posted by Damozel |
Yes, once again America has the chance to elect as President an actor with a dubious political past and a reputation for being a bit dim. (WaPo). "An empty suit," said a Republican friend of mine, with definite dismay----as if her favorite President and hero had been anything other than that.
And if indeed FT is an "empty suit," whose fault is it that he thinks he can do the job? I've noticed that Republicans---no offense, mom!---tend to lean toward candidates who look like, and especially sound like, their idea of a president, without regard to things like experience or competence. Why is that, I wonder? Why?
I have a theory that people my age who are Republicans are all the ones whose parents bought those placemats with pictures on them of presidents or who visited Disney's Hall of Presidents back when Disney World was new. They want someone who looks good on a coin or a stamp, and never mind if he ---it's gotta be a "he", it appears---can't walk and talk at the same time, thinks that trees give off poisonous vapors, or makes faces like a chimp when under duress.
They also want someone who spouts Foxian slogans that act on the "base" like the sound of a dog whistle. "Shamnesty!"... "Defense of Marriage!"..."Don't Ask, Don't Tell!"... "Weapons of Mass Destruction"... "Evildoers!"...."Tax Relief!"..."Fair Tax"!
And---and this is the part that really baffles me---the Republicans who do impress, who are politically formidable, never run for President. Why? In God's name, why? I'm not saying that I'd ever vote Republican, even if one of the many I respect (e.g., Arlen Specter) were to run, but it would be nice to have a truly credible choice among moderates.
Fred Thompson---the man whom Nixon allegedly called "dumb as hell" even as Thompson did his best to assist him in avoiding accountability---is going to be drooled over by desperate GOPpers looking for someone who looks and acts (key word, as for Reagan: acts) the part, but how can the country's many truly distinguished and estimable Republicans put up with this "field"? Seriously, how? The best of them, according to me, is Mike Huckabee, but does anyone think he is going to get the nomination?
For those who missed it, here are the allegations about the Watergate investigations:
According to an article in Wednesday's Boston Globe, GOP presidential hopeful, and one-time Republican Senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson leaked information to the Nixon white house during the height of the Watergate investigation. In his capacity as the Senate Watergate Committee minority counsel, Thompson tipped off Nixon's attorney that the committee was aware of the president's secret tapping device, and would be making the information public....
Former investigator for the Democratic majority on the Watergate committee, Scott Armstrong, claims this was just one of many leaks Thompson provided to the Nixon administration."Thompson was a mole for the White House," Armstrong claims. "Fred was working hammer and tong to defeat the investigation of finding out what happened to authorize Watergate and find out what the role of the president was." When asked to comment on today's article, Thompson responded, "I'm glad all of this has finally caused someone to read my Watergate book, even though it's taken them over thirty years."...
The role of Thompson as a "mole" for the Nixon White House undermines the cultivated image of a straight shooting and independent minded prosecutor who played a role in bringing down the president. Thompson's website even proclaims that he "gained national attention for leading the line of inquiry that revealed the audio-taping system in the White House Oval Office."(Raw Story)
The weird part is that he was NEVER a "straight shooting and independent minded prosecutor"...he just played one on TV. As noted, Republicans seem to have a lot of trouble telling the difference.
Fred Thompson gained an image as a tough-minded investigative counsel for the Senate Watergate committee. Yet President Nixon and his top aides viewed the fellow Republican as a willing, if not too bright, ally, according to White House tapes.
Thompson, now preparing a bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, won fame in 1973 for asking a committee witness the bombshell question that revealed Nixon had installed hidden listening devices and taping equipment in the Oval Office.
Those tapes show Thompson played a behind-the-scenes role that was very different from his public image three decades ago. He comes across as a partisan willing to cooperate with the Nixon White House's effort to discredit the committee's star witness. (MSNBC)
The obsession of the GOP with the appearance of political credibility is well reflected in the following quote:
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), who launched an effort to draft Thompson into the race earlier this year, predicted that Thompson will quickly become the candidate to beat.
"Fred has been working out with a personal trainer. There's a saying in the South that a lean dog hunts best," Wamp said after the conference call, one of several the campaign conducted yesterday. "He is a lean candidate, on his toes. Jeri and the kids have given him a new adrenaline in life. He has a presence that the other candidates do not have."(WaPo)
Well, we'll see. Maybe it is actually possible to fool all Republicans, all of the time. Anyone who twice---not once, but twice!---voted for George W. Bush and his cronies or who ever bought into the notion of an Administration filled up with chickenhawks and big bad talk as a credible "war presidency" must after all be more than a little credulous and blindly trusting.
RELATED BN-POLITICS POSTS:
- Fred, You Naughty Boy, You
- FEC Complaint Filed Against Fred Thompson
- Putting My Mind at Ease About Fred Thompson
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