The media seems to be getting this one wrong. I know, big surprise. But while you hear all the pundits fall all over themselves talking about how down home Thompson is–basing their observations, it seems, on the characters he plays rather than the man himself–keep the following in mind.
- Thompson was a lawyer for the Nixon administration.
- Thompson spent 20 years working as a high-priced lobbyist in DC, representing foreign corporations. He’s as much a Beltway insider as anyone.
- After divorcing his wife of 25 years but before marrying a woman four years younger than his daughter (ew), Thompson rather famously played the field as a famous actor. “I chased a lot of women and a lot of women chased me,” he said. “Those that chased me tended to catch me.” Family values my ass.
I find it interesting that the Rs see their best chance to follow W as an actor who can play the role of a president convincingly. Is this the final surrender to big money, that we know the corporations run the show anyway and we’re just looking for a front man who looks the part?
Oh, and finally, those of you who have read my book Between Heaven and Hell may remember the character of a senator whose ambition helped topple the US government and turned the world over to the demons. The book was written in 1996, but in my head that character was always “cast” as, you guessed it, Fred Thompson.
2 Comments
Don’t be fooled by the “tough guy” image that Fred Thompson cultivates. It’s only a guise that Thompson, the smooth hustler uses to scam us. We’ve been hosed by Thompson twice before—in the Savings and Loan Scandal and the Iraq War—to devastating consequences. For the sake of our nation, let’s not let it happen again.
There is nothing tough or folksy about this guy. Thompson is but an actor—a con man—who has spent years honing both his tough-guy and down-home demeanor to fool the public. Thompson is the ultimate faker—a flimflammer with a red pickup truck that is being brought out by the GOP for his next scam on the political stage.
Here’s what the mainstream media won’t tell you about Snake Oil: He’s spent a good part of his political career in craven endeavors. From 1975 to 1992 Thompson was a lobbyist for corporations such as Westinghouse and General Electric, and most notoriously, the Tennessee Savings and Loan League.
Actors make good con men and con men make good actors. And in 1982, Thompson was vigorously lobbying for legislation to deregulate the Savings and Loan industry although he knew it could destroy the foundations of the institution. The deregulation that ensued gave the thrifts the freedom to invest in risky speculations and gamble away the savings of U.S. consumers.
The Savings and Loan debacle was the crowning moment of the Bush Oligarchy. Over one thousand thrift institutions collapsed and hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their life savings. The ultimate cost of the crisis was $150 billion and George H.W. Bush bailed out the thrifts to the tune of $125 billion, which contributed greatly to the largest budget deficits this country had ever seen to that point. These deficits heralded the 1990-91 recession, one of the lowest points of our nation’s economic viability since the Great Depression.
John Kenneth Galbraith called the Savings and Loan Scandal, “the largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance, and larceny of all time.”
It was Fred Thompson who hoodwinked this country into compromising the original mission and values of the Savings and Loan. Thompson was the shill who called for the industry to change from one that provided low-interest mortgages and secure savings to a large venture capitalist network—one that failed, in part, due to the ham-handed handling of the Bush Family and the first Bush Administration.
In March 2003, Thompson did the bidding of the Bush Family once again and linked Saddam Hussein to the root cause of terrorism and advocated preemptive war. Thompson appeared in a national television commercial by the conservative group, Citizens United, which called for the invasion of Iraq. In the commercial, Thompson persuasively stated: “When people ask what has Saddam done to us, I ask, what had the 9/11 hijackers done to us—before 9/11.” We are now in the midst of a quagmire, a war with no end. Thompson is, in part, responsible, being the salesman of this war.
Thompson worked his con on this country and fleeced it twice before, and let’s not let him do it again. Another con perpetuated by Thompson can once again devastate this great nation.
I urge everyone out there to remind their voting friends of Thompson’s role in two of America’s greatest scandals and also to remind them that the red pickup is only being brought out only to sell us even more snake oil.
http://liberty-in-crisis.blogspot.com/2007/06/selling-snake-oil-from-red-pickup-truck.html
Jeff, Fred is not like that. I have met him 3-4 times (at non-political events) and more importantly, have had very good reports from folks who have known him for years. He represents clients. Clients whom you may not approve of. Lawyers and lobbyists do not always get to choose who they represent. Fred Thompson may or may not run. I frankly think in the end he won’t be a factor because of the cancer. Making him the anti-Christ is a bit much
Post a Comment