Posted on 08/12/2007 10:01:47 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Former Senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee segued neatly from Congress back to an acting career in 2002, when he joined the cast of NBCs long-running crime series Law & Order.
Now that Mr. Thompson seems poised to re-enter politics as a Republican presidential candidate, his career will take another twist. In May, he asked NBC to release him from further Law & Order commitments; more recently, NBC said it was ready to stop showing reruns of the episodes he appears in because of federal equal time regulations for presidential candidates.
If Fred Thompson formally announces his intention to run for president, NBC will not schedule any further repeats of Law & Order featuring Mr. Thompson beyond those already scheduled, which conclude on Sept. 1, NBC said in a statement.
Mr. Thompsons final original episode of Law & Order was repeated on Aug. 5, and he has appeared in 115 episodes in all, according to the Internet Movie Database. He has also played in nearly 20 films (including In the Line of Fire and The Hunt for Red October), often depicting a sober-minded government authority figure.
Needless to say, Hollywood has had plenty of experience grappling with the Federal Communication Commissions equal time regulations, which specify that candidates may request equal access to the public airwaves. During Ronald Reagans campaign for president in 1980, stations did not broadcast his films or television appearances. During Arnold Schwarzeneggers California gubernatorial campaign in 2003, there was a similar moratorium.
Law & Order is syndicated on TNT, which does not have to follow the equal time rules because cable systems do not use public airwaves. But, like NBC, TNT may remove Mr. Thompsons episodes from its rerun schedule to avoid complaints. Cable networks did remove Mr. Schwarzeneggers films during his 2003 campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What is the point of this Slimes’ article anyway? To remind folks that Fred is “just an actor?” I’ll be glad when this fish wrap goes out of business.
TV’s loss is the nation’s gain.
Perhaps we should amend the law — candidates would be entitled to respond to reruns of “Law and Order” or such movies as “Commando” and “The Running Man” featuring political candidates, but only in kind. Who wouldn’t want to see an hour-long legal drama showcasing John Edwards as a compassionate attorney channeling the spirits of children, or Barak Obama as a one-man army who goes into Pakistan to single-handedly take out the Taliban and al-Qaida once and for all?
This hit article was part of a planned campaign, now no longer needed. I am sure the MSM drivebys are crying over all the money they won't be getting from their DNC hit mongers.
Assuming that you mean that Sen. Thompson declared that he is not running for President, a source might be nice!
Wasn’t that Tommy Thompson?
With all due candor, I believe so...
Wrong Thompson. :^)
Yes, that was Tommy Thompson...former Gov of Wisc.
I haven’t even watched a full episode of Law and Order...so it doesn’t really matter to me.
Really didn’t know about Fred till I started reading his articles, and I just liked what he said....went from there.
Didn’t we have one or two Tommy Thompson supporters on this forum...?
Does that mean the MSM will stop the 24/7 promotion of the Hildabeast via the “news”?
Since there were only one or two of them nationwide, I find it hard to believe that they’d both be FReepers! LOL
They never let facts get in the way!!!!!
THOMPSON, Fred Dalton, a Senator from Tennessee; born in Sheffield, Ala., on August 19, 1942; attended the public schools in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; graduated from Memphis State University 1964; received J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University 1967; admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1967 and commenced the practice of law; assistant U.S. attorney 1969-1972; minority counsel, Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (Watergate Committee) 1973-1974; special counsel to Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander 1980; special counsel, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1980-1981; special counsel, Senate Intelligence Committee 1982; member, Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission 1985-1987; actor; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in the November 8, 1994, special election to fill the unexpired portion of the term ending January 3, 1997, left vacant by the resignation of Albert Gore, Jr.; took the oath of office on December 2, 1994; reelected in 1996 for the term ending January 3, 2003; not a candidate for reelection in 2002; chair, Committee on Governmental Affairs (One Hundred Fifth and One Hundred Sixth Congresses; One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001]); resumed acting career.
Bibliography
Thompson, Fred D. At That Point in Time: The Inside Story of the Senate Watergate Committee. New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., 1975.
I heard the same on the new station (radio) this morning.
WOW!
Aren't YOU embarrassed!
I’m tired of waiting for Fred Thompson to announce that he’s going to run.
Hunter is the guy I like best, but he’s got access to zero money, so I guess that’s the bottom line for his candidacy.
That leaves no one I can get interested in. Romney just don’t cut it for me; I don’t trust his flip-flops.
I feel a Bob Dole kind of election shaping up.
The movie would be a mash-up of Rambo and Dumbo; call it Drambo.
Here ya go :-)
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