Hollywood Fred Washington Fred Pimp Fred McCain Fred

When ol=E2=80=99 Fred started talking about running for President, we = have to admit=20 that we were just a little bit excited. After all, isn=E2=80=99t this = the same Arthur=20 Branch tough-on-crime, Nixon-busting, conservative stalwart we see on = TBS every=20 half hour? After some digging, we found that Fred has had a few = flim-flaming=20 peccadilloes in his day (and we=E2=80=99re not talking about the Bill = Clinton kind =E2=80=93=20 we=E2=80=99ll get to that later=E2=80=A6). Turns out that ol=E2=80=99 = Fred has changed his mind about=20 more than a few issues =E2=80=93 and we=E2=80=99re not talking about = whether he=E2=80=99s in the mood=20 for a vodka martini or a gin martini at The Palm.

I Did Not Have Relations With That Organization, = NFPRHA

We=E2=80=99ve seen lots of flip flops in our day, but = none so blatantly=20 sandal-like as this one. Seems that ol=E2=80=99 Fred spent some time as = a lobbyist for=20 an abortions rights group called the National Family Planning and = Reproductive=20 Health Association back in the day. Now that=E2=80=99s something that we = might be able=20 to get past =E2=80=93 =E2=80=9CI wasn=E2=80=99t thinking, it was a = stupid mistake=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9CI sincerely=20 apologize for being so foolish=E2=80=9D would have gone a long way. = Unfortunately, Fred=20 outright lied, then kinda lied, then kinda admitted it, then kinda = didn=E2=80=99t. This=20 is an easy question =E2=80=93 did you or didn=E2=80=99t you? = Unfortunately, Fred didn=E2=80=99t quite=20 figure that one out. Just in case you missed the drama back in July, = we=E2=80=99ve=20 assembled this handy timeline.

Fred starts with an unequivocal denial that he lobbied for the = abortion=20 rights group. Simple enough, right? Story over, right?

=E2=80=9CFred Thompson did not lobby for this group, = period.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93Thompson spokesman=20 Mark Corallo. (Los=20 Angeles Times, 7/7/07)

Nope! Confronted with documents claiming that Thompson was hired = by the National=20 Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, he becomes, = well,=20 less than certain:

=E2=80=9C[Thompson] may have been consulted by one of [his] = firm=E2=80=99s partners who=20 represented this group in 1991.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93 Thompson spokesman = Mark Corallo (Los=20 Angeles Times, 7/7/07)

Later that day at the National YR Convention in Florida, Thompson = himself is=20 asked whether or not he lobbied for the pro-abortion group =E2=80=93 = gotta admit, he=E2=80=99s=20 got a way with words, but we don=E2=80=99t see the word = =E2=80=9Cyes=E2=80=9D or the word =E2=80=9Cno=E2=80=9D anywhere=20 in here=E2=80=A6

=E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99d just say the flies get bigger in the summertime. = I guess the flies are=20 buzzing.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93 Fred Thompson (Associated=20 Press, 7/7/07)

(and yes, he actually said those words =E2=80=93 if we could talk = like that, we=E2=80=99d be=20 running for president too)

Three days later, Sean Hannity (who could try out for the Olympic = Softball=20 team when it comes to asking Fred questions) hangs a slow curve out over = the=20 plate when he asks Fred to clear it up, but Fred manages to get hit by = the pitch=20 anyway.

=E2=80=9CYou need to separate a lawyer advocating a position from a = position=20 itself.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93Fred Thompson (Interview with = Hannity,=20 7/10/07)

Seriously? You=E2=80=99re in front of thousands of adoring social = conservatives=20 begging (JUST BEGGING) you to run for President, and you say THAT? = C=E2=80=99mon=20 man=E2=80=A6

Next, Ol=E2=80=99 Fred returns to the New Media, where he=E2=80=99s = had such great success in=20 the past with gems like that Michael Moore video, but he whiffs = again!

=E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99ve experienced another gambit of those schooled in = the creative uses of=20 law and politics: dredging up clients =E2=80=93 or another = lawyer=E2=80=99s clients =E2=80=93 that I may=20 have represented or consulted with, and then using the media to get me = into a=20 public debate as to what I may have done for them or said to them 15 or = 20 years=20 ago.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93Fred Thompson (Powerline, = 7/12/07)

Fred. Seriously. Keep it short. Yes or no. =E2=80=9CMay have = represented=E2=80=9D isn=E2=80=99t=20 exactly the phrase that your would-be supporters are looking to = hear.

Later in the column (and this is our favorite part), Fred asserts=20 =E2=80=9Clobbyist-client privilege.=E2=80=9D Now we=E2=80=99re all for = attorney-client privilege, but=20 there=E2=80=99s a HUGE difference between a lawyer and a lobbyist that = happened to go to=20 law school. There are plenty of lobbyists that aren=E2=80=99t lawyers in = Washington, and=20 to assert that they live under some moral code that prohibits them from = talking=20 about their clients is ludicrous =E2=80=93 hell, they=E2=80=99re PAID to = talk about their=20 clients. (and for more on the lobbyists=E2=80=99 moral code, see Jack = Abramoff)

=E2=80=9CEven if my memory serves me correctly, it would not be = appropriate for a=20 lawyer to make such comments.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93Fred Thompson = (Powerline, 7/12/07)

That one just doesn=E2=80=99t pass the smell test. Yes or no, Fred, = yes or no.

And for more on the =E2=80=9Cnot ready for the big leagues=E2=80=9D = argument, see this=20 exchange.

=E2=80=9CI don=E2=80=99t recall him ever lobbying me on that at all. = I don=E2=80=99t think that ever=20 happened.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93 John Sununu (Los=20 Angeles Times, 7/7/07)

Fred says that he called John Sununu to talk to him about the=20 allegations:

=E2=80=9CI called Sununu. I said =E2=80=98You remember this?=E2=80=99 = He said =E2=80=98No.=E2=80=99 And that was the=20 end of that.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93Fred Thompson (Interview with = Hannity, 7/10/07)

Thompson spokesman denies that Fred called Sununu, despite what = Thompson=20 himself said on Sean Hannity=E2=80=99s show:

=E2=80=9CContacted last night Corallo denied, despite = Thompson=E2=80=99s on air comments,=20 that Thompson had called Sununu to compare memory and/or question = Sununu=E2=80=99s=20 recollection.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=93 (Amer= ican=20 Spectator, 7/11/07)

So far, we really haven=E2=80=99t heard a =E2=80=9Cyes,=E2=80=9D a = =E2=80=9Cno,=E2=80=9D or an =E2=80=9Coops, that was a=20 mistake, sorry =E2=80=98bout that.=E2=80=9D Still waiting, Fred.

Me? Run for President? Aw, Shucks=E2=80=A6

Fred loooooves to use a line about how he =E2=80=9Chasn=E2=80=99t = been running since high=20 school=E2=80=9D or something like that. He=E2=80=99d like you to think = that it just occurred to=20 him that he oughta run for President because he felt drawn to serve the = people=20 blah blah blah. In fact, he told David Broder of the Washington Post in = August=20 that he just all of a sudden thought about running for the first time=20 recently:

=E2=80=9CAfter spending most of the past few years on TV=E2=80=99s = =E2=80=98Law and Order,=E2=80=99 and=20 starting a new family, with two children under 4, the 65-year-old lawyer = says he=20 finds himself motivated for the first time to seek the White = House.

=E2=80=9CThere=E2=80=99s no reason for me to run just to be = president,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CI don=E2=80=99t=20 desire the emoluments of the office. I don=E2=80=99t want to live a lie = and clever my=20 way to the nomination or election.=E2=80=9D (Washington=20 Post, August 16, 2007)

Hey Fred =E2=80=93 if you don=E2=80=99t want to = =E2=80=9Cclever=E2=80=9D yourself to the nomination, quit=20 inventing verbs and just tell us when you first started thinking about a = White=20 House job? We did just a little bit of digging and found an article = dated=20 Election Day 1996 where Fred=E2=80=99s name came up as a possible = candidate:

=E2=80=9CWho will be the Republican candidate? Christie Whitman? Fred = Thompson? Lamar=20 Alexander, who, smiling and relaxed in the corner of the room, suddenly = looks=20 more presidential than he ever did on the campaign trail?=E2=80=9D = (Weekly Standard,=20 November 18, 1996)

Of course, that doesn=E2=80=99t necessarily mean that ol=E2=80=99 = Fred himself was talking=20 about it, right? Oh wait, yeah it does:

=E2=80=9CThompson=E2=80=99s off-the-record chats with reporters also = suggest that his claim=20 that he hasn=E2=80=99t given much thought to running for president might = be somewhat=20 disingenuous (his campaign has attempted to make a virtue of the fact = that=20 Thompson, unlike his competitors, isn=E2=80=99t obsessed with power). = During one 1998=20 off-the-record bull session, Thompson boasted to a reporter, =E2=80=9CAl = Gore goes to=20 bed at night and says, =E2=80=98Please don=E2=80=99t let it be Fred = Dalton Thompson.=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D (New York Magazine, = July 30,=20 2007)

And then Ambinder over at the Atlantic did some digging of his own = and found=20 an article that had Fred saying:

=E2=80=9CTaking a jab at such career campaigners as former Gov. Lamar = Alexander and=20 Vice President Al Gore, Thompson responded to a question about a = possible=20 presidential candidacy by saying, =E2=80=98Contrary to popular belief, I = don=E2=80=99t think you=20 have to run for president for 15 years. Or four years.=E2=80=99

=E2=80=9CHe said he would wait until later this year or early 1999 = before making a=20 decision about whether to run.=E2=80=9D (Commercial Appeal, August 21, = 1998)

Hmmmmmm =E2=80=93 guess Fred isn=E2=80=99t quite the =E2=80=9CI = didn=E2=80=99t wanna, but I was called to=20 service=E2=80=9D self-sacrificing lamb that he makes himself out to = be=E2=80=A6 Then again, it=E2=80=99s=20 true that he hasn=E2=80=99t been running since high school =E2=80=93 = just since 1998.

Fair Tax? Love it! Oh wait, it=E2=80=99s okay, I = guess. No, wait =E2=80=93 I=20 LOVE it!

The FairTax is one helluva deal, and if you haven=E2=80=99t read = about it, you should=20 (http://www.fairtax.com/). Fred, = on the=20 other hand, can=E2=80=99t seem to get his head on straight when it comes = to whether he=20 actually likes it or not. He can=E2=80=99t even get the story straight = with his own=20 staff!

=E2=80=9CFormer Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., appears to = have flip flopped=20 on his pledge to sign federal legislation replacing all federal taxes = with a 23=20 percent sales tax, according to an unedited FairTax.org video reviewed = by ABC=20 News.

=E2=80=9C=E2=80=98He has not taken this pledge,=E2=80=99 = Thompson spokesperson Linda=20 Rozett told ABC News.

=E2=80=9CThe Thompson camp=E2=80=99s denial appears to = be contradicted, however,=20 by an unedited FairTax.org video in which Thompson is asked, = =E2=80=98Senator, if the=20 House and Senate pass the =E2=80=98Fair Tax=E2=80=99 bill would you sign = it?=E2=80=99

=E2=80=9CThompson replies to the question by saying, = =E2=80=98Yeah, absolutely.=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D=20 (ABCnews.com,=20 July 31, 2007)

Watch the evolution for yourself!

Fred Thompson Was For The Fair Tax (link)

Before He Was Against It (l= ink)

Before He Was For It Again (link)

September 4, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized

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