Posted on 09/20/2007 11:59:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
We're suddenly seeing a lot of things about Fred Thompson in an entirely new light -- the basso growl, that wicked, heavy-lidded smile, the bombshell wife, the indefinable charisma. . . . Oh, and the bad movies.
Because it turns out the GOP presidential contender is kin to Elvis Presley.
Specifically, they are eighth cousins once removed, according to research by Washington genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner. The former Tennessee senator's late father, Fletcher Thompson, and The King shared a set of great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents, Jasper Hood and Tryntje Andries.
What kind of impact this revelation could have on the Thompson campaign was unclear yesterday, though most observers agreed it would most likely be positive, so long as jumpsuits aren't involved.
It's one of the weirder political rites of passage -- run for the White House, and soon there's a small crowd of genealogists rustling around in the branches and twigs of your family tree, looking to make those links to Charlemagne, Miles Standish or Princess Di. And face it: We're all related to pretty much everyone.
Yet those connections still have the power to startle. Reitwiesner, a Library of Congress employee, made headlines earlier this year with his research suggesting that Barack Obama is descended on his mother's side from a Kentucky slave owner. Reitwiesner declined to be interviewed about the Thompson-Presley connection but made his work available on his Web site ( http://www.wargs.com), which also shows that John Edwards is a distant cousin to George W. Bush, Harry Truman and Britney Spears.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
So it IS true! I’d been hearin’ rumors!
ELVIS TO CAMPAIGN FOR FRED! THE KING AIN’T DEAD!
Oh, and the bad movies.Bad movies?
With the exceptions of ...Red October and ...Line of Fire, yeah, bad movies.
I really liked ‘No Way Out’ and ‘Cape Fear’ too.
‘Racing Stripes’ isn’t my taste, but it was a popular family film that I don’t think could be classified as “bad” from any objective standpoint.
There's no such thing as "objective standpoints" where opinions are concerned. That's the whole point.
I saw a few minutes of that when a friend's son was watching it--looked pretty bad.
But it was geared towards your friend’s son, not you, and I’m sure he enjoyed it.
It’s like saying a movie in French is bad because you couldn’t understand the dialogue.
No, it's not. I didn't dislike it because it was a kid's movie--I can appreciate quality filmmaking even if I don't care for the content, or the language it's made in. I disliked it because it was a BAD kid's movie.
I’m all shook up!
Meaning that GWB is related to Britney Spears.
This could explain a lot. Though exactly what, I'm not sure.
Eighth cousin, once removed? Bring my smelling salts!
I believe George W. Bush is also related to Kerry. I wonder how his relation to John Edwards went under the radar in 2004 because thats one hell of a coincidence.
I don’t know what would be worse, being related to Britney or John Edwards.
Oh, Edwards. I wouldn't mind Britney in the family tree.
I agree.
Isn’t everybody in Tennessee related.
It may be true, but it’s bull.
I’m freakin Osama’s eighth cousin once removed.
These articles which have been appearing on a more and more frequent basis show just how desperate they are getting.
Next week:
“Fred picked his nose in first grade, ex classmate says!”
“Isn’t everybody in Tennessee related.”
You probably meant that as a joke, but it does depend on what part of Tennessee they’re from and certainly Tennessee isn’t the only state. I’ve a cousin who is a Pediatric critical care nurse there. She tells horror stories on the conditions of newborn in-bred babies.
Next week:
“Fred picked his nose in first grade, ex classmate says!”
LMAO, and I was just telling someone that if he did so, the Fredheads would find SOME way to justify it. The extent to which they do so in thread after thread is rather disturbing actually.
So now you’re saying what, exactly? That Fred is wrong because he has people that fervently support him?
Face it. Somebody who has a name less familiar than the donut joint ain’t got a chance against Hillary. I don’t care if he walks on water or turns it into wine.
There are two (republicans) who might beat her. Thompson and Giuliani.
That’s it. Period.
what is more disturbing, is your penchant for looking for any means possible, no matter how laughable, to discredit Thompson. it reflects poorly on you AND your candidate.
Cape Fear was outstanding.
Now we know where all of Fred’s campaign money is coming from.
(/conspiratorial tinfoil detractor tone)
It’s funny how you claim to be a Hunter devotee, yet you show up time and time again on Fred threads, even tongue-in-cheek non-reports like this one.
I’m beginning to think you are secretly sweet on Fred and his candidacy.
Or maybe you’re just obcessed.
She shows up to make a hit and run comment that has nothing to do with the subject at hand, then she disappears.
Hope her candidate is not as much of a coward.
“Specifically, they are eighth cousins once removed, “
Aren’t we all at least that closely related to Indonesian tribalists, Moses, the Vikings, the Hopi Indians and Chris Rock? Hasn’t every American president been more closely related than that to actual royalty?
Racing Stripes? I didn’t see the movie; for all I know it’s a GREAT kid’s movie. But it is a FUNNY one to include as justification of the quality of Thompson’s resume’. I just checked IMDB... Thompson seems to have a bit part; he’s listed something like 180th, behind master thespians like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Mandy Moore, Franky Muniz, Whoopie Goldberg, Jeff Foxworthy and David Spade.
But I get your point, and I agree with it.
Days of Thunder... now that’s serious dramatic art!
Sorry, I’ll stop now.
Some other movies he was in:
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, having ironic fun with the duality of real-world life
Curly Sue, playing a big-bad mean Republican (in the eyes of your average commie) type.
Necessary Roughness, a harbinger of the Clinton-Thompson campaign?
Feds. No comment.
Fat Man and Little Boy, a movie having nothing to do with Andrew Giuliani.
Five generations back I’m related to Sen. Dick Durbin.
Oh the humanity!!
Not necessarily, but yes...you're right. If they are related, it explains something.
>> LMAO, and I was just telling someone that if he did so, the Fredheads would find SOME way to justify it. The extent to which they do so in thread after thread is rather disturbing actually. <<
Here’s my attempt:
“Well, he picks’em better than whoever was in charge of picking Miers!” (You can substitute for Miers Gonzalez, Chertoff, Martinez, Davis, Powell, or whoever else left you dumbfounded with their stupidity.)
Oh, come on. Are there any two people in Tennessee who aren’t cousins?
(I come from Georgia and Kentucky mountain folk, so I’m entitled to make the joke.)
I thought John and Britney were sisters.
Both ‘Days of Thunder’ and ‘Racing Stripes’ were wide theatrical releases with some pretty big names.
>> There are two (republicans) who might beat her. Thompson and Giuliani. That’s it. Period. <<
Well, a campaign is how people get famous. I certainly believe that Romney would be a viable candidate, if not for the wierdness factor. I don’t mean the fact that he’s Mormon. I mean that he looks like he was designed in a lab, like Mike Dukakis got inspired by the geeks from “Wierd Science” and tried to build the perfect candidate. And whereas Giuliani SHOULD have just said, “You wanna know why I was pro-choice? Because NYC needed a mayor to put a stop to 3,000 murders a year, and they weren’t going to elect a prolifer, and there’s not a damned thing a prolifer could do in NYC with a bunch of autocrats running our court systen,” Romney’s “conversion” just feeds the image of him being designed by a committee.
Hunter needs the chance to introduce himself to the American people, but he doesn’t have the funds to do it himself, or the power base to compel the media to do it for him. Romney and Giuliani got their power base by being pro-choice. Hunter wouldn’t. If he could establish himself in some other means, I’d think him a vastly superior candidate. Until then, he’s just a noble, decent guy who’s probably not going to be president. But while there’s still hope that my support can still elevate him into the realm of serious contenders, I’ll still point out how he’s great on the issues, whereas Thompson requires me to be optimistic.
Someday, I’ll probably vote for Thompson in a primary, especially since my state votes long after the “national” primary on Feb 3rd. But until Hunter drops out or is eliminated, I can still promote someone who is strong on all the key issues.
Yes, but seriously... Days of Thunder is perfect justification for the argument he was in baaaad movies.
>> There are two (republicans) who might beat her. Thompson and Giuliani. That’s it. Period. <<
Come to think of it, I think some liberals are concerned that Giuliani might actually BEAT her.
Here’s my attempt:
“Well, he picks’em better than whoever was in charge of picking Miers!” (You can substitute for Miers Gonzalez, Chertoff, Martinez, Davis, Powell, or whoever else left you dumbfounded with their stupidity.)”
I’m not so sure FDT’s “picks” are any better...Spencer Abraham. And, I’ll bet dollars to donuts that “whoever was in charge of picking Miers, etc” is going to endorse FDT.
What’s disturbing, actually, is your perpetual attempt to pick Fred’s nose.
i’m with Prairie on this one, i think Kim’s obsessed with Fred. hey, i would bet my house on the fact that Duncan Hunter will not be the republican nominee for President of the US, but you won’t find me on Hunter threads, disparaging his chances. i don’t even bother retorting to Hunter fans that he has ZIPPO chance, when they come on Fred threads. but hey, Fred, for some reason ,gets the hunter fans panties in a twist and they can’t help themselves. you just have to chuckle about it!
While my Dad was pastoring in Virginia, he felt compelled to give his congregation guidance on marriage within the family, after a baby with many birth defects was born to cousin parents (not first but by multiple paths).
To give them credit, they started shipping their children out of state to school and to find spouses.
My Mom's family is British - her father left the Island because he need to move his family to a place where not everyone was related.
I know a community of Russian christian immigrants that intermarried until everyone was related 5 or 6 ways. My husband's first wife once told him she married him because she could be certain he wasn't related (he was from the other side of the country).
Part of the tradition of arranged marriages in certain cultures was the oral history that enabled them to keep track of relationships and prevent marriages that were inappropriate.
People tend to choose spouses in their comfort zone. In this day and age its easier to meet people outside that zone.
I feel compelled to defend Tennessee a bit you see. I love the state, wish I still lived there.
Oh, I agree with your statement. And I love the state too! Most of my extended family is still there. It is truly sad that in many cases, families without the means to educate, seem ‘stuck’ in a ‘culture’ of acceptable intermarriage for generations. For some [she often mentions Apalachia] it’s just a way of life.
Agreed!
Her ‘picky’ need seems quite obsessive ~
On Fred threads she loves to linger.
Her probing ‘digs’ are not progressive
as she’s giving Fred the finger.
Did you know that Oprah is related to Elvis as well? She is. She calls Lisa Marie 'cousin.'
Neil Young said it best: “The King is gone but he is NOT forgotten!”
Pardon me ~ forgot the courtesy ping.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1899977/posts?page=47#47
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