

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  3. Being an actor is very good training for prez, as Ronald Reagan discovered. But we've really dropped a notch going from film stars to TV's "supporting" actors.

    Nevada has mountains that are very treacherous, where cell phones don't work. He probably flew into one and wolves are doubtless now dining on the most valuable carrion they've ever eaten. So what? Meat is meat to them, and Fossett would probably like the idea. People who take risks like that enjoy flirting with death and know sooner or later it's gonna win the match.

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  4. At the least, Thompson should be mildly entertaining for a while, which is more than can be said for the rest of the candidates.

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  5. isn't it time Jack Nicholson was President? He could even be in Frank "The Departed" Costello mode 24-hours a day. Or how about Denzel Washington? He could stay in the mindset of his corrupt & evil cop from Training Day, Nixon-style. Or possibly Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher from Gangs of NY.

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  6. Yes Nige, I did briefly mention Thompson. Since McCain is a dead duck and Romney a Mormon, it will be Giuliani and Thompson in the Red corner. I went to a talk he gave at PolicyExchange a few months ago. Hmmm. His detractors say he is too much the Washington insider (and a lawyer/lobbyist to boot) and/or that he is media obsessed (preferred the Jay Leno show to announce candidacy than a public debate with the others)and terminally lazy (must be his much younger spouse). Then again, Guliani may be a pretend hood, and the evagelical/Catholic conservatives won't wear his liberal social stances. According to today's Spectator, however, regardless of being Red or Blue, every candidate is going to whack Iran, assuming Bush doesn't do it before January 09. Even Obama. Reagan, by the way, was not just a movie star, but a motivational speaker for General Electric, and then the actors' union president- in which capacity he was a very tough negotiator. Anyone who thinks he was stupid should consult George Schultz's memoirs or the various volumes of Reagan's diaries and letters. But Ron is gone and we are where we are. Which is not a good place, judging by events in Germany.

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  7. I think Thompson could well be the man to watch. He is the rare politician who actually risks thinking for himself and acting accordingly. Of course, if the media paid as much attention as it should to the Hsu affait, Hillary would be outta here, as we say.

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