[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Posted twice

[kellynla]

Bump for later

[Josh Painter]

Bill Hobbs: “Fred Thompson defends federalism in a RedState.com response to Ramesh Ponnuru’s recent attack on Thompson’s Senate votes on tort reform. The winner here is Thompson, by a landslide. Fred voted the right way - the conservative way.”

http://www.elephantbiz.com/2007/04/federalist_fred.html

*

Kleinheider: “Well done. Well crafted response... I must compliment Thompson on his excellent use of the blogosphere here. A challenge was brought by a member of the National Review editorial board and Thompson responded quickly and effectively.

I believe this is a taste of the kind of alternative campaign Thompson will be engaging in. His dislike of retail politics is well known among those types who care about such things. While it is no replacement for the kind of politics Fred will seek to eschew, it is clear Thompson knows how to use the tools and is using them with precision.”

http://www.news2wkrn.com/vv/2007/04/well_allow_him_to_retort.html

[Atlas Sneezed]

Ramesh is trying a little too hard to become the story.

Fred’s words are on a caliber with “there you go again.” They resonate with simplicity.

And miracle of miracles: WE ARE TALKING ABOUT FEDERALISM, THANKS TO FRED!

[kevkrom]

I’ll follow his lead. On tobacco, I’ll just note that Thompson continues to see the anti-tobacco lawyers’ fees as a matter of “freedom of contract,” which is sort of ridiculous given the context I explained in my article. Asking that officers of the court not get sweetheart deals from state attorneys general to whom they had given campaign contributions isn’t the same thing as regulating a candlestick maker.

Ponnuru is losing this argument... if the issue at hand is "sweetheart deals from state attorneys general", there are better avenues to address the problem than the federal legislative branch -- state agencies, bar associations, and possibly the federal Justice Dept. (administrative branch) are far more reasonable places to address the problem than the U.S. Senate.

[SuziQ]

I’ll be glad to read some discussions on Federalism. I just hope they remain civil and don’t devolve into silliness and nit-picking.