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Sen. Thompson faces some serious challenges in his quest for the world's most exclusive address. First, the front-loaded primaries require the quick development of comprehensive political infrastructures in very expensive states. Second, a near-term decision by the potential candiate to stake his claim and get in the race in order to build a national team. And finally, the Thompson "campaign" will need to define the good senator's "brand" with all deliberate speed. While Sen. Thompson is almost always referred to as "Law and Order actor Fred Thompson," Reagan campaigned as the Governor of California. Sen. Thompson needs to take some advice from the Great Communicator, set the T.V. persona aside and re-emphasize his fourteen years of public service, while making a concerted effort to play down his better-than-Reagan Hollywood résumé.

Peter S. Cohl
The Political Brandwagon
http://www.politicalbrandwagon.com

http://politicalbrandwagon.blogspot.com/2007/06/jump-right-inthe-waters-fine.html

Sen. Thompson Sen. Thompson faces some serious challenges in his quest for the world's most exclusive address. First, the front-loaded primaries require the quick development of comprehensive political infrastructures in very expensive states. Second, a near-term decision by the potential candiate to stake his claim and get in the race in order to build a national team. And finally, the Thompson "campaign" will need to define the good senator's "brand" with all deliberate speed. While Sen. Thompson is almost always referred to as "Law and Order actor Fred Thompson," Reagan campaigned as the Governor of California. Sen. Thompson needs to take some advice from the Great Communicator, set the T.V. persona aside and re-emphasize his fourteen years of public service - and play down his better-than-Reagan Hollywood résumé.

Peter S. Cohl
http://politicalbrandwagon.com

http://politicalbrandwagon.blogspot.com/2007/06/jump-right-inthe-waters-fine.html

Thompson's not entering the race because he will begin to look ridiculous as soon as it's clear that his entering the race is something rather less than the second coming.

Thompson is 100% hype, and not the pervasive kind, either. The failure of the second-tier Republican candidates to take hold is rather indicative of the Republican party's membership's desire to move away from the Cheneyian neoconservatism of the past 8 years. A vote for Thompson is a vote for more of the same. Bush's approval ratings say that's not what America is seeking at this point.

Any member of the Council On Foreign Relations and a visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute does not have the best interests of a sovereign nation at heart. Especially this one who wants to be President and can play one on TV. Until we wrestle control of our country from the world banking elite and reclaim our Constitution, our Presidential choices will remain moot in the "new order of the ages."

This guy for president, the candidate from Elmer Fudd? Well, he DOES make Ankleless Annie's husband (Mr. Smug) look like a tyro in the cradle-robbing department.

Quality post, Truth. Great to hear scholars add to the discussion.

"The L.A. Times pollsters define a "religious" voter this way: Someone who takes "the Bible as literal word of God who is a self-identified conservative and a 'non-Catholic Christian.'"

Ok this has got me beat. Maybe it's an American thing but can someone explain this? Why are Catholics not 'religious'? Are they deemed too moderate? Too many Massachusetts 'cafeteria catholics'?

The truth is there is no way in hell a Republican will win in 2008. Impossible, and the GOP is deluding itself to think America will elect a man who's first lady likes to flash her boobs in every single photo, a woman a whole generation younger than her husband. How pathetic the Republicans of today are, how truly pathetic they grasp at this old man who looks like a turkey gobbler with a trophy wife.

OK, I appreciate everyone's attempt to answer my question in spite of all of the associated hostility. According to the WaPo article:

"For their part, both Iraqi and U.S. officials said they suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq of orchestrating the blasts."

While it's really likely that it was al-Qaeda (duh!) no one actually knows yet.

Breaking...

'Several new senior advisors have joined Fred Thompson's embryonic presidential campaign, including, in the foreign policy arena: Liz Cheney, a State Department expert on the Near East and South Asia, and daughter of Dick; Mark Esper, an aide to Bill Frist; and Joel Shin, who worked for President Bush's 2000 campaign. Nelson Warfield, a spokesmen for Bob Dole's presidential campaign and a longtime critic of Rudy Giuliani, will join as a consultant on television advertising.'

Freddy boy's quite the DC insider, isn't he? He's in with the neocon in crowd in every way. He's Cheney's candidate? I mean, Dick's. The one chosen to follow the Cheney legacy ['remake the ME'--take the oil money and run} --

According to this morning's Washington Post, Thompson came out in favor of using a pre-emptive strike against Iran. Not so unexpected from a Republican right-wing hawk.

But what is absolutely stone cold chilling was Thompson's quote with respect to his motivation on why he wants to be President:

Asked about his previous statements that he had never hungered to run for president, Thompson said:

"More and more, I wish that I had the opportunity to do the things that only a president can do."

Like start WW3. He's in tight with the neocons -- MikeB -- tighter than anyone else in the race. And power crazy to boot.

'Rudy Giuliani, when asked why there was no mention of Iraq in his speech yesterday on what he would do as President:

"That's in the hands of other people."

Now there's leadership.. now there's stepping up to the plate... he's just another non-accountability buck passer like bush...

American voters disapprove 65 - 26 percent of the job President George W. Bush is doing, the lowest score ever in a Quinnipiac University national poll.

Subpoenas are being issued to two former White House officials, the first to be subpoenaed in the fired U.S. attorneys investigation. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee today issued a subpoena to Sara Taylor, former White House political director. About the same time, it was announced that the House Judiciary Committee will issue a subpoena in the same case to former White House counsel Harriet Miers.

Mike B - According to WaPo's editorial today, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Edwards have been listening to you. Take a look.

is there anyone you don't hate?

Posted by: | June 13, 2007 12:39 PM - I AM NOT a Thompson supporter...at least yet. I have no idea of his stance on outsourcing and guest workers. There isn't one published. I *DO KNOW* however, that Clinton and Obama ARE globalization fruitcakes, advocate unlimited immigration, want to grant amnesty to all 20 million or so illegal aliens here now, are neocons, and will foist a whole host of evils upon this country and it's citizens. They, and Kennedy and Richardson and Dodd are the enemy of every Amercian citizen, they are anti-worker, anti-labor, and are nothing more than corporate pawns. It takes a prettyy stupid and blind sucker to support them. Thompson may be better. I don't know. I do know he can be no worse.

He isn't really an actor in the sense that Reagan was an actor. He is a bit player. A few roles. He is more of a lawyer/politico that he is an actor.

golgi, Fred Thompson has shown skill as a politican willing to buck the party line in some cases. But the ACU still considers him to be a guy who does have a pretty strong commitment to limited government, free enterprise and particularly federalist principles.

Golgi, well he's an actor. I guess that's a skill. It took Reagan a long ways.

(continuing to ignore ignorant coward, aka "|")

(continuing to ignore ignorant coward, aka "|")

Can anyone describe what types of skills Fred Thompson has?

Not beliefs, not values, people are already talking about that so I have a good idea. What are his skills? I'm asking because I don't know yet and want to find out.

Thanks for your answers guys, this blog is always really informative.

Thompson, a lobbyist for 20 years, a 'maverick'?

Guiliani, a sleazy opportunist, serial womanizer, and war profiteer, 'principled'?

LOL

Hillary was only 'evil' to hysterical gopers...

Fred Thompson is the biggest outsourcer of all, and you think he's great, MikeB? You are confused.

bsimon - I'm just restating the obvious...Hillary's image has undergone the most remarkable transformation in recent political history. From evil to honest. My how times have changed. I guess we have GWB to thank for the short-sighted memory of voters since 2000.

I think Fred Thompson's engine will sputter soon, especially if he keeps looking so uninspiring like he did last night on Leno.

He does have some maverick appeal, but apparently less principled stands on issues than Guiliani or McCain.

MikeB writes
"There is nothing wrong with liberalism."

Depends on how you define it. When liberalism = 'nanny state' there are things wrong with it. When liberalsim means jumping on Tony Snow for using the term 'tar baby' as politically incorrect, not only is liberalism overstepping its bounds, but its taking the bait hook, line & sinker by ignoring the issue Tony tries to avoid by calling it a 'tar baby'.

bsimon, I agree that pardoning Libby isn't a good idea. He had his chance to make arguments about his limited involvement and that he wasn't even charged with making the leak. He lost, the jury didn't believe it, so make your appeals and do your time.

The reason I posted was to make the point about how careless and ingnorant some people are when they toss around terms like "rule of law" and "unconstitutional".

If pardoning Libby violates the rule of law, then so does just about any pardon made by Bill Clinton, or any other executive AUTHORIZED BY LAW to pardon convicts. I think Clinton wrong to pardon Mark Rich, but it didn't violate the rule of law.

There are many arguments that are fair and rational that are made by liberals with regard to Libby. The suggestion that the pardon violates the "rule of law" is not one of them. It is an ignorant statement because it shows lack of understanding what the rule of law is. It is nothing more than someone trying to use big words that they don't understand to say "I hate Bush I hate Bush I hate Bush".

CC, GET THE POST FROM "M.A." AT 12:17P TAKEN DOWN, PLEASE. IT IS INAPPROPRIATE BY ANY STANDARD IMAGINABLE FOR THIS BLOG.

Razorback.... Who said I supported Edwards? Take a nonpartison breath.

Mike B.... You're wearing out the "oxymoron" comment. BTW, I don't support Clinton either. In fact, I'm probably more conservative than the conservatives prowling this site.

I really do believe in no foreign entanglements, reducing the national debt and spending...

Really, all of this name calling isn't persuasive in the least.

If your defense of Fred is that he can take money from both sides of an issue, then..... good luck.

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

proudtobeGOP-
Are you trying to compare a NY Post poll that claims Hillary is 'evil' to a later Quinnipiac poll that claims Hillary is 'honest and trustworthy' in order to claim that she's had a political makeover? This is truly a bizarre conclusion to draw, even for someone proud to be GOP. If you could find two NY Post polls or two Quinnipiac polls to make your case, it might be compelling, but to compare one to the other is truly a stretch. And for the record, I agree that Hillary pretends to be something she is not (competent, moderate, etc).

bsimon - There is nothing wrong with liberalism. I'm a liberal and most of the thoughtful people I know are liberals. A liberal is someone who actually believes in the sort of unfettered freedoms advocated by Thomas Jefferson. What is wrong is that there are a lot of people parading around, calling themselves liberals, who simply are not. I would include in this category all of those who now call themselves "progressives" - simply a mishmash of failed feminists, public employees looking for another raise, apologists for illegals, and assorted fuzzy minded one worlders (both "globalizers" and old line Marxists - they are indetinguishable from each other).

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Razorback writes (to someone else)
"Do you know what the rule of law is, you idiot. There is a law about pardons. Do you think that law is being violated? How can following the law indicate that someone is against the rule of law? Do all pardons violate the rule of law?"

I think the point is not that it would be illegal to pardon Libby, but that such a pardon implies a lack of respect for the judicial system that found Libby guilty of obstructing justice. What kind of message does it send when you pardon someone who works for you who obstructed an investigation that you said you supported? Bush said he'd fire anyone involved in the leak - now we know that not only did Libby talk to reporters about Plame, but he lied about his involvement to a grand jury & obstructed the prosecutor's efforts to determine if anyone broke the law. How would pardoning this person be a sign of respecting the law?

Mark in Austin writes
"I would guess that you and I are both appalled by the intrusional excesses offered in the name of "liberalism"... Who invented "political correctness", anyway?"

I agree that "liberalism" has also run amok. However, at the moment, its the "conservatives" who have me worried.

bsimon -

Maybe George Will and David Brooks are conservatives. Maybe Razorback is conservative. Supporters of the "unitary executive" theory are authoritarians.

Maybe Mark Shields and Tom Oliphant are liberals. Maybe drindl is a liberal. Dennis Kucinich is a socialist.

Obviously, the labels mean nothing any more. You are dead on when you list the sins perpetrated under a false flag of conservatism. Will and Brooks would surely agree.

I would guess that you and I are both appalled by the intrusional excesses offered in the name of "liberalism"; e.g., what is "liberal" about stifling free speech on campus, or in the work place? Why do employers have to tolerate litigation when they impose "Engish in the workplace" rules? Who invented "political correctness", anyway?

And yes, it is ironic that "Arthur Branch" wants to excuse false testimony to a Grand Jury, and opposes the sentence imposed by a Republican "law-and-order" Federal Judge.

In fairness, I thought the sentence was harsh, and I would not be offended by executive commutation to lesser time served. But pardon? Nah.

"Truth Hunter", now there's an oxymoron, Fred Thompson was also a trial lawyer. He represented opposing sides on such issues as abortion, an asbestos claim against the government of Haiti, etc. As a lobbyest he represented both sides in the very issue to yak about! So, quit acting like a mindless Clinton attack job. Thompson, in his recent past has been personally pro-choice, moderately pro-gay rights, and his voting record in the Senate was decidedly moderate. I note that the fanatical right is now attacking him, too (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4470.html). With the nut jobs from the right and left on him, I figure he probably is a pretty decent guy.

Truth Hunter, your ramblings about corporate interests would have more credibility if you also pounded the corporate ties of Dems (Edwards and the hedge fund, etc.).

Its enough to make someone wonder if your views have more to do with partisanship than corporate interests.

SO FAR all the choices are terrible, I mean this is the most disgusting bunch I have ever seen in 40 years of voting and that includes both parties. The senators and congress don't listen to their constituents and the white house is no better. We'd be better served having a lottery using social security numbers for all the offices, just for two or three election periods to get all the trash out. Put some real world people in there that actually have had to work for a living and have had to pay for their own health care and gas not come into office fat and rich only to get richer. Heck, it might even reduce global warming by reducing all that hot air coming out of DC.

"but they gave it a makeover, just like bushie himself... the biggest phony in DC"

Unless you include Hillary. Books have been written about her extreme makeover!

Let's parse the polls! Just before the year 2000, the New York Post asked readers to rank the most evil person of the millennium.

Hillary Clinton finished sixth in that survey, ranking among the likes of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and ironically, her husband, Bill.

Just five years later, New Yorkers apparently had a different view of the woman they elected as U.S. senator in 2002.

According to a survey by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, nearly two out of every three voters in the Empire State - 64 percent - said she is honest and trustworthy.

Now she seeks the centrist label after years of being a diehard liberal.

"Hillary Rodham Clinton has been many things, but one thing she has always been is a dedicated, unapologetic liberal - until now. In positioning herself for her 2008 presidential run, Hillary has begun to carefully put away the trappings of a liberal and wrap herself in a cloak of moderation. The Senator who had been (with the possible exception of Ted Kennedy) the highest-profile member of the Democrat party's left wing, is now being packaged as a centrist - with the willing help of the liberal media, which has taken up her cause and castigates anyone who attempts to keep labeling her a liberal."

http://www.conservativebookclub.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c7053

As for Fred's social con creds, Mark in Austin's memory serves him well, as Fred checked the box for: "Abortions should be legal in all circumstances as long as the procedure is completed within the first trimester of the pregnancy." when he filled out a survey for Project Vote Smart back in 1994, when he was running for Senate.

So as we can see, John McCain is still the most consistent and believable candidate.

Once again, an ideological idiotic psuedo lawyer has to be busted.

After talking about Fred's support for pardoning Libby (which I stated I opposed yesterday) and talking about a fundraiser for a Libby defense fund, some ideological idiotic psuedo lawyer said:

"Is there a single republican left in the party who believes in the rule of law?"

Do you know what the rule of law is, you idiot. There is a law about pardons. Do you think that law is being violated? How can following the law indicate that someone is against the rule of law? Do all pardons violate the rule of law?

How does a fundraiser for a defense fund violate the rule of law? I though liberals wanted those in the justice system to have lawyers. Do you think for a split second even before you post this garbage?

'I notice the attack dogs creating "rumors" about Thompson already. A 19 year old girl'

you didn't know fred met his current wife when she was 19 and he was in his forties? check it.

Fred was a corporate lobbyist for 20 years (1975-1992 & 2004-2007) lastly representing Equitas (who was exempted from paying a very large portion of a proposed asbestos settlement when Fred helped to change prosed legislation in their favor). This resume doesn't get my "Fred for President" juices going.

If you want to complete the abdication of our country to corporate interests, then by all means, support Fred.

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

A terrorist watch list compiled by the FBI has apparently swelled to include more than half a million names.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates say the list is growing uncontrollably, threatening its usefulness in the war on terror.

A portion of the FBI's unclassified 2008 budget request posted to the Department of Justice Web site refers to "the entire watch list of 509,000 names," which is utilized by its Terrorist Tracking Task Force.

A spokesman for the interagency National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which maintains the government's list of all suspected terrorists with links to international organizations, said they had 465,000 names.

I notice the attack dogs creating "rumors" about Thompson already. A 19 year old girl? Really! I'm not a Thompson supporter, I'm not even a Republican, but this sort of trash politics is simply contemptable. I might note that this sort of rubbish is coming from the Clinton and Obama fanatics, who are not much different than the Bush fanatics and the whack jobs from the Fundimentalist corps. Chris, the big quesion in this election is if the center will prevail. The nut jobs brought us Bush. Now, it appears they are going to foist off Clinton or Obama on us.

Cassandra lets ideology interfere with logic AGAIN. So Fox news reports "propaganda" while other sources get the story right? I thought the US government was the SOURCE of Fox propaganda. How can you then quote the US government as proof that Fox is wrong, therefor Fox if propaganda? How stupid.

The New York Times reported the same thing as Fox.

"The American authorities in Iraq blamed the attack on Al Qaeda.

In a joint statement, the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, said: "This brutal action on one of Iraq's holiest shrines is a deliberate attempt by Al Qaeda to sow dissent and inflame sectarian strife among the people of Iraq."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/world/middleeast/13cnd-samarra.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

As the story changes, if those military sources you quote are right, both Fox and NYT will change what they are reporting, if they havn't already.

Is NYT also propaganda, given that its coverage of the story is the same as Fox's?

And Mr. Tough Law and Order Rudy wants to pardon Scooter too... as does Fred Thompson:

Meet Fred Thompson: Friend of Felons

Here is the latest from the front page of the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust, the group that has been shaking down Republican donors for the money needed to maintain the convicted felon's silence until an appropriate moment arrives for him to be pardoned by President Bush:

"Former Senator Fred Thompson, a member of the Advisory Committee for the Libby Legal Defense Trust has graciously offered to host another fund raiser for the Libby Legal Defense Trust. We will be providing additional details in the coming days."

Is there a single republican left in the party who believes in the rule of law? Just one? Just asking...

'I'm afraid this Iraq war vet is a schlub off the street. The Mittster would only consider using the power of the pardon for someone a little bit more worthy:

BLITZER: I just want to do a quick "yes" or "no." And I'm going to go down the rest of the group and let everybody just tell me "yes" or "no": Would you pardon Scooter Libby?'

--and Mitt says yes.

Decorated Iraq war veteran Anthony Circosta seemed like an ideal candidate for a pardon from then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for his boyhood conviction for a BB gun shooting.

Romney said no -- twice -- despite the recommendation of the state's Board of Pardons.

At age 13, Circosta was convicted of assault for shooting another boy in the arm with a BB gun, a shot that didn't break the skin. Circosta worked his way through college, joined the Army National Guard and led a platoon of 20 soldiers in Iraq's deadly Sunni triangle.

In 2005, as he was serving in Iraq, he sought a pardon to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer.

"I've done everything I can to give back to my state and my community and my country and to get brushed aside is very frustrating," said Circosta, 29, of Agawam, Mass. "I'm not some shlub off the street."

In his presidential bid, Romney often proudly points out that he was the first governor in modern Massachusetts history to deny every request for a pardon or commutation during his four years in office.

Many theories abound, but comparing South Korea to North Korea, Cuba to South Florida, and the former East Germany to Germany should convince anyone of the superiority of market based economies to state managed economies.

Someone said:

"Points enumerated by users of the term in this sense include the prevalence of very large, multinational corporations that freely move operations around the world in response to corporate, rather than public, needs;"

This is an ignorant statement because it ignores that fact that among the most significant public needs is good products at low prices. Profitable companies are those companies which produce products that consumers find value in. The consumer drives the process, not the corporations.

Another falacy spread by the anonymous poster is that the interests of all corporations are identical. The biggest buyers of energy products are utilities, airlines and trucking companies. The interests of buyers of energy and sellers of energy are opposed, not identical, although an ignorant person might lump big airlines, big trucking and big utilities in the same group as big oil, in one big conspiracy.

The suggestion that the citizenry in the US is excluded from the political process is complete falsehood. John Ralston Saul should move to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or any number of other societies that do not function as well as Western societies if he really believes that garbage.

Does this blog always go like this?

Posted by: More and Better Polls | June 13, 2007 11:14 AM

Unfortunately, yes. It seems there is an anonymous person on this blog that posts unrelated news that they cherry-pick from this or that site all day. They never identify the source of these articles, so you can never verify where it is they are getting there info. Then if you challenge this person directly they hurl insults and vulgarities at you because they can't pull together a cogent argument in their own words. Unfortunately, this has been going on for a while, so when someone posts that is a known conservative "Razorback" then they are immediately trashed regardless of what they just wrote. Does that about sum-it-up guys?

Fox says today's bombing is "a repeat of a 2006 bombing that shattered its famous Golden Dome and unleashed a wave of retaliatory sectarian violence that still bloodies Iraq."

Cassandra misses part 2 of the misinformation. Objective analysis of the violence in Iraq has found that the insurgency & sectarian strife began before the first bombing of the golden mosque. In fact, before & after 'snapshots' of the violence in Iraq shows no appreciable difference in the amount or type of violence. What the bombing does show is a change in Bush Administration rhetoric, which uses the bombing as an excuse for the insurgency & sectarian strife that had already existed. Fox continues to report this as fact - when it clearly is not.

Thanks to "Razorback" for the Thompson review. Thanks to "no-name" for explaining "corporatism". Seems like what no-name describes is oligarchy, right? Russia has an oligarchy. America does seem to be getting more concentration of wealth and influence than it used to have. So you think reducing corporate tax leads to more concentration of influence and power and wealth, and "Razorback" thinks it mainly indirectly taxes consumers. I dunno - maybe you are both right. International corporations seem different to me than domestic ones, because they are like people with split allegiance. I have not taken my own thought on this any farther than that.

Sorry, first version of story was FOX -- second, everyone else's.

Fox is a complete break with objective reality.

'B'AGHDAD -- Suspected Al Qaeda insurgents on Wednesday destroyed the two minarets of the Askariya Shiite shrine in Samarra, authorities reported, in a repeat of a 2006 bombing that shattered its famous Golden Dome and unleashed a wave of retaliatory sectarian violence that still bloodies Iraq.'

Notice Fox's VERSION -- or rather, Fox's LIE?

'Authorities have evidence that today's bombing of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra was an inside job, and 15 members of the Iraqi security forces have been arrested, a U.S. military official said.'

Fox says 'al queda insurgents' did it -- the US military says it was members of Iraq's 'security forces' do you see why Fox viewers are so simple-minded and ill-informed? They are constantly being spoonfed complete lies and propaganda -- and they swallow it whole.

Mr Thompson is posed as a 'real' conservative. What does a 'real' conservative stand for these days? Particularly on the role of government. Does a 'real' conservative support the idea that the executive branch can ignore law as it pleases? Does a 'real' conservative believe in the executive's power to suspend habeus corpus? Does a 'real' conservative view the Justice Dept as a political tool?

Fred Thompson talks the talk of being a 'law and order' (pardon the pun) candidate; yet he's vociferously called for a Presidential pardon for Scooter Libby. Does he then endorse the idea that political officials should lie to a grand jury? Should people obstruct justice if they believe the investigation they're obstructing is 'wrong'? Or should they answer questions truthfully & trust the judicial system to establish truth and enforce the law fairly - like the rest of us are supposed to?

You know what it looks to me? Fred Thompson's not a conservative - but he plays one on TV.

Corporatism or neo-corporatism is often used popularly as a pejorative term in reference to tendencies in politics for legislators and administrations to be influenced or dominated by the interests of business enterprises, employers' organizations, and industry trade groups.

In this view, government decisions are seen as being influenced strongly by which sorts of policies will lead to greater profits for favored companies.

Corporatism is also used to describe a condition of corporate-dominated globalization. Points enumerated by users of the term in this sense include the prevalence of very large, multinational corporations that freely move operations around the world in response to corporate, rather than public, needs; the push by the corporate world to introduce legislation and treaties which would restrict the abilities of individual nations to restrict corporate activity; and similar measures to allow corporations to sue nations over "restrictive" policies, such as a nation's environmental regulations that would restrict corporate activities.

In the United States, corporations representing many different sectors are involved in attempts to influence legislation through lobbying While these groups have no official membership in any legislative body, they can often wield considerable power over law-makers. In recent times, the profusion of lobby groups and the increase in campaign contributions has led to widespread controversy and the McCain-Feingold Act.

Many critics of free market theories, such as George Orwell, have argued that corporatism (in the sense of an economic system dominated by massive corporations) is the natural result of unregulated free market capitalism.

Critics of capitalism often argue that any form of capitalism would eventually devolve into corporatism, due to the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands. A permutation of this term is corporate globalism. John Ralston Saul argues that most Western societies are best described as corporatist states, run by a small elite of interest groups, that exclude political participation from the citizenry.

I'm entriqued by Thompson's federalist nature. We've gone in the opposite direction for far too long now. I just hope he doesn't hijack religion like Bush did.

When I first got onto this, I thought it would be about Frd Thompson and polling data about his candidacy. Someone did ask if he had been a pro-choice Senator and then someone raised the interesing point about polling identifying "religious" as "creationist".

Then some people posted a lot of unrelated stuff. Then a person, presumably from Arkansas, said they supported Fred Thompson and then someone attacked the Arkansas person and called him a made-up name, meant to be an insult.

Then the Arkansas person rather patiently explained some tax stuff to me so I figured he knew about taxes and Thompson so I asked about that.

Does this blog always go like this?

A corporate hack
named Razorback
was on the blogs all day
To praise to the skies
The CEO guys
Who'll take all our troubles away

I find it oh so interesting that Chris left out the best poll of the batch for Fred: The very recent (6-7-07, released yesterday) Rasmussen Poll has Fred Thompson in a tie for first place at 24% with Rudy!

I don't think he has made any specific tax proposals, but it is my expectation that he would oppose any tax increases of any kind.

His views are those of a typical Republican in the Senate Republican Caucus over the past several years.

I prefer his position on social issues to those of Guiliani, I prefer him to McCain because I think continuation of the Bush policy in Iraq is bad policy and bad politics (Although Fred might be in the same place) and I prefer him to Romney because he isn't a serial flip flopper.

I don't agree with Fred on everything, and will not be a mindless cheerleader/spinner for everything he says or does. My rating of the top 4 R candidates is as follows: 1. Fred. 2. McCain. 3. Guiliani. 4. Romney. I would support any of those 4 over Huckabee, Paul, Tancredo, or Hunter. I would support Brownback over Romney, but not the others. The campaign is early, and all of this could change.

JD, every once in a while the bridge trolls get baited away from the cave and attempt to say something factual, rather than a cute (or dull) pithy expression of emotion.

The act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own.

Posted by: the fall of bandar bush | June 13, 2007 09:59 AM

About the Mosque bombing, yes Fox TV also reported on this tragedy.

That tax info is good to know.

What is Fred Thompson for, about taxes, and what would be good/bad about his ideas?

Dividends like (some) retired people get are NOT taxed at a lower rate. Before money is passed out as a dividend it has already been taxed once, because it is income to the corporation. Then it is taxed again when it is passed out as a dividend to shareholders who own the corporation. Owners of a business which is not a corporation are not taxed twice in the same manner. A "subchapter S" corporation is a corporation which is taxed as a sole proprietership or a partnership, even though it is a corporation, so that smaller corporations can avoid being taxed twice.

I am not saying that this is a good or a bad policy, I am just describing how the current the tax code works.

i just looked up corporatist in wilipedia and it has nothing to do with business corporations or money grubbers.

you made up your own definition.

did you make up that definition of "corporatist"? From the previous discussions I thought it had to do with the body and blood of Christ,so I will feel dumb if there actually is a dictionary definition of corporatist - do not have a dictionary handy right now.

So "Razorback" is a guy who supports Fred Thompson and wants everyone to know how their taxes are disguised.

I guess when dividends like retired people get are taxed at a lower rate than wages that pushes more tax onto wage-earners, but if sellers can pass taxes to consumers, they will. That makes sense.

Is Fred Thompson for more tax on the middle class? Was that what the person with no name meant?

Only an idiot would suggest that I am a corporatist. Every single post about economics that I have ever posted on this blog has been about how to achieve lower costs for consumers.

I am pro-consumer, not pro-corporate. I am for holding corporations accountable for providing good quality at a low price through competition. If a corporation wants my business, they better be ready to compete on price.

"He is a rural Evangelical southerner interested in coming to office to advance white exurban Christian concerns."

Eye roll with audible yawn.

I'm a New Yorker and I don't happen to think it's a crime to be rural, southern, an evangelical (though not my thing), or Christian. I'm sick of all the pomposity in my own town and elsewhere on the political left.

I think many of the comments here reflect fear and loathing more than anything particularly wrong with Fred at this early point in the campaign trail.

What would be funny is watching all the Dems froth at the mouth because of another actor becoming president! Start working on your Apologies To The World now, folks. Yeehaw!

Razor, why are you trying to use facts to argue with those who see the world entirely through emotion?

"Run like hell because Razorback is a Fred voter."

All image and no substance. Was Razorback a GWBush supporter in the 2000 primaries?

Only an idiot would say "The 'give foreign corporations a free ride and saddle the entire tax burden on the middle class' party" because only an idiot fails to realize that any taxes a corporation pays are added to the price of goods that it sells consumers.

This is a phoney idiotic game of pretend that exists only so that liberals can pretend someone other than YOU is paying these taxes, when in fact, YOU are paying corporate taxes in the form of increased prices for all that you buy. The reason politicians push this snake oil is that they know idiots out there will buy it.

I don't care if you raise or lower taxes on corporations, just as long as everyone knows that it is consumers who really pay the cost.

As I said yesterday, the easy road to a non-progressive consumption tax similar to the flat tax is to not tax individuals at all, and tax ONLY corporations, who will past through taxes to consumers, yeilding a non-progressive consumption based tax. Taxing corporations is LESS progressive because it taxes consumers based on consumption rather than income.

'corporatist' --one who values money over country

Financial projections for the President's Dinner tonight confirm that Republican confidence in the president is in a state of collapse.

The National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) fundraising goal is $7.5 million, which is half what was raised last year. But to reach this lesser goal, each individual lawmaker has been asked to raise the same amount as 12 months ago. In other words, the NRCC is assuming lawmakers won't be either willing or able to hit the targets they managed last year.

I do not get it. Why are Univ. of Arkansas fans "corporatosts"? What ARE "corporatosts?"

Are they like "creationists"?

Eric Boehlert: "How hard is it to figure out if a book has footnotes? When it comes to Al Gore's new, national bestseller, The Assault on Reason, it's trickier than you think for some disdainful members of the Beltway press corps.... In The Assault on Reason, Gore correctly laments that we cannot have intelligent, informed national debates. Yet the sad fact remains there are Beltway press players who devote much of their time and energy to ensuring that those debates cannot take place."

Like the Washington Post, for instance...

Judge C. Crater says:

"Two towers were blown up at the revered Shiite shrine, also known as the Golden Mosque, in a repeat of the 2006 bombing that sparked Iraq's current wave of deadly sectarian violence.

As NOT reported on Faux News? Is anyone near a TV?"

Are you trying to suggest that this story isn't being reported on Fox? If so, that is false.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281552,00.html

This is the 5th time in the last several weeks on this blog that someone has accused Fox News of bias for failing to report a story. In each instance I demonstrated that the claim was false by posting a link that shows the story is being covered.

Hate Fox, hate Murdock, hate whoever you want to. Just try looking at the site before you claim they are failing to report something that is in fact being reported.

'Run like hell because Razorback is a Fred voter.'

LOL -- but of course. The sold-out corporatist backs the sold-out corporatist. The 'give foreign corporations a free ride and saddle the entire tax burden on the middle class' party. Why not just call it what it is.

I would expect Fred Thompson to do well in Arkansas, as well as in Tennessee, and in other places, too. Why should I run like hell if he does well in AK?

Run like hell because Razorback is a Fred voter.

WASHINGTON -- Despite growing congressional anger at China, the Bush administration today plans to reject lawmakers' calls that it formally accuse Beijing of manipulating its currency to give its exports an unfair advantage.

Justice Department documents released tonight include new emails linking Karl Rove's top aides -- former White House political director Sara Taylor, who resigned last month, and her deputy Scott Jennings -- to the U.S. attorney scandal. Congressional subpoenas have been authorized, but not approved, for both Taylor and Jennings.

The emails, from February 2007, all relate to the case of Rove-protege Tim Griffin, who was installed as U.S. attorney in Arkansas without Senate confirmation. Griffin's predecessor, Bud Cummins, was fired to make way for Griffin.

In the first exchange, Taylor writes to Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff, and suggests retribution against Cummins for speaking out about the reason for his firing:

I normally don't like attacking our friends, but since Bud Cummins is talking to everyone - why don't we tell the deal on him?

In another set of emails from Feb. 16, Taylor again writes Sampson, complaining about how Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and the Justice Department put Griffin in a "horrible position...hung to dry" by admitting that Cummins was pushed out specifically to make room for an ally of Rove. "[T]his is not good for [Griffin's] long-term career," Taylor writes.

-- and now Griffin works for Fred's campagin. Bush 2.0 Go!

Divisions continue among top officials about the way forward on Iran. On June 1st, Secretary of State Rice found herself in the awkward position of having to rebut charges that Vice-President Cheney was undermining her approach of diplomacy and sanctions. Administration contacts confirm that Rice's approach currently enjoys support from President Bush and Secretary of Defense Gates. But Cheney and officials close to him, especially Elliot Abrams at the National Security Council, still believe that their military-based "solution" will ultimately prove necessary. They have, however, suffered a recent setback in what we have described as their "Sunni strategy" to build support from the US' conservative Sunni Arab allies (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf States) for a belligerent approach to Iran. This strategy was based on the Sunni fear of an ascendant Iran and of an Iraq falling into the Iranian sphere as another Shia major oil producer. Abrams worked closely with Prince Bandar bin-Sultan, the Saudi National Security Adviser, to push this plan forward. We hear that this has now been shelved at the insistence, we are told, of Saudi King Abdullah. The latter has distanced himself from Bandar who is spending much of his time outside Saudi Arabia at his homes in London and the US. The failure of this strategy to build regional support for confronting Iran has strengthened the hand of those who favor a measured approach to Tehran.

The Justice Department has become so politically compromised that no one can assume its criminal prosecutions are based on facts instead of political motivations and furtherance of one-party rule. The civil rights division has turned into a perpetrator of civil wrong. Career attorneys who were dedicated to protect Americans' right to vote have been pushed out and replaced by political operatives hell bent on denying likely Democratic voters the ability to even register. Honorable prosecutors have been replaced by White House loyalists and incompetent cronies. Men and women with integrity who would never sanction wholesale lawlessness by the executive or massive invasions of citizens' privacy or sanction torture have been "retired" to make way for political operatives who justify felonies, illegal surveillance, torture, illegal kidnapping, indefinite detention and the imposition of military law on US residents. These thugs simply don't care that what they've created is a daily embarrassment to the American people. And those are just the outrages we know about. All this happened on Gonzales' watch at DoJ or his stint as WH counsel; he looked the other way as his White House masters trashed the justice system and disgraced America before the world.

the topics presented are: Thompson, polling, and "Who's religious?"

"The news media seem to find it deeply disturbing that John Edwards talks about poverty while living in a big house.

"On the other hand, consider the case of Fred Thompson. He spent 18 years working as a highly paid lobbyist, wore well-tailored suits and drove a black Lincoln Continental. When he ran for the Senate, however, his campaign reinvented him as a good old boy: it leased a used red pickup truck for him to drive, dressed up in jeans and a work shirt, with a can of Red Man chewing tobacco on the front seat . . .

--amazing isn't it? they found someone as phony-folksy as connecticut cheerleader [literally] george w. bush. did you know karl rove found bush's 'ranch' for him... it actually was a pig farm. but they gave it a makeover, just like bushie himself...

No offense guys (and girls), but could we hold off on the full-blown posting of off-topic news clips? Just because they happen to support your worldview, doesn't mean that they should be inserted into the comments section of a blog when the story is completely unrelated to the topic at hand.

You know, Che used to be the only guilty party for this, now we have a dozen mini-Ches doing the same thing.

Appearing before a House panel, Dempsey outlined his assessment of Iraq's 348,000-strong security forces looking into 2008 and the prospects that they can take over from U.S. troops. He said the Iraqi forces are still riddled with sectarianism and corruption and are suffering from a lack of leaders and the attrition of tens of thousands of members -- including 32,000 police between mid-2005 and January.

His projection of the size of the police force required to help bring stability -- 195,000 -- is more than 40 percent higher than Washington estimated in 2003. The remarks follow other blunt comments by U.S. military commanders that civilian deaths and attacks on U.S. troops have recently risen and that particularly tough fighting is expected in the coming months.

A 'RELIGIOUS' voter is a self-identified conservative?WTF planet do we live on?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Democrats will once again try to impose timetables for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Tuesday.

Reid said Democrats will use a defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2008 as a vehicle to revive two Iraq timetable amendments that they pushed unsuccessfully during a fight over Iraq funding in May.

The first, sponsored by Reid and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, would set a goal of beginning the withdrawal of U.S. troops by April 2008, unless the Iraqi government demonstrated political and security progress.

"Two towers were blown up at the revered Shiite shrine, also known as the Golden Mosque, in a repeat of the 2006 bombing that sparked Iraq's current wave of deadly sectarian violence."

As NOT reported on Faux News? Is anyone near a TV?

BAGHDAD, June 12 -- Iraq's political leaders have failed to reach agreements on every law that the Americans have demanded as benchmarks, despite heavy pressure from Congress, the White House and top military commanders. With only three months until progress reports are due in Washington, the deadlock has reached a point where many Iraqi and American officials now question whether any substantive laws will pass before the end of the year.

Kurds have blocked a vote in Parliament on a new oil law. Shiite clerics have stymied an American-backed plan for reintegrating former Baathists into government. Sunnis are demanding that a constitutional review include more power for the next president.'

MORE PROGRESS! MONEY AND LIVES WELL SPENT!

WASHINGTON -- Connecticut for Lieberman Party Chairman John Orman called Tuesday for Sen. Joe Lieberman to resign, saying his advocacy of a military strike against Iran could explode into a global conflict.
"He has crossed the line," said Orman, a professor of politics at Fairfield University. "His unilateral warmongering could lead to a new World War III."

A little buyer's regret? I would feel sorry for you buddy, but you asked for it... you screwed us all by supporting this wh*ring warmonger, who is actively working along with all theother neocons to produce WW3. They want it folks, they really do.

Mitt Romney: That jaw! Those FAA-approved shoulders! So tall! So presidential-looking! And thank goodness someone's willing to stand up to the arrogant, know-it-all truth and insist that Saddam rejected IAEA inspectors. Can we double Guantanamo now, daddy?

Rudy Giuliani: Tough! Steely! Take-charge hero of 9/11! He'd be a great hunter if he hunted! Messy divorces? Bernie Kerik? Megalomania? Water under the bridge. And if you make Lieberman your veep we may crap our pants with musketballs of joy. Now, tell us more about Iran nuke plans, daddy!

John McCain: Maverick's hittin' his stride? Straight Talk Express back on the tracks? Answer to immigration question at last debate puts him in driver's seat? Even nuke-ier on Iran than the cross-dresser? New slogan---"Iraq 4evuh, my friends"---has edgy, youthful ring to it. Can we sit on your lap and do pony rides, Granddad?

Sam Brownback: A sweet man who's simply getting overshadowed by his wealthier rivals. But he's a shoe-in to head the new Department of Womb Management. ("Ya keeps the baby or ya gets the lash!")

Mike Huckabee: Started off strong by scaring the fur off the Great Orange Satan's hindquarters, and had us in stitches by attributing 110lb weight loss to a stay at "a concentration camp held by the Democrat Party of Arkansas." Then, to nation's horror, turned heretic by forgetting Ronald Reagan's birthday. No more funds, governor, 'til you make Simi Valley pilgrimage and atone.

Tommy Thompson: Hate to break it to ya, son, but if you can't control your bowels, you can't control the country.

Fred Thompson: Christ is risen.

I can't figure this one out, but have a feeling it is somehow connected to McCain. I have thought for a long time that McCain is looking for a way out and since some of the latest polls put him in fourth place, I just can't figure him getting out just yet, but not to far in the future. Keeps me wondering.

'For the moment, Thompson is the empty vessel that Republican voters -- especially conservatives and men -- are pouring their hopes into. '

You nailed it right there, CC. A blank screen to project onto, tabla rasa, another ronnie. Empty says it all.

see
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2008_edwards_holds_on_to_narrow_lead_over_giuliani

wherein we learn that Edwards is the strongest Democrat, Giuliani is the strongest Republican, Edwards beats all Repubicans, Thompson is five points weaker than Giuliani against Edwards, and Thompson runs stronger against Obama and Clinton than he does against Edwards.

Maria, Judge, and drindl, enjoyed your take on the abuse of the description of the creationists as "religious". Mark in Austin, if non-creationists are the biggest minority in the Repub Party, you could be right about Giuliani maintaining his appeal.

It is weird that 47 years after JFK's election, Catholics are still viewed as some strange subsection of America. Did the surveyers qualify their question about whether the respondent believed that the the Bible is the "literal word of God" to include only the Old Testament? Any Orthodox Jew is far more 'religious' than the average fundamentalist Christian.

'WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Democratic chairman of the House Education Committee Tuesday introduced a bill to slash subsidies to student loan firms such as Sallie Mae and boost student grants.

The proposals come as Congress is considering numerous reforms to college student financial aid, and as federal and state investigators probe kickback schemes and conflicts of interest across the $85 billion student loan business.'

If privatization is so efficient, why must taxpayers subsidize it?

'Authorities have evidence that today's bombing of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra was an inside job, and 15 members of the Iraqi security forces have been arrested, a U.S. military official said. Two towers were blown up at the revered Shiite shrine, also known as the Golden Mosque, in a repeat of the 2006 bombing that sparked Iraq's current wave of deadly sectarian violence.'

Yes, things are looking mighty good in Iraq, folks. Glad to see how the escalation is working. Congrats, George!

Drindl: you're welcome. If Drudge links to this article that comment will attract a deluge of poorly concealed hatred of the plain truth.

The NYT fronts an interesting look at the history of two ships that lawmakers gave a faith-based organization through an earmark. The ships were supposed to be used for medical missions in the South Pacific, but Canvasback Missions, which does religious work, sold them and kept the money. Coast Guard officials and the lawmakers that inserted the earmark said they had no idea that the ships had been sold. Although Canvasback insists the money from the sales was used for secular purposes, the events raise questions about whether the federal government ended up funding evangelism activities.

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Thank you for that, Judge. Precious.

'and granted additional government support to ailing S&Ls. '

I do love these 'small-government' R's. LOL.

If you're looking for more national debt, bigger no-bid contracts, bigger, bigger, ever-expanding government, and taxpayers expected to dole out never ending support of foreign corporations, well, Fred's your boy. And he will be pro-amnesty once he gets in, because he is 100% sold to corporations.

We can't stay in debt forever, my friends -- the price tag will come due. And who will pay? Why, who always pays? The children of the shrinking middle class.

Hate to chime in on this topic as well but the literal translation of 'Christian' is "Christ-like." I will happily state that there are many fundamentalist Christians ('religious' in this survey) who are about as Christ-like as Osama Bin Laden. Gandhi captured this wonderfully when he stated "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Fred Thompson, who usually plays himself as an actor or politician, is positioning himself for a dual role, one in the primaries and another in the general election, a Jekyll-Hyde act in reverse:

http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2007/06/dr-reagan-and-mr-cheney.html

Thompson, a forty year old guy who went after a 19 year-old-girl -- a codger who preys on teenagers -- this is the gop's dream candidate?

Or Newtie -- who also was a middle aged guy who dumped his first and then second wives for teenaged girls...

Or Rudy -- who dumps one woman after another -- this is the family values party?!!!

/From 1975 to 1992 Thompson worked as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He represented such clients as Westinghouse, General Electric (the current corporate owner of the NBC Universal-NBC television network), and the Tennessee Savings and Loan League.[8]

By 1982, Thompson was lobbying the U.S. Congress for deregulation of the Savings and Loan (S&L) industry. His recommendations were incorporated in the Garn - St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982,[8] which allowed thrifts to invest in potentially more profitable, but riskier, ventures; eliminated interest-rate ceilings on new accounts; and granted additional government support to ailing S&Ls. This Act was a contributing factor to the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s.'

Thank you Maria. As someone who is Protestant, goes to church every week but does not believe that the Bible is the 'literal' word of God, I am apparently not religious.

It has now accelerated to the point where a former actor turned politician, (who paid his political dues decades before election to the highest office), is now morphed into an actor/politician - politician/actor, who HASN'T EVEN ANNOUNCED, and yet is the penultimate hope of social conservatives in the party that is now slated to lose in 2008. TV has given us Fred Thompson, just as Bill has given us Hillary. There is a disconnect between the ability to get elected, and the ability to govern. We're concentrating on the telegenic presentation to get elected. We have yet to examine any of these characters on the ability to govern. What next?????????????????

So someone who's a Catholic is not 'religious'? I think you may find this offends some Catholics. What a skewed and bizarre idea -- only fundamentalists are 'religious'? What has happened to this culture?

'The State Department yesterday added seven countries, including four Arab allies, to its list of worst offenders in failing to suppress human trafficking and forced labor, which it called "a modern day form of slavery."

The 236-page annual survey, now in its seventh year, added Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar to its blacklist of worst offenders, along with Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and Malaysia. Countries on the list are subject to sanctions until major reforms are introduced.'

Such good friends.

Wake up Gitarre, your dream is over. If you think that lazy, old, non-accomplished, Reagan wanna-be Fred Thompson is going to beat any Democrat in the Iraq war era that we now live in... you are seriously sipping too much of that Kool Aid. Unfortunately for the R's, George W. Bush has run the party into the ground, much the same way that Bill Clinton did in the mid to late 90s. The only difference is that Clinton's drama didn't result in the death of 3000+ of our fine troops. Fred Thompson firmly supports George W. Bush, and Democrats are praying that you nominate someone like him :) Fred Thompson in 08!

BAGHDAD, June 13 -- Early morning blasts Wednesday destroyed two minarets at the same Shiite shrine in Samarra where an attack last year demolished the mosque's gilded dome and plunged the country into a wave of deadly sectarian violence.

The 9 a.m. explosions at the revered Askariya shrine in Samarra, about 65 miles north of Baghdad, is the sort of event that could spark a spiral of retaliatory bloodshed. U.S. officials have long worried that a major attack in Iraq could lead to uncontrollable bloodletting and undo recent gains in reducing violence made by the addition of thousands of extra U.S. troops stationed at high-profile posts on the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere.

A senior U.S. military commander said yesterday that Iraq's army must expand its rolls by at least 20,000 more soldiers than Washington had anticipated, to help free U.S. troops from conducting daily patrols, checkpoints and other critical yet dangerous missions.

Even then, Iraq will remain incapable of taking full responsibility for its security for many years -- five years at least in the case of protecting its airspace -- and will require a long-term military relationship with the United States, said Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who until recently led the U.S. military's training effort in Iraq

CC, you mention that his voting record was "conventionally" conservative and that he was considered a maverick [sort of like McCain Light]. That is certainly how I remember him and I am sure, but not so sure that I could swear under oath, that he was pro-choice.

Am I making that up? Is he still another late convert to the cause of social conservatism? If he is, then will that make Giuliani look even better to "conventional" conservatives than he does now?

I have to assume that Giuliani holds his lead because he is the only social moderate in the R field, not in spite of that, as the MSM seems to think.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Where does the Republican presidential race in New Hampshire stand? New Hampshire Republicans had a debate and now they have a new front-runner.

In early April, there were two front-runners in the New Hampshire Republican primary: Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani were tied for first place.

Now, after last week's CNN-WMUR-New Hampshire Union Leader debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, things have changed. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has picked up support, from 17 percent in April to 28 percent now. He's the new front-runner, by a narrow margin, while Giuliani and John McCain both lost support. They're still tied -- but for second, at 20 percent each.

The remainder of the GOP's presidential contenders were in the low single digits. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has said he will decide whether to run in the fall, scored 4 percent; Texas congressman Ron Paul, the lone voice of opposition to the war in Iraq among Republican candidates, came in at 3 percent; Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were at 2 percent; and Colorado U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo rated less than 1 percent. (Read the complete poll results document -- PDF)

None of those polled chose California Rep. Duncan Hunter, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore or former Wisconsin governor and Health and Human Services Sec. Tommy Thompson.

James H, I'm sure the waiting is some kind of calculated political ploy, not any inferred lack of courage. Would you say the same thing about Gore if he gets in, say, in Sept?

'An EPA investigator, Tyler Amon, acknowledged Tuesday that officials had considered accusing some civilian Navy employees of obstruction of justice.

Amon, who testified despite objections from the Bush administration, said some employees interviewed during the criminal investigation appeared coached and were not forthcoming with details.'

what a surprise.

"The purpose of the hearing today is to get some answers," said the committee's chairman, Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, in prepared remarks.

He then ticked through a list of questions he wanted answered:

"When did the Marine Corps learn that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, a military base with nearly 100,000 residents, was contaminated with dangerous chemicals?

"Why were the 'closed' wells not immediately capped and abandoned, but continued to be used to supply water at various points at least into 1987?

"When and how were the residents told about the contamination? Was the notification adequate?

"Did exposure to the drinking water cause cancer and birth defects in children conceived at the base? What about adults who drank the water?

"How has the Marine Corps responded to those affected? Has it taken care of its own?"

The chairman of the committee, Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, said he will examine handling of the water investigation in 2005 by the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal division.

An EPA investigator, Tyler Amon, acknowledged Tuesday that officials had considered accusing some civilian Navy employees of obstruction of justice.

Amon, who testified despite objections from the Bush administration, said some employees interviewed during the criminal investigation appeared coached and were not forthcoming with details.

Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, the panel's ranking Republican, said he was puzzled why criminal charges weren't pursued.

"We have many people who have died," Whitfield said. "We have many people who have suffered significant health problems."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some 75,000 Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were exposed to toxic tap water that may have caused cancer and birth defects, a federal health official testified Tuesday.

Results of a new study of the base's water were released Tuesday, the same day lawmakers heard emotional testimony from families who were affected by the water, which contained 40 times the amount of toxins considered safe by today's standards.

Camp Lejeune's water supply was polluted from 1957 until 1987 by TCE, a degreasing solvent, and PCE, a dry cleaning agent. The chemicals apparently came from a dry cleaning store near the base, according to the government.

The substances are possible carcinogens.

Camp kids have cancer, disorders

Jerry Ensminger, a 24-year Marine Corps veteran, said his daughter, Jane, born in 1976 at Camp Lejeune, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 6 and died at age 9.

Jeff Byron, a former Marine air traffic controller, moved with his family into base housing in 1982, three months after his first daughter Andrea was born and two years before his daughter Rachel was born.

Rachel is developmentally disabled, has spina bifida and was born with a cleft palate, he said. Andrea has a rare bone marrow syndrome known as aplastic anemia, according to Byron's testimony.

Dr. Michael Gros, a Navy obstetrician at Camp Lejeune in the early 1980s, was diagnosed with lymphoma after living in Camp Lejeune housing, he said.

Gros said he has had to give up his medical practice and his treatment has cost more than $4.5 million.

Waiting and waiting and waiting -- Fred Thompson doesn't seem to have a lot of cojones, does he? What is he waiting for? A written invitation, brought to him on a platter? This is not a leader, this is an indecisive waffler.

I think Fred Thompson is a sign of just how disconnected the individuals remaining in the Republican establishment are with the American body politic.

Thompson is everything than Republicans tried to rebrand into "American" by exploiting the spiral of silence against criticizing the government after 9/11. He is a rural Evangelical southerner interested in coming to office to advance white exurban christian concerns.

Let this stand as a warning to those who seek to harness a populist frenzy for their own political ends -- look at how easily the cat has come out of the bag for the Republicans. As the party grows smaller and smaller due to its intolerance, it will be increasingly easy for people to legitimate themselves by flanking debate to the right.

This guy has no chance with the populace as a whole, but the party is cheering him on, because he sure does represent the caricature that the Republican party has reduced itself to.

The people in the Republican establishment who were willing to stand by and let Bush hijack the image of the party into an indentically-minded herd of religious zealots blindly following a "divine" leader need to ask themselves why they chose to destroy one of America's great political institutions by transforming it into a machine to rigidly enforce a party stereotype that produces rigid and unelectable candidates.

No one has waited for his formal announcement to bash and trash Fred Thompson.

The mud thrown thus far has been that he is supposedly lazy, ugly, old, sick, a playboy, a former lobbyist, and an actor. Oh... and that he has a younger wife.

Thus far that has done little to dampen enthusiasm for his candidacy...nor will it. He will get the nomination, and beat Hillary easily.