yes....he could, but won't.....
he's (too much) in love w/ his own reflection / ego (and the Liberal Media) to care. 
Posted on 07/19/2008 9:30:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
I still think the GOP screwed themselves when they failed to take Fred Thompson seriously. The old cat never ceases to amaze me. A Google Alert popped these two stories from the Indian Blogosphere into my in-box this morning: Gandhian self-destruction from Indian Raksa - Defending Secular India, and Gandhi’s Way Isn’t the American Way: Collective suicide is no foreign policy from Islamic Terrorism in India.
Both of these posts are based on this March 15, 2007 National Review Online transcript of a Fred Thompson radio spot. Listen to Fred right here. (mp3 file) Doesn't he sound presidential?
Here is a cut and paste of Fred's still relevant talk: "At what point is it okay to fight dictators like Saddam or the al Qaeda terrorists who want to take his place?
It turns out that the answer, according to Gandhi, is NEVER. During World War II, Gandhi penned an open letter to the British people, urging them to surrender to the Nazis. Later, when the extent of the holocaust was known, he criticized Jews who had tried to escape or fight for their lives as they did in Warsaw and Treblinka. “The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife,” he said. “They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs.” “Collective suicide,” he told his biographer, “would have been heroism.”
The so-called peace movement certainly has the right to make Gandhi’s way their way, but their efforts to make collective suicide American foreign policy just won’t cut it in this country. When American’s think of heroism, we think of the young American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking their lives to prevent another Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein.
Gandhi probably wouldn't approve, but I can live with that."
I could live with that myself, rather than than die trying to appease or reason with the murderous Mohammedan fanatics. Peaceniks, who needs 'em? I'll leave it up to you to ascertain the answer to What would Obama do? We shall see if he's still for surrender in the middle east after he visits the victory zone. Perhaps another giant BO flip-flop is in the works.
yes....he could, but won't.....
he's (too much) in love w/ his own reflection / ego (and the Liberal Media) to care.
Bump & Ping!
I still think that Fred Thompson screwed himself when he failed to take running for President seriously. Maybe his fan club here will now admit in hindsight that waiting until Sept. to announce was NOT a “brilliant move”
The sad truth is that Fred Thompson screwed the GOP when he refused to take his campaign seriously. He should have played to win or gotten out of the way for another conservative who would have played to win. As it was I think that many of us withheld our support for other declared candidates while we waited in vain for Fred's eventual delayed entry and his almost immediate collapse. He must have actually thought that he could just sit it out and the presidency would simply be given to him.
Nice post! I need to be quicker with my word smithing since it seems my best lines all get taken before I can post them.
Yep. Sad but true. Fred didn’t fight hard enough. Badly managed campaign. I really think he thought it would “be his” ....sigh.
I think Fred Thompson made the mistake of believing Freepers who told him that Republican’s would jump at the chance to support a true conservative.
I think the real lesson here is that why “make peace” with your enemy when you will have to bomb them into submission anyway? What virtue is there in a bloodless war? There is merit in bombing your opposition - that is the only way you can prevent them from ever opposing you again. The only way to solve conflict for the long term is through violent means. Gandhi should have known better.
“I think Fred Thompson made the mistake of believing Freepers who told him that Republican’s would jump at the chance to support a true conservative.”
Well, Fred shot almost immediately into the lead when his name surfaced. But he kept pushing his entry date further and further back. It was going to be July 4.... Nope, that never happened. August rolled by. Then he finally got into the thick of things and had major problems with this staff and his organization was just not what you’d expect with all that time to prepare. He just got off to a staggeringly bad start, and his speeches didn’t have the fire he needed to get the masses behind him.
And I say his speeches lacked fire, but I don’t really even think that’s it. McCain has never been inspiring. I guess Fred just wore out his welcome with the date game.
It’s kind of like waiting two weeks to call a girl. There’s a window you have to abide by. If you seem too eager, you lose respect. If you wait too long, well, people feel cheated and you lose your luster.
I’d have been happy with either Mitt or Fred. Sadly, we got neither. I’ll always wonder what would have happened had the base got behind Romney earlier. So it goes...
Fred ran a boring campaign, it had no chance because his heart wasn’t in it.
Too many conservatives were more interested in a nice head of hair and a big smile rather than a message of smaller government, states rights and individual freedom.
Fred was undoubtably the superior candidate.
Saturday Night Live sadly pegged Fred’s commitment to the run perfectly. I was a huge supporter. Oh well.
Absolutely!! FRed would have easily beaten Obama!
Well...bless your heart...in the “good” way. ;o)
Bumping your post...forever.
We are so screwed...no matter who is elected.
I hate keeping up with politics right now.
Yes he was. He would have been such a good President.
That he could.
lol at the “bless your heart” in a good way.
I know how you feel, dixie. I hate keeping up with politics right now. Just depressing.
God love you.
We are in the same boat. ;o)
The sadder truth is McCain ran an even worse campaign and still managed to win because he was propped up by the media and the herding sheep in the GOP so desperate to beat Hillary they didn’t go with their conviction.
Thanks for the ping; post. Interesting.
“The sadder truth is McCain ran an even worse campaign and still managed to win because he was propped up by the media”
Excellent point. It all came down to the slime in the media. I’ll never forget how Charles Krauthammer talked down the Thompson campaign.
Too many conservatives had convinced themselves that they were supposed to be looking for Thompson’s “fire in the belly,” while the media repeated the same idea day after day, pumping it for all it was worth.
It was an empty idea, yet it became the central narrative and convinced voters to throw their support elsewhere.
McCain ran a great campaign, and he resonated with what the voters wanted. Thompson ran a half hearted race, and failed to excite anyone, same for Rudy.
bttt
I still miss Fred, but know we are stuck with McCain. Hopefully he will choose Romney for VP so I won’t feel so bad come November.
Like you I kept thinking about a “change/upset” at convention but just don’t see how that could come about.
There are still times when I think about the possibility of an upset happening at the DEM convention with Hillary getting back in as their nominee. That really could happen if Larry Sinclair’s claims are ever checked out and verified one way or the other.
If the DEMS had an upset at convention, it wouldn’t bother me if we also had one at the Republican conventon! For me a Thompson/Romney ticket would be a dream come true!:)
He ran the race they way he had in the past, sadly this day and age two things hindered him, the new press and the fact that Republicans have no interest in the hard choices of Conservatism.
That will change, the economy and other things are sliding fast, and McCain nor Obama have the ability to stop it. Sadly it may be after Fred has truly become to old to run.
Very true.
Republicans are not quite ready to stop being democrats yet...
It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
Mohandas Gandhi
I think FDT would go along with that...
:)
To late...
I don’t blame Fred for a thing.
James Dobson done him in.
Yes they did.
Fred didn't lose. America lost.
He was the only Statesman in the race. An authentic Southern gentleman.
Unfortunately America is now left with a choice between dumb and dumber.
I disagree.
He waged an honest Statesman's campaign. He could wage no other kind. Unfortunately America prefers panderers, flip floppers and assorted liars. America will get what they deserve.
LOL...
Good point. In the day of American Idol and Britney Spears babies (and her sister’s) people don’t have the attention spans for serious issues and ideas, they just want to “feel good”.
That bill is about to come due, then they will be looking again...
Gandhi was a fool. The fact that passive resistance worked with civilized people like the Brits doesn’t mean it works with filthy, evil savages like the nazis or islamists.
And maybe some of you long-term detractors will admit that you are about glitz and politics, not about leadership or smaller government. Would Thompson announcing in January 2004 have made a difference with you? I doubt it.
Nobody who cared could honestly say they didn't understand FDT's positions on the issues. Only the "elect a rock star" crowd was missed. Fred never had a chance with people who didn't pay attention to issues. Starting earlier wouldn't have changed that.
You wanted entertainment. Now you have Obama vs McCain. Enjoy the circus.
Yep.
This would be really funny, if the stakes weren’t so high.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Amen...
“Fred was undoubtably the superior candidate.”
Wonder if McCain would consider making Fred AG?
That he did and it was a sad day for Christianity and ever lovin' reason.
Okay, when is McCain going to take this seriously? When is he going to show fire in the belly? Maybe the day he quits mumbling.
Fred did not mess with the GOP, he did what he could do and knew it was a long shot. Still makes him the best candidate by far of any of them. Might consider taking your responsibilities as a citizen more seriously than to fall for the line pushed by the MSM.
I think he's still unwell. The lymphoma took it out of him. A shame he didn't run in 1996.
What Fred made me realize as one that met him at a small fundraiser is that people want slick hair, fast talk, and platitudes of nonsense. If the country had been in peril, or had the situation been like today where gas prices were hurting people, etc.., Fred would have been one that people gravitated to. Nobody was paying attention to a true statesman and whatever the MSM created as a narrative was going to stick. He was a man among boys. Still kind of shocked McCain snuck up like he did.
Fred disappointed on only ONE item: he whored out to the Iowa farmers on ethanol.
I liked Fred too, but we must move forward. You, my friend, are stuck in yesterday. I disagree with your assesment of too many conservatives. The media doesn’t allow you to see what conservatives are doing, unless you monitor CSPAN 2. There are folks fighting the good fight that don’t get the front page or any page.
My sentiments exactly.
Bumpin’ that.
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