Fredipedia: the definitive Fred Thompson web quick reference
Posted on 11/11/2007 8:54:28 AM PST by Josh Painter
"I've said that I'll uphold a woman's right of choice, that I will fund abortion so that a poor woman is not deprived of a right that others can exercise, and that I would oppose going back to a day in which abortions were illegal. I do that in spite of my own personal reservations... But if the ultimate choice of the woman - my daughter or any other woman - would be that in this particular circumstance [if she had] to have an abortion, I'd support that. I'd give my daughter the money for it." - Source
"I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade." - Source
“No, I have not supported [a ban on partial-birth abortions], and I don’t see my position on that changing.” - Source
"I would vote to preserve the option [to have partial birth abortions] for women." - Source
"I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights." - Source
"Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it." - Source
"I was at Ground Zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them." - Source
"On June 20th, I was pleased to announce that the City of New York filed a lawsuit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors. This is an industry which profits from the suffering of innocent people. The lawsuit is intended to end the free pass that the gun industry has enjoyed for a very long time, which has resulted in too many avoidable deaths." - Source
"Hello, dear. I`m talking to the members of the NRA right now. Would you like to say hello? I love you, and I`ll give you a call as soon as I`m finished, OK? OK. Have a safe trip. Bye-bye." - Source
"The quote that I have from the time I was mayor is that the conditions in New York and the things you do in New York about guns may be different than Texas. And the reality is I've always looked at it that way." - Source
"If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair." - Source
"[School vouchers] would bleed the public schools of needed funds [and be] a terrible mistake." - Source
"Oh, you dirty boy! Donald, I thought you were a gentleman." - Source
[Nelson Rockefeller represented] "a tradition in the Republican party I’ve worked hard to rekindle — the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition." - Source
[Barry Goldwater was an] "incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man." - Source
"I do not look to see what the catechism of conservatism says about how to solve a problem." - Source
"Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." - Source
"From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, ‘Who has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it?' Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo." - Source
"There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader." - Source
Conservatives need to kick this liberal opportunist, gestapo authoritarian, sanctuary-amnesty backer, gun control freak, gay advocate and abortionist scumbag to the gutter. The sooner the better!
Go Fred go!
“Conservatives need to kick this liberal opportunist, gestapo authoritarian, sanctuary-amnesty backer, gun control freak, gay advocate and abortionist scumbag to the gutter.”
I think you hit all the points : )
Josh, these posts are lovely....
Rudy and Mitt sitting in a tree
K-I-L-L-I-N the Republican Party
First...
“Most of Clinton’s policies are very similar to most of mine.”
Interesting quote. If Mayor Guiliani does get the GOP nomination, will you vote for him?
No. I’m not voting for any more moderates. The last one I voted for, while taking the fight to the Islamofacists on their turf, leaves our back door wide oppen for them. He’s a big government, big spender, and I’ve had more than my fill of them.
No more moderates!
“No more moderates!”
OK, I have no argument with that, but I’m wondering. Don’t you realize that Senator Thompson is a “moderate”? I don’t say that to insult him either. Guiliani isn’t a “moderate” he is a liberal.
Senator Thompson doesn’t really take a hard line on anything. That is pretty much the definition of a moderate (someone in the middle).
I don’t know who I’m going to vote for, except that I won’t vote for Guiliani.
Fred’s a long time solid steadfast federalist conservative. Get over it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1912286/posts
You have fewer first amendment freedoms today than you did ten years ago thanks to "conservative" Fred's tireless efforts on behalf of McCain-Feingold.
The abominable, obscene McCain-Feingold legislation being the one exception. He cashed in every last chit he had to persuade the Senate to shove that rag down our throats.
Again with the McCain Feingold.....get over it. No candidate is perfect, but Fred comes closer than all the others, and is far far ahead of Mitt in that regard:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1924094/posts
A liberal like Giuliani is absolutely disgusting is SO MANY WAYS!!!
“Fred’s a long time solid steadfast federalist conservative. Get over it.”
I didn’t say the man wasn’t conservative, I said he was a moderate. Maybe I should phrase that more definitively. Amoung those called Republicans, he is a moderate. A moderate is simply someone who doesn’t take extreme positions (left or right) on anything. A true “federalist” would be a moderate. On any given issue, Senator Thompson is neither on the left or the hard right. Amoung all the candidates on any issue, you will find those that are to the right of Thompson and those to the left. That makes him a moderate.
Personnally, I don’t see that as an insult. Ronald Reagan was a moderate.
As an example, when the senator says he is personnally against abortion but, because of his federalism, wants the decision left up to each state is to be moderate. A liberal wants to see abortion legal in all fifty states. A hard right moral conservative wants to seen abortion illegal in all fifty states. Federalism, by its decentralized view of authority, is very moderate.
Wrong on both accounts. Reagan was a conservative, FRed IS a conservative and you have no idea what you're talking about.
“Wrong on both accounts. Reagan was a conservative, FRed IS a conservative and you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
You are getting in a twist about a “word.” The term “conservative” means many things to many people. Ask a social/moral/values conservative what the term means, and they will tell you it means to get rid of abortion, homosexuality, gambling, etc. Ask a federalist and it is to put severe limits on federal power; leave it in the hands of states. Ask a fiscal conservative and it is to cut taxes and have completely free markets, etc. The word means different things to different people.
Senator Thompson is careful not to take strong stands on anything. When pressed by fiscal conservatives to sign a “no new taxes” document he refuses; signing it would be an extreme position. When pressed by moral conservatives to help get constitutional ammendments to end abortion and the homosexual agenda he refuses; he wants to use federalism to only limit it on a state by state basis because constitutional ammendments are deemed extreme. So, by actions the senator is a moderate conservative; relative to other positions held in the GOP.
Moderates tend to build consensus and balance. They tend to be more cool headed and not knee jerk reactionaries; they don’t support extreme positions. Would’nt you describe Fred to be “cool headed”, “not reactionary”, and not supportive of “extreme” positions? Wasn’t Ronald Magnus also one who showed these qualities?
Please stop reacting to a word. Moderate does not equal Liberal.
Maybe in your world, not mine. People redefine words to their liking all the time.
In 21st century America, the term political conservative is someone who stands for traditional American values and support for the Constitution as the law of the land. Reagan was a conservative, traditionalist, federalist and Constitutionalist. So is Fred. There is nothing moderate about either man.
Reagan came to be a conservative over a period of time. Fred has been a conservative his entire adult life. Both men are defined by their conservative values, beliefs, convictions and principles.
>>>>>Please stop reacting to a word. Moderate does not equal Liberal.
YOU want to redefine a political movement, not me. Now that is reactionary! And I never said moderate equates to liberal. You did. A moderate is neither liberal or conservative and that is the problem.
“In 21st century America, the term political conservative is someone who stands for traditional American values and support for the Constitution as the law of the land. Reagan was a conservative, traditionalist, federalist and Constitutionalist. So is Fred. There is nothing moderate about either man.”
One - theaare a great many disspassionate, intelligent, and educated (and unbiased) historians and political scientists that would disagree with you.
Two - Grab ten people that call themselves “conservative” across the spectrum and you won’t get agreement on what a “conservative” is. Statements like “traditional american values” are a matter of opinion. For years I’ve been reading and posting on FR and I can’t ever find any real consensus on what “conservative” or “traditional” means. Which tradition, Goldwater, Moral Majority, Libertarian? They all have differing views on what makes one “conservative”.
Whether you want to accept it or not, Senator Thompson sits in the middle on MANY issues (albeit/thankfully to the right of middle) AMOUNG THOSE CALLED REPUBLICAN. Ronald the Great was the same way. Reagan was a consensus builder because he did stay to the middle.
Goodness, even the term “liberal” has become meaningless. Anyone who disagrees with someone’s pet position is labeled either a “liberal” or “right wing fanatic.”
At this stage in the campaign I don’t really have anyone amoung the GOP (I have voted GOP since 1976) that I like. I only know I dislike Guiliani. My dislike for him stems from my “perception” that he is “liberal” (relative to my position) on abortion, homosexuality, and firearms.
I don’t really hold strong opinions on the rest of the candidates. However, their proponents (especially here on FR) are often quite annoying in their broad pronouncements about the virtues of their candidates and the distorted condemnation of other candidates in the GOP that are conservative on different issues than themselves. I’m particularly disgusted with the term RINO, because once again....define what a republican is? Use an AGREEED upon OBJECTIVE measure...it doesn’t exist. For instance, shouldn’t the platform define what a republican is? If so, then Fred is not a true republican and a RINO. BTW - I don’t think Fred is a RINO....I merely use that to point out how missused the term is and how biased it is.
So, what is the Gold Standard to define a conservative? It can’t be the constitution because nobody can agree on its interpretation. What is the standard? To be one it must be agreed upon by all and it must mean the same thing to all.
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