Awaiting the announcement to announce:
Know what I mean, Vern?
.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Fred Flops at VFW Conference
If you haven't seen the video of Fred's VFW conference speech, watch it if you don't believe me.
It was pathetic. Lacked energy. Rambling. Disjointed. Disappointing. Sad.
Please don't let this 1 and 1/2 term former senator further embarrass himself. He'll be worse than Bob Dole. Except for maybe hawking erectile dysfunction meds. Surely ole Fred! can still find a tv spot beyond a commercial ....
Please. No. Please.
It was pathetic. Lacked energy. Rambling. Disjointed. Disappointing. Sad.
Please don't let this 1 and 1/2 term former senator further embarrass himself. He'll be worse than Bob Dole. Except for maybe hawking erectile dysfunction meds. Surely ole Fred! can still find a tv spot beyond a commercial ....
Please. No. Please.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Fred: Weak in Iowa
Poor guy. I don't know who is pushing him (figuratively, that is) to run for President. The guy could hardly WALK (what? maybe 20 minutes before taking a break) at the Iowa Fair.
Fred Thompson is not a healthy man. He does not "look" healthy. He does not "carry" himself as if he feels healthy. He does not speak as if he "feels" healthy.
Whoever is pushing him (Jeri? Baker?), stop before you either humiliate or kill him.
Enjoy your life and your children, Fred. You're not strong enough for the Office someone is pushing you to pursue.
And don't wear those polo shirts. Unflattering. Very.
Fred Thompson is not a healthy man. He does not "look" healthy. He does not "carry" himself as if he feels healthy. He does not speak as if he "feels" healthy.
Whoever is pushing him (Jeri? Baker?), stop before you either humiliate or kill him.
Enjoy your life and your children, Fred. You're not strong enough for the Office someone is pushing you to pursue.
And don't wear those polo shirts. Unflattering. Very.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
From the American Thinker blog:
On the Fred Thompson front, ABC's Jack Tapper explores his time on the Watergate committee, and finds that "the reality is far more complicated than conventional wisdom and campaign puffery would have it."
Thompson writes in his own book that he tipped off the Nixon White House that investigators knew about the secret taping system, "even though I had no authority to act for the committee." And "new transcripts from the Nixon White House tapes reveal that the Nixon administration regarded Thompson as a useful idiot -- 'dumb as hell,' in President Nixon's words, but 'friendly,' " Tapper reports.
For the Fred watchers out there, his non-campaign yesterday unveiled "Version 2.0" of its Web site,( http://www.imwithfred.com) If there was a new version for every staff shakeup, wouldn't we be getting into the double digits soon?
To quote Nixon, if you're "dumb as hell" and need a hint, ABC's Christine Byun reports on this update from the site: "One can't help but see that Thompson again might be hearing the call to serve."
"Can't help but see" that he "might be hearing"?
Clear to me . . .
The New York Sun's Seth Gitell looks at Thompson's wait-it-out strategy and finds the thinking to be "flawed."
"Since when has 'strategy' been an excuse for laziness?" Gitell writes. "The next four years is not the time for a slacker president."
.
On the Fred Thompson front, ABC's Jack Tapper explores his time on the Watergate committee, and finds that "the reality is far more complicated than conventional wisdom and campaign puffery would have it."
Thompson writes in his own book that he tipped off the Nixon White House that investigators knew about the secret taping system, "even though I had no authority to act for the committee." And "new transcripts from the Nixon White House tapes reveal that the Nixon administration regarded Thompson as a useful idiot -- 'dumb as hell,' in President Nixon's words, but 'friendly,' " Tapper reports.
For the Fred watchers out there, his non-campaign yesterday unveiled "Version 2.0" of its Web site,( http://www.imwithfred.com) If there was a new version for every staff shakeup, wouldn't we be getting into the double digits soon?
To quote Nixon, if you're "dumb as hell" and need a hint, ABC's Christine Byun reports on this update from the site: "One can't help but see that Thompson again might be hearing the call to serve."
"Can't help but see" that he "might be hearing"?
Clear to me . . .
The New York Sun's Seth Gitell looks at Thompson's wait-it-out strategy and finds the thinking to be "flawed."
"Since when has 'strategy' been an excuse for laziness?" Gitell writes. "The next four years is not the time for a slacker president."
.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Meet Fred's New (non)Campaign Mgr --
-- As introduced by someone who knows him ....
A must read by Debbie Schlussel.
.
He hasn't yet entered the Presidential race, and yet Fred Thompson,
yesterday, showed us why he's the scariest Republican Presidential candidate.
And maybe the scariest of both parties.Don't believe Thompson's claim that he understands the Islamist jihadist threat to America. His announcement, yesterday, of his choice of Spencer Abraham as campaign manager, told us everything we need to know.
Although Abraham, of Lebanese descent, is a Maronite Christian, he is a
career water carrier for Islamists of the most extremist stripe and made that
the cornerstone of his failed, one-term Senate career and equally lousy tenure
as Energy Secretary.
A must read by Debbie Schlussel.
.
Fred May be a Pilgram, But He's Not John Wayne
Gull posted this one on Fred a short while back. It has as even more significance now:
Read on ....
.
.
It occurred to me last night (I read the press release rather than watching
CSpan), that Fred Thompson is setting himself up as America's 21st Century John
Wayne. Folksy. Articulate. Down-home homie for traditionalists. An aging
old-west cowboy hero, capable of leading the charge -- maybe not from the saddle
of a mighty steed, but at least from the back of a borrowed pick-up. Replete
with conservative themes dealing with everything from ethics, family, fair-play,
less government, yada yada yada.
Keep that image, Fred. America needs
it.
But this man of commendable carriage and the mesmerizing voice
(think Garrison Keillor, James Earl Jones, Paul Harvey, Will Rogers) would be
mincemeat on the political stage against Shrillary.
Read on ....
.
.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Fred's Son: In his Father's Footsteps
From Dick Norris reports:
What did Fred Thompson's son, Daniel, do to earn the more than $170,000 that his firm, Daniel Thompson Associates, was paid from his father's federal political action committee, the Fred D. Thompson PAC?
The records suggest he did next to nothing.
The elder Thompson, an undeclared presidential candidate, left the Senate at the start of 2003. He started The Fred D. Thompson PAC with $378,601 transferred from his senatorial campaign committee.
It's perfectly legal for a former public official to roll leftover campaign funds over to a PAC and use that money to support candidates. Yet very little of these funds actually went to candidates - the bulk of the money was paid to Daniel Thompson.
Daniel Thompson did not reply to efforts to contact him.
From the month the PAC started (April 2003), Daniel Thompson Associates began drawing a monthly retainer of $4,000 for "management consultant services.
"In its first election cycle, the PAC made a total of only $18,000 in contributions to federal candidates and about $8,000 in contributions to Republican committees and non-federal candidates. So, the fund spent about 7 percent of its assets on candidates and elections in its first two years - and about 25 percent on Thompson's son.The next cycle (2005-2006), the fund gave $21,200 to federal candidates and about $27,500 to non-federal candidates and party committees - and $84,000 to Daniel Thompson's firm.To date, the PAC has paid $176,000 to the son's firm, $46,000 for federal races, $35,000 in other political donations and $62,700 to charity. The senator's son, in other words, accounts for more than half the outlays.PAC funds can be used to hire relatives.
In 2001, the Federal Election Commission ruled that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. could use federal campaign funds to hire his wife as his campaign manager. But Mrs. Jackson was experienced in running campaigns and raising funds and had worked on a congressional staff. It clearly wasn't a no-show job.The FEC ruled that a campaign could hire a family member "at market value for bona fide campaign services."
But it's hard to find any evidence of bona fide work done by Daniel Thompson Associates for his father's PAC.
Presumably, Fred Thompson made the decision about what money would go to candidates - especially since many of them were his former colleagues.
Maybe Daniel Thompson wrote the 20 checks a year that the PAC mailed out. How much time or skill could that take? Not $85,000 a year worth.
The PAC appears to have had no office, no phone and no employees other than Daniel Thompson. Minor amounts went for spot telephone and Internet bills, and for an accountant.
And the PAC did no real fund-raising.
In its four years, it raised just $700 - two contributions from former Fred Thompson associates.
All other income appears to have been interest payments.The fund did pay a nearly $7,000 to Aristotle Publishing, a company that licenses software for Internet fund-raising, including a $1,000 licensing fee in the fund's last days several months ago. The initial fees were for "conversion, training, and support."
Interestingly enough, Daniel Thompson is now a professional fund-raiser for Lawson Associates in Nashville. According to the firm's Web site, he consults with clients all over the country to raise funds for non-profit groups in their capital and endowment campaigns.
Too bad he couldn't help Dad raise money, too.
.
.
What did Fred Thompson's son, Daniel, do to earn the more than $170,000 that his firm, Daniel Thompson Associates, was paid from his father's federal political action committee, the Fred D. Thompson PAC?
The records suggest he did next to nothing.
The elder Thompson, an undeclared presidential candidate, left the Senate at the start of 2003. He started The Fred D. Thompson PAC with $378,601 transferred from his senatorial campaign committee.
It's perfectly legal for a former public official to roll leftover campaign funds over to a PAC and use that money to support candidates. Yet very little of these funds actually went to candidates - the bulk of the money was paid to Daniel Thompson.
Daniel Thompson did not reply to efforts to contact him.
From the month the PAC started (April 2003), Daniel Thompson Associates began drawing a monthly retainer of $4,000 for "management consultant services.
"In its first election cycle, the PAC made a total of only $18,000 in contributions to federal candidates and about $8,000 in contributions to Republican committees and non-federal candidates. So, the fund spent about 7 percent of its assets on candidates and elections in its first two years - and about 25 percent on Thompson's son.The next cycle (2005-2006), the fund gave $21,200 to federal candidates and about $27,500 to non-federal candidates and party committees - and $84,000 to Daniel Thompson's firm.To date, the PAC has paid $176,000 to the son's firm, $46,000 for federal races, $35,000 in other political donations and $62,700 to charity. The senator's son, in other words, accounts for more than half the outlays.PAC funds can be used to hire relatives.
In 2001, the Federal Election Commission ruled that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. could use federal campaign funds to hire his wife as his campaign manager. But Mrs. Jackson was experienced in running campaigns and raising funds and had worked on a congressional staff. It clearly wasn't a no-show job.The FEC ruled that a campaign could hire a family member "at market value for bona fide campaign services."
But it's hard to find any evidence of bona fide work done by Daniel Thompson Associates for his father's PAC.
Presumably, Fred Thompson made the decision about what money would go to candidates - especially since many of them were his former colleagues.
Maybe Daniel Thompson wrote the 20 checks a year that the PAC mailed out. How much time or skill could that take? Not $85,000 a year worth.
The PAC appears to have had no office, no phone and no employees other than Daniel Thompson. Minor amounts went for spot telephone and Internet bills, and for an accountant.
And the PAC did no real fund-raising.
In its four years, it raised just $700 - two contributions from former Fred Thompson associates.
All other income appears to have been interest payments.The fund did pay a nearly $7,000 to Aristotle Publishing, a company that licenses software for Internet fund-raising, including a $1,000 licensing fee in the fund's last days several months ago. The initial fees were for "conversion, training, and support."
Interestingly enough, Daniel Thompson is now a professional fund-raiser for Lawson Associates in Nashville. According to the firm's Web site, he consults with clients all over the country to raise funds for non-profit groups in their capital and endowment campaigns.
Too bad he couldn't help Dad raise money, too.
.
.
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