Posted on 08/19/2007 9:14:51 AM PDT by jellybean
A daily round-up of Fred news.
All‘....aboard, The Fred Thompson Straight Talk Express Ken Hughes
August 18, 2007That’s a catchy slogan, right? Catchy seems to be what these early days of the presidential campaigning is all about. The media starts every article or commentary with how much money the candidates have, as though the Whitehouse were on the auction block, [maybe it is.] The media and the presidential rivals challenge everything but the issues. Democratic candidates are running against George Bush, [who isn’t running] and Republicans are running against false allegations by the Democrats. These aren’t the things that will elect the next president. The voters are finally becoming smarter than a fifth grader, they’re demanding more than being coerced and placated at the same time all the way to the ballot box.
The voters and the public could care less how much campaign money each candidate has and where it came from. They aren’t interested what candidate has the sexier wife or how many previous girlfriends they’ve had. These are things political rivals use to avoid the issues. This election the voters will have bigger fish to fry, the public wants answers they need answers!
Let it be said if there’s a candidate who’s been dipped in a conservative coatings and came out Reaganesque its Fred Thompson. Thompson isn’t claiming to be a clone of Reagan he’s claiming to represent conservatism as it pertains to politics in the coming election. Hard corps conservatives want their candidate to don a Reagan smile and mimic the former president to the letter, that isn’t possible, times and situations change. God forgive me for saying this, “evolution is all around us.” The Reagan style of campaigning is on the political compost pile where it belongs, this is a new election with new candidates. We want our candidates to be their own man [women], not a warmed over version of a former president, neither Reagan nor Clinton.
I’m not going into a litany of Fred Thompson’s accomplishments or his beliefs, of what he will or won’t do as president. I’ll leave that to the candidate himself and his political opponents. I will point out whatever part Fred Thompson played, as a Navel officer in the Hunt for Red October or as the District Attorney on Law and Order he made us believe he was that person. There’s sincerity about Fred Thompson unmatched among his rivals.
If I were Fred Thompson I would take my “Straight Talk Express” out into the hinterlands of America and start talking country with the voters, believe it or not Redneck sells. Harry Truman would walk through a plowed field for a single vote, and it won him an election. There’s a thirst among American voters for a candidate who will come talk directly with them and not be charged $25.00 for the privilege of standing on the sidelines listening. Unfortunately presidential politics has deteriorated into being all about money, principles no longer count. The candidate who puts the voters concerns before their own image stands the better chance of communicating and eventual victory. Does this sound idealistic, perhaps but how do we know it hasn’t been tried in years? Voters are tired of hearing “ME” their ready for a little more “US” it’s our country not their country. Hopefully there will be a majority of congress who will learn that lesson in 2008.
Fred Thompson needs to take on the system and congress, forget the other candidates. They can manage to destroy their hopes of victory without Fred’s help. It’s congress not the president who’s failing America. Both houses of congress are so far removed from the public they scarcely remember we’re still around. Congress holds presidents hostage with their power or the purse. Ronald Reagan was one of the few presidents with the cajonis to bypass congress and take his case to the American people. Ronald Reagan realized the media were a pack of Pitbulls with a fondness for candy. He fed them the sweet stuff and they folded to do his bidding, most of the time. The rest of the time he went directly to the public.
It will be essential, for Fred Thomson to win not only the nomination but the presidency he must develop a style of his own he can be comfortable with. God willing it won’t come from the book of Washington Politics 101.
The Government Bureaucrats and Congress have become so disconnected and separated from the public. The public needs a president who can act as a conduit of communication between the two. The American people, with few exceptions have become disgusted with paying for services they neither need nor want. We continually hear politicians claim [bla bla bla] is what the public demands, usually these are things the public has never heard of before. A president willing to bypass the normal channels of media sound bits and go directly to the public would be a welcome change from what we are getting now. President Bush doesn’t make enough effort to make connect with the public. He’s to much Texan and not enough eastern elitist for the media. Hopefully Fred Thompson as president would recognize the public’s the boss, not congress and not the media, then act accordingly.
Does all this sound Idealistic, perhaps. Actually is just makes good sense for someone who wants to capture the hearts and minds of the public go where the hearts and minds of the public are.
THE SIMPLE GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING FRED THOMPSON David S. Broder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, television talk show pundit, and university professor who writes a twice-weekly political column for the The Washington Post, recently interviewed Fred Thompson. For those interested in the interview, it can be found here. According to Broder:
"When Fred Thompson makes his long-delayed entrance into the Republican presidential race, he will not tiptoe quietly."Broder goes on to say"Instead, he will try to shake up the establishment candidates of both parties by depicting a nation in peril from fiscal and security threats—and prescribing tough cures he says others shrink from offering."
"Thompson repeatedly cites two texts as fueling his concern about the country's future. One is "Government at the Brink," a two-volume report he issued as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee at the start of the Bush administration in 2001 and handed to the new president's budget director as a checklist of urgent management problems in Washington."While the interview is interesting, I believe a more valuable look at Thompson's views can be found by reviewing the source materials cited. For those willing to take the time to examine the source materials cited by Thompson can be found here:"His second sourcebook contains the scary reports from Comptroller General David Walker, the head of the Governmental Accountability Office, on the long-term fiscal crisis spawned by the aging of the American population and the runaway costs of health care. "
Government at the Brink - Volume I: Urgent Federal Government Management Problems Facing the Bush Administration can be found here.These are significant publications because of the on-going nature of most of the underlying conditions and the extreme reluctance of both Congress and the Administration to upset the special interests by actually solving many of the problems.Government at the Brink - Volume II: An Agency by Agency Examination of Federal Government Management Problems Facing the Bush Administration can be found here.
Comptroller General’s solo presentation on his "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour" titled "Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today can be found here. Other materials of interest, including video can be found here.
For those who want Fred Thompson to immediately enter the race, have patience. Not only does it take time to build a team, but considering the amount of money that is being spent by the other candidates in bashing their fellow candidates and President Bush, a late enterance is not only smart, it is fiscally prudent. Judging by historical experience, the American public, with the exception of the political wonks, does not exhibit serious interest in politics or political machinations until after labor day. Doubly smart to avoid spending money on a dull, listless and bored audience. The very qualities you want in a serious candidate for high office.
What can YOU do?
As an American citizen, you have the duty to inform yourself about the issues of the day in order to make an "informed" choice at the ballot box. Unfortunately, many citizens rely on the media for a pre-digested summary of the news that "they" find significant or meets the requirements of their oft-hidden agenda or others simply espouse their political party's views and vote for the pre-selected candidates whom the party feels will be beneficial to restoring power and profits to the party members: not necessarily who will be an honest, strong leader of the United States.
If you do nothing else, just scan the documents to get a feel for the depth and breadth of the problems facing America today and tomorrow. Realize that their is an entrenched bureaucracy that will be struggling to save their jobs and/or expand their powers and budget. These people are resistant to change and are likely to subvert any attempt by a weak leader to institute the necessary government reforms needed for progress.
Perhaps, and I am just thinking out loud, we should skip politicians altogether and simply appoint the Comptroller General to serve as the Chief Executive Office of that great enterprise known as AMERICA.
Remember those who attempted to subvert the United States with their SHAMnesty legislation and attempts at creating a North American Union. Vote them out of office.
In any event, be aware, be informed and vote wisely.
If you find any Fred news, please post it to this thread. Whenever possible link to the print version of the article. The page will load faster without all the ads and doodads clogging up the page and the entire article will be on one page rather than broken up into 2 or 3 pages.
Please check Free Republic's Updated Excerpt and Link Only or Deny Posting List due to Copyright Complaints before posting an article.
If anyone wishes to be pinged to this thread daily, let me know.
Where to find Fred on the internet:
Let me know if you'd like to be on The Daily FRead ping list.
No
“October Surprise” only 42 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......................
I don’t recall asking you a question, so your response is nonsensical.
The Manolo: The Gucci Shoes of the Fred ThompsonFred Thompson got blasted for having the gaul to wear Guccis in Iowa. Instead of criticizing Fred, and condescending to the “rubes and hayseeds at the Iowa State Fair”, the media should recognize that “Fred is the man of sound judgment, at least in the matter of feetwear,” according to the only man with an opinion that matters, The Manolo.
By The Manolo
Manolo says, two things immediately leap into the mind of the Manolo regarding the news that the not-yet-presidential-candidate Fred Thompson made the grievous error of wearing the Gucci loafers to do his non-campaigning at the Iowa State Fair (which is dollar to the donuts the best state fair in the state!)
First, the Manolo did not know that they made the Gucci loafers in the size 13, which is the shoe size of the 6 feets and 6 inches tall Fred Thompson. The Manolo thought that 12 was the largest size offered.
And secondly, this is yet one more fashion tempest in the presidential campaigning pot of tea.
What do those who are promoting this story wish us to think?
“Ooooooh. Fred Thompson wears the Gucci loafers! Look at the Fancy Lad Fred, the pretty boy who wears the pretty boy shoes?”
Ha! The Manolo laughs!
Of all the things one may say about Fred Thompson, one may not say that he is the fancy lad pretty boy. Indeed, much of his appeal is that he is the bald, jowly, basso-profundo, hyper-masculine, ugly-as-the-mud-fence antidote to the pretty boys of politics. It is difficult to seem slick when you look like the aged blue-tick hound.
Instead, perhaps this observation about the Gucci loafers was intended to convey that the Fred Thompson was clueless about his audience.
It is common knowledge, this line of thinking goes, that the fly-over rubes and hayseeds at the Iowa State Fair (I’ve got Ioway in my ears and eyes and nose!) would object to any candidate who does not appear before them in the pig-feces-encrusted work boots.
Please, do not insult our intelligence.
The Manolo, who has hundreds of internet friends in the Midwest, can assure you that many peoples in Iowa love the beautiful and expensive shoes. And that even those Americans in the most remote parts of the country now have access to the internets and the satellite television, and thus know how public peoples should dress, and how much the good men’s shoes cost.
That Fred Thompson wears the well-made and handsome shoes should not be the cause for alarm. Instead, it should reassure us that he the person who knows the good value when he sees it.
The Manolo must now quote to you the wise words of the Cary Grant.
“I’m reminded of a piece of advice my father gave me regarding shoes: it has stood me in good stead whenever my own finances were low. He said, it’s better to buy one good pair of shoes than four cheap ones. One pair made of fine leather could outlast four inferior pairs and, if well cared for, would continue to proclaim your good judgment and taste no matter how old they become. It is rather like the stock market. It makes more sense to buy just one share of blue chip than 150 shares of a one-dollar stock.”Or as the Tony Blair recently put it, “cheap shoes are the false economy.”By this standard, Fred is the man of sound judgment, at least in the matter of feetwear.
Of the course, these observations should likewise cause us to worry about those candidates who wear hideous and inappropriate shoes, such as the Ron Paul, who habitually sports the same pair of cheap Reeboks trainers favored by generations of tyrannical junior high gym teachers.
Better, the Manolo says, the man who wears the Gucci loafers to the state fair, than the man who wears the old tennis shoes onto the floor of the House of Representatives.
Democratic candidates
Democrat candidates (corrected)
Perhaps Mumbles was just mumbling to himself?
Mumbles: No
jellybean: Is Newt Gingrich going to run for President?Mumbles: No
jellybean: If Newt Gingrich were to run for President, would he win?
Democratic candidates
Democrat candidates (corrected)
Democrat(ick) candidates (updated)
Democrat(sick) candidates ( just in)
Oh, for heaven’s sake DON’T use Straight Talk Express. We have enough nitwits already saying that Fred is McCain’s ventriloquist dummy or somesuch. All this would do is add to that stupidity.
Well, I don’t know. He’s married to a supposedly saavy media consultant or some such nonsense and supposedly she runs his campaign. If it was a faus pax (which I think it most certainly was), she’s to blame.
Having visited many a state/county fair, I'd say a guy who shows up at the fair where you know darn good and well there's going to cow poop and animal dung piles in abundance used poor judgment (at the very least) - unless you are going to be escorted around by golf cart and thus avoiding the major fun! I saw Fred's picture with a big pig and Fred looked awkward and uncomfortable; and I know why. He's thinking, "Oh, my gorgeous expensive gucci shoes, please don't crap on my shoes, nice piggie pig!"
As previously mentioned on another thread, I one time wore sandals to the Pleasanton (Calif) fair and it was a big mistake if you get my drift. You live and learn.
I think Fred hangs with the upper crust too much so he doesn't know these things. If I were from Iowa, I'd be pretty upset. Actually, I was born and raised in Missouri and the same kind of stuff goes on in Missouri as goes on in Iowa and I don't like gucci shoes.
“There’s sincerity about Fred Thompson unmatched among his rivals.”
This is a great article, I loved that particular quote. Thanks for the FRead thread, excellent as always.
Jellybean didn’t write that, she just posted it. That is the title of Mr. Hughes article, if you click on the link you can see it.
I realize you might be venting at Mr. Hughes instead of jellybean but I wasn’t sure.
And yes, you’re right, a poor choice of title for Mr. Hughes.
I cringed when I saw the headline too, but FR rules say we have to use the original headline. I almost passed on posting it here, but the article is worth reading.
Why do you put that in quotes as if to insinuate that it is the entire quote from the article? Here is the quote in its entirety:
Instead, perhaps this observation about the Gucci loafers was intended to convey that the Fred Thompson was clueless about his audience.
Much different than your "quote".
Duffy suffers from bullemia, a severe bleating disorder.
Fortunately, the people of Iowa aren't suffering from a severe case of TDS, like you are. [For you people in Rio LInda, that's Thompson Derangement Syndrome.]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.