Fred Thompson: Lining up some of the facts about this candidate who reminds me of Reagan

An actor is a person who is gifted at playing roles presented to them as a fiction. Actors portray an image of something that presumably doesn't exist. For many people who are not as good at abstract thought as they are at concrete reasoning, the appearance of thing is the same as the thing itself.

As we see another actor prepare to possibly try for the role of president on television and in the blogs, here are links to some of source material dealing with authenticity, image, hypocrisy and intelligence:

For Fred Thompson, these include the RED TRUCK and his "good old boy-i-fication," his actual role in the Watergate Hearings where is willingness to compromise his ethics and principles to get ahead, as well as his general intelligence comes into question [Note: this is a discussion that only Republican operatives and the then Republican president were party to.]

Red Truck-- While lots of blogs are going to MediaMatters account of how Fred Thompson would drive near to campaign sites in his luxury car, park it, and then get in his red pickup truck, I went to the Nashville Tennessean account of how the RED PICKUP was a piece of theater and image-making that Fred bought into. You can see here, and read the original if you care to:

And so it was that on Aug. 5, 1994, Senate candidate Fred Thompson parked his black Lincoln Continental and started driving a used 1990 cherry-red, extended cab Chevy pickup truck with four on the floor and almost 200,000 miles on it. The campaign leased it for $500 a month.
With a package of Red Man chewing tobacco on the seat and country music blaring, Thompson drove from Mountain City to Memphis and back again.

He changed his sophisticated, educated lawyerly look into a good ole boy. He packed 6 feet, 6 inches into jeans, cowboy boots and a work shirt and gave it a "how y'all?" at each stop. He sometimes delivered his "throw the bums out" stump speech from atop the truck bed.

Source: 209.85.165.104

General Smarts & Hypocrisy:
President Richard M. Nixon on Fred Thompson, then a young and ambitious prosecutor and Republican political climber:

AP story on MSNBC
"Those tapes [the White House Tapes from Watergate] 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."

"Nixon was disappointed with the selection of Thompson, whom he called

"dumb as hell." The president did not think Thompson was skilled enough

to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the

committee's Democratic counsel."

It was Thompson who brought up the "White House tapes" which eventually exposed the lawlessness of the Nixon team and led to Nixon's disgrace and resignation, so Nixon's people sense seemed to be working.

What is the definition of hypocrisy? Saying one thing publically and doing something else privately with full knowledge. Duplicity? Sort of. Isn't that near to a sin?
"Publicly, Baker and Thompson presented themselves as dedicated to

uncovering the truth. But Baker had secret meetings and conversations

with Nixon and his top aides, while Thompson worked cooperatively with

the White House and accepted coaching from Nixon's lawyer, J. Fred

Buzhardt, the tapes and transcripts show."

"Fred (Thompson) and Baker carried water for

the White House, but I have to give them credit - they were watching

out for their interests, too," Kutler said. "They weren't going to

mindlessly go down the tubes for this guy."

Okay. Other Fred Thompson weaknesses: His role in the S & L crisis and cover-up. This was same corrupt move that cost regular people their savings, kept interest rates sky-high and involved Neil Bush and Jeb Bush, the current president Bush's brothers. More on that later.getCSS("3053751")

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Tags: campaign | fred | Nixon | pickup | presidential | senate | Tennessee | thompson | watergate tapes