Thompson Will Take On Outsider Role After Playing Access Man

Washington Post ^ | Jeffery Birnbaum

[Reform4Bush]

By all accounts, Fred D. Thompson will soon be running for president, portraying himself as a Washington outsider on the campaign trail. But over the past three years he showed up every two weeks or so at a lobbying and law firm in downtown D.C. to plot how best to persuade Congress to help a British company.

His main assignment: to use his connections to then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to extract information about goings-on inside Congress and use it to benefit his multibillion-dollar client.

In exchange for this insider wisdom he was paid a cool $760,000.

Even casual observers of the presidential race know that in recent years Thompson, a Republican former senator from Tennessee, was a lobbyist between his acting gigs. What is less widely known is what he did in D.C.

[Reform4Bush]

Not sure I can back a guy who sold out sick Americans to a foreign company.

[Williams]

Then you either didn't read or didn't understand the article. Thompson lobbied on the issue of what PERCENTAGE of a settlement his client should pay, not on the total amount that sick Americans would receive. He didn't "sell out" any sick Americans. The only party with a gripe against him would be the other asbestos manufactureres.

If you know anything about the asbestos litigation (and I've been at trial on asbestos cases) then you know it was a scam and a mill that bankrupted companies that did nothing more than keep buildings from burning down. At these trials, the plaintiffs have been coached to claim they saw as many manufacturers' labels as possible, in order to hit as many defendants as they can get. There aren't records of the jobs worked on by the plaintiffs so they rattle off all the companies they can memorize.

Thompson did nothing wrong, and it sounds like his role was information gathering. This didn't even involve trials for anyone, it was a huge global settlement to which all the companies contributed.

[Huck]

Sold out sick Americans? lol!

[Charles Martel]

Not sure I can back a guy who sold out sick Americans to a foreign company.

*Snort*
I look forward to your "Fred Thompson steals lollipops from children" post, which should be coming up soon in rotation.

[Reform4Bush]

Oh gee, and here I’ve been duped by all the health issues related to asbestos that are apparently non-existent.

So....why is it outlawed then?

[Aria]

Ahhh, so you’re for Rudy...

[SE Mom]

Please see and read post # 2

[Durus]

I wish I could remember the recent case where the defense stated emphatically that there was no scientific evidence that proved asbestos caused cancer. The Judge was shocked that they would say such a stupid thing...until the prosecution could come forward with such proof.

Maybe you can find some evidence...or perhaps you could explain why those people who worked with asbestos had no higher incidents of lung cancer the the general population. Then you could explain why some professions are known to be high risk for lung cancer yet the government, the panacea for all the worlds ills, has never done anything.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Oh gee, and here I’ve been duped by all the health issues related to asbestos that are apparently non-existent.

Non-chemists are so easily duped. You would probably outlaw dihydrogen monoxide just because it kills thousands of people every year.

"Asbestos" is a whole family of materials.

Thailand: Understanding 21st Century Science in Support of the Correct use of Chrysotile

...Chrysotile, which is the sole fibre present in 90% of "asbestos-containing" materials worldwide, is often confused with the harmful amphibole fibres due to the fact that the trade name "asbestos" has been used indiscriminately to describe them both. This has resulted in crippling regulations costing businesses billions of dollars.

Vested interests in the anti-asbestos lobby have deliberately used outdated science and confusion between the different fibres to advocate for a total ban on all asbestos products (including chrysotile products) which was brought about by the EU in January 2005...

...Chrysotile (white asbestos) is a naturally occurring mineral which is widely used world-wide. Chrysotile is often confused with amphibole fibres creating a climate of fear around products which present no measurable risk to health. This fear stems from the dangerous effects of the 'amphibole family' of asbestos fibres.

Chrysotile is the same mineral as talcum powder...

[Durus]

(Prosecution could not)

[Durus]

Didn’t you know that talcum power can kill you too!? I saw it on the internet! /s

[TAdams8591]

"portraying himself as a Washington outsider on the campaign trail. But over the past three years he showed up every two weeks or so at a lobbying and law firm in downtown D.C. to plot how best to persuade Congress to help a British company."

Nice try, Fred. You've been a Washington insider for many, many years.

[TAdams8591]

"Thompson began working for Equitas in 2004 as part of a gold-plated team that included some of Washington's best-known lobbying firms: Quinn Gillespie & Associates (led by Edward W. Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee), Ickes & Enright Group (led by Harold Ickes, an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York) and DLA Piper, one of D.C.'s biggest lobbying law firms."

[TAdams8591]

"Thompson began working for Equitas in 2004 as part of a gold-plated team that included some of Washington's best-known lobbying firms: Quinn Gillespie & Associates (led by Edward W. Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee), Ickes & Enright Group (led by Harold Ickes, an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York) and DLA Piper, one of D.C.'s biggest lobbying law firms."

[TAdams8591]

He worked with THAT Harold Ickes?

[dirtboy]

Ahhh, so you’re for Rudy...

And he broke JimRob's 12th Commandment - though shall not use FR to trash actual conservatives in order to pimp faux conservatives.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Reform4Bush sure got some hit pieces posted before being banned today!

[GhostSoldier]

So....why is it outlawed then?

See DDT.

[Politicalmom]

(I love the smell of zotted troll.....)

Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference

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[NeoCaveman]

Fred once returned a library book late.