Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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Posted on 12/11/2007 9:03:28 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Freddie Thompson hit full height in the 10th grade, some 6 feet, 5 3/4 inches. His buddies called him "Stick." He was a nice-looking kid, played football and basketball, chased girls, horsed around in class, rarely cracked a book.
"Basically, just a carefree, underachieving kid," he says today. "Pretty good kid. Never gotten in trouble or anything like that. But didn't care much about my studies." Years ago, he put it a different way in an interview with The Washington Post: "I was interested in two things -- and sports was one of them."
He must have had something going for him, because he caught the eye of Sarah Lindsey. Freddie was smitten. She was a year older, a pretty brunette, smart, bookish and on her way to becoming salutatorian at Lawrenceburg High School in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. She planned to study English at Vanderbilt University. The Lindseys were pillars of the community, a clan that peopled the important jobs such as mayor and lawyer and county administrator. They owned a business manufacturing church pews.
The Thompsons were a rung down on the social ladder. Freddie's parents, Fletcher and Ruth, had grown up on farms during the Depression, and neither had made it beyond the eighth grade. They lived at the edge of town in a one-story house on a hillside that plunged to a creek. Fletcher sold cars for a living, on Route 43, and did it well, selling to the same folks again and again, eventually opening his own used-car lot. Freddie admired his father's manner, how he could be at ease with anybody, whether it was a guy who didn't have two nickels to rub together or the governor passing through town on a campaign stop.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I have not read the article.
But, I will bump it.
Bump
My goodness, that was excellent. You’d think he was a democrat.
“Maybe they realize that Huckabee is a flash in the pan and don’t want to get on the wrong side of a potential president.”
I think that’s it.
If Fred has stuff to show, he needs to show it and now. I am not too familiar with him but my impression is that he’s too dozy to catch fire anytime soon. I’d like to know more about him but he seems a reluctant candidate.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
WARNING: If you wish to join, be aware that this ping list is EXTREMELY active.
Nice article. I think Fred is “Presidential”.
great article...genuine comes to mind.
thanks as always for posting it.
I just read the article.
I agree on a BTTT
Wouldn't you rather have a "reluctant candidate" than someone who's dreamed of the "power and the glory" since they were in high school? Are we an Empire or a Republic?
Start here-
http://www.fred08.com/Principles/PrinciplesSummary.aspx?View=OnTheIssues
http://www.fred08.com/Principles/PrinciplesSummary.aspx?View=Principles
http://www.fred08.com/Principles/PrinciplesSummary.aspx?View=WhitePapers
As I said, if he has stuff he needs to show it and now. Yes, I don’t want someone (like Hillary!) who has been on the Presidential track since her schooldays, but FDT needs to put himself out there to see and be heard. And he needs to get out there now and be heard now. The first primaries are in a few weeks. I would like to hear more but he needs someone to light a fire beneath him. I shouldn’t have to seek out stories to find out his positions./p>
Good article.
Go Fred!
Did you read the comment from lanefuller on the article? It links to a site apparently run by lanefuller and he had an article and a video of Fred in S.C. where he apprarently asked Fred to show him the contents of his wallet and Fred told him to buzz off. LOL
By all means find the time to do so -- it's worth it.
“Wouldn’t you rather have a “reluctant candidate” than someone who’s dreamed of the “power and the glory” since they were in high school?”
No, the job is pretty demanding, so if Fred really wants to be president, he should start running a little bit harder, and convince the American People why he should get the job.
My opinion aside, if Fred doesn’t start getting traction pretty soon it won’t matter anyway. If he wants the job he needs to start out hustling the rest of the field.
There’s nothing wrong with having an intelligent thinker as president, and as in the case of Fred Thompson, someone who can make a decision based off traditional American thinking.
We’re getting mostly ‘fire in the belly’ soundbites from the rest along with a bunch of ‘Flim Flam’.
I’m speaking of Giulliani, Romney, Huckabee, and McCain mostly.
Hunter, Tancredo, and Paul have substance in their own ways, but Fred is the candidate you could count on to make tough, mature, ethical decisions.
***If Fred has stuff to show, he needs to show it and now. I am not too familiar with him but my impression is that he’s too dozy to catch fire anytime soon. I’d like to know more about him but he seems a reluctant candidate.***
Great article!
BTTT
When I first started backing Fred in January, before HE even knew he would be running for President, I had to do my own research, find old articles about him, look up his record when he served in the Senate... It took me a couple of days of research to find out as much as could before deciding Fred was the one. You have it easy! All you have to do is go to his website fred08.com and you can find out just about anything you want to know about him. It's all there if you're willing to invest a little time.
What is your evidence that Fred isn't running hard?
Definite bump...
bump the bump...
He's convinced me. What does he need to do to convince you?
WOW!
And they talk about FRED being lazy. Dang, man, hook yourself up! Read a bit.
You can make it real easy on yourself and just go to www.fred08.ocm and everything is there, position papers, events, videos, you name it.
But most likely nobody is going to come by your house with all this stuff. You have to make a bit of an effort yourself. It's called "DYOR". Do your own research.
Couldn’t have agreed more.
“He’s convinced me. What does he need to do to convince you?”
I’ll vote for him if he gets the nomination. I’m voting Hunter in the primary.
I tried to say the same thing diplomatically, but dang you've got a way with words!
It really was a good article. Even the dig that one Democrat made about Fred during the Watergate hearings was offset by the positive comments of other Democrat staffers during that time.
Since there hasn't been much about Fred in the MSM, at least in the positive sense, you need to go to his website, Fred08.com, to get a real feel for where he's been campaigning (lots of places) and what he's been saying (serious proposals on the issues).
My impression of Fred is that he is authentic. His story is a very human American story people can identify with. He is not just a whirlwind of soundbytes. He has substance and I think his decisions would be Presidential - studied, decisive, confident.
Fair enough. And, if Duncan Hunter gets the nomination, I’ll be out there for him doing whatever I can, and I’ll proudly vote for him as a strong, honorable Republican.
Nobody has ever accused me of diplomacy... I have a tradition to carry on. ;>)
You must read the article. It is very good and it makes Fred sound very Presidential! Definitely worth reading.
And that article right there is why we need to vote for this man. His past has taken him through the whole spectrum of life from non-politician all the way to contending for the presidency.
Based on the info provided, it isn’t likely that he will ever become too disconnected from what normal day to day life is like for the majority of us.
Elect Fred Thompson!
I want to know their positions on the issues and nothing more.
We have public schools in the interest of promoting an informed electorate. I don’t think the role of “informed voter” has ever been an easy one. You’ve always had to “do your research”.
But then, couldn't the same be said of Bob Dole in '96? (ie. 100% conservative positions and record, but dull, old and boring). And yet, he won the GOP nomination handily.
What am I missing here?
what are you missing?
We have become conditioned to seek cheerleaders instead of wise men to govern.... seek sound-bites instead of substance.... seek those who tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear (social security).
Modern politics has become as much theater as reality and while it is surprising that a great actor is not “playing the role we expect” I respect him for not doing so.
Fred is in a good spot right now IMO. This is a VERY long presidential campaign and people are going to get sick of it sooner or later so the guy who does not act like a desperate high school kid looking for a date at the prom might have more appeal. The media for whatever reason does not seem to give him a fair shake but I suspect they want other candidates in the GOP to emerge. Fred would clean Hillary’s clock and he makes Obama look like the youngster he is.
Don’t count him out just yet! He is certainly not lazy and he is at his best when nobody gives him a chance (see his first senate race in Tennessee).
Those "in the know" can see the huge wave about to crash down on Mike Huckabee. The man is a media-driven creation and is in for a savage reconciliation with his dismal record as governor.
I think it is still very early in the race and Fred is letting the others expose themselves so much that people will tire of them.
JulieJulie and GomerHuck are certainly doing that.McCrazy is gone and the Son of Rambler is leading in his own mind.
The news on the huckster is starting to turn on him.I have been waiting for this.I think FDT will be alright.They said RR was lazy as well.
“As I said, if he has stuff he needs to show it and now....”
Aw heck!! If Fred was a lesbian trans-gendered black Jewish female who lived alternative lifestyles and was a open participant in the secular abortion sacrament AND happened to be a presidential candidate....he would be plastered all over the evening news and every weekly birdcage sheet and daily rag...but because he’s one of “us” he’s lucky to get this Compost Puff Piece.....
There’s one in the field who’s noticeably not reluctant. HINT: she wears pantsuits.
My favorite Fred Thompson story is a personal one.
In 1992 when I graduated from the University of Memphis law school, our class had to select a speaker for the graduation ceremony. Memphis law school students that year were predominantly Republican in contrast to the faculty.
It was generally agreed among the students to ask Tony Thompson’s father to be the speaker. Tony was in our class, and his father had been on Matlock and in the movies.
At the time, Fred Thompson had been hinted as a possible candidate for governor but his claim to notoriety, notwithstanding his earlier involvement in politics such as Watergate or the ousting of Ray Blanton in Tennessee (Marie), was in the entertainment field.
Word circulated that the Dean was a bit disappointed with our choice. By the way, Dean Fred Davis leaned, I am fairly certain, Republican. He didn’t see what our class saw. One, Thompson would probably attend his son’s graduation. Two, he was a person of notoriety and thus interesting. Three, there was some unknown factor that he would assume some role in some way in the future which would help shape the country.
Fred Thompson gave a good, down to earth speech and impressed everyone with his common sense and lack of an obnoxious ego that the insecure often exhibit.
Two years later, he was elected as United States Senator for Tennessee.
Fred Thompson would make a good President because his personality is grounded in common sense. The very fact that he doesn’t want to go out an pander and create media events is a plus factor for me.
A recent report showed that only McCain was making more public appearances than Thompson on the GOP side. Just because the MSM is under-reporting him doesn't mean he's not out there doing the work.
Dream on.
The WaPo has been doing a front page series, a profile on all of the candidates - one each day. Glad it’s not a total attack.
Fred Thompson in his high school football uniform.
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