Confidential to Fred Thompson: If you get this message, call home, or K Street--or some damn place where they give a dang what's come of you

Gosh, it seems like just a few months ago that Fred Thompson, late of TV's Law and Order, was going to shuffle his way serenely to the GOP presidential nomination. And then he, like, disappeared from the face of the planet.

If you've grown nostalgic, our pal Al Kamen of the Washington Post has just the book for you:

Lose One for the Gipper

A book we didn't get to read on time:

"The Fred Factor: How Fred Thompson May Change the Face of the '08 Campaign." This nifty little gem was written last spring by Steve Gill, a Nashville radio talk-show host and chief political analyst for the ABC television news affiliate there, back when the former senator was pondering whether to jump into the race. Thompson announced in September, flamed out in January.

But Gill, repeatedly comparing Thompson to Ronald Reagan, writes that "Reaganesque Fred Dalton Thompson may be the only potential candidate who can prevent Hillary Rodham Clinton from being" president. There's also a useful and historic 31-page section on where Thompson stands on the issues. The back-cover blurb says the book "reveals the man behind the role, a man who could very well be the next President of the United States."

Or not.

Still, the book ranks No. 543,699 on Amazon's sales list. We'd loan our copy, but it's autographed by the author.

No late word on Sam Brownback, but we assume he's back in the Senate filling his usual role as a disgrace to human intelligence and knowledge.

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FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLES BACK DOWN THE ROAD... TO NOWHERE

Rich Lowry: "I'm still mystified at why he got into the race in the first place."

Well... somewhere. He's just in time for the impending settlement of the Writers Guild strike. He didn't have many endorsements, just from a handful of Tennessee colleagues-- like Lamar Alexander who could only muster "He has a presidential bearing" to explain the rise and fall of Ole Fred-- and a couple of nut cases like DeMint (R-SC) who hates all the other pathetic pygmies so much that he dreamt of Ole Fred rescuing the Party of Hatred and Bigotry from their half-hearted hatred and half-hearted bigotry of the rest of them. Not even waiting for the official word, influenceless defeated pol/crime boss Alfonse D'Amato already told the NY Post he'll be throwing his (very light) weight behind McCain-- anything to stop the despises Giuliani.

Sir Frederick decided he had enough ammo to convince his wife to let him drop out after he did miserably in South Carolina, which came after he did miserably in Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, and Nevada, confounding clueless Beltway pundits who had predicted he would be knight-on-white-horse and the consensus candidate, replacing None of the Above on the tongues of a majority of Republican voters. By the end he was just protecting his pal McCain's right flank from the feared and hated Huckabee, the two of them both appealing to the same Know Nothing wing of the Republican Party's most backward constituencies. In South Carolina, his third place showing kept The Huckster from routing McCain, giving McCain the momentum he needed to make like a frontrunner in impressionable Florida-- and, in effect, derailing Huckabee's nickel and dime campaign. His advisers claim he won't be endorsing anyone.

Before his wife allowed him to end the humiliation of his absurd campaign-- his 1% draw in New Hampshire was smaller than write-ins people cast for their father-in-laws and as jokes-- he had cast himself in the role of "a country boy who would bring truth to Washington (in fact, he resides across the Potomac River from the capital, in McLean, Va). And in South Carolina, he talked more and more of his Christian faith, attacking gay marriage and abortion. But there, too, he found himself boxed in, as Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, had laid a deeper claim to [bigoted and hate-driven] evangelical Christian voters."

One of Thompson's advisers-- great job, Galen; why would anyone hire you for anything ever again?-- is threatening we may not have heard the last of Ole Fred, claiming he "could end up as vice president because he could mitigate the conservative shortcomings of potential nominees such as Rudy Giuliani. 'Having somebody like Thompson on the ticket, it seems to me, could go a long way toward unifying and energizing the base. I don't even know if he'd take it, although I'm not sure I've ever heard of anybody turning it down. He has said flat out he's not interested in becoming vice president, but that's what they all say.'" Maybe he should ask Jeri. Besides, according to Fox News, he was out-and-out lying his Republican ass off.

This one's for Ole Fred and his little Jeri-- and for all the DWT readers who love a good tune:

TONIGHT'S SMALLISH LOSER: DUNCAN HUNTER (YES, HE WAS ONE OF THE PATHETIC PYGMIES)

The Dukester won't be getting a pardon from his best bud Duncan

Thers has the funniest post of the day week over at FDL about Thompson's imminent departure from the national scene-- Enjoy the SchadenFred.

Over at Red State one of the inmates has written a rather mawkish obituary for the Fred Thompson campaign, which is a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse fell asleep in the hay watching Matlock.

The Thompson campaign has been fascinating to watch, as would be any desperate attempt to slap a saddle on Grandpa. Fascinating, but disturbing, like one of those sadistic Japanese game shows. The constant equestrian metaphors alone were enough to make the sane queasy, and they still haven't stopped with them.

And the craziest segment of far right extremists-- you know, the off the chart ones-- are already dancing on The Huckster's grave. Meanwhile The Huckster partisans are blaming Grandpa Fred for his inability to beat back McCain in South Carolina. Is Frederick of Hollywood in? Out? That tired speech to nowhere seemed to indicate he'd stay in. I guess he's supposed to protect McCain's right flank until the Huckabee shibboleth is slain.

So the only one who has definitively dropped out is the one who never had any chance and never even had any legitimate reason to run: corrupt California wingnut, Duncan Hunter.

Zero percent is pretty tough to swallow and keep swallowing for an ego-mad politician. Duncan Hunter, the most overtly corrupt of the pygmies is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after back to back drubbings today in Nevada and South Carolina, where virtually no one took him seriously, just like in Iowa, New Hampshire and Wyoming.

After neo-Nazi Tom Tancredo abandoned his Know Nothing jihad, his viciously anti-immigrant agenda failing to gain him any traction, Hunter grabbed the anti-immigrant mantle. It worked as well for him as it did for Tancredo. He said the failed campaign, which was run by Bay Buchanan, was, he said, "a lot of fun." I bet it wasn't fun for him to have his ass kicked by Ron Paul.

I always felt that the only reason Hunter even got into the race was to avoid being indicted as part of the same scandal that sent one of his closest friends and allies, Duke Cunningham, to prison. Cunningham, Jerry Lewis and Hunter worked together to milk defense contractors. Lewis is under intense federal investigation; Cunningham is in prison, waiting for Bush to pardon him; and Hunter... has been shielding himself from criminal system scrutiny by making believe he was a serious candidate for President of the United States. Hopefully the investigations can get under way now.

FOX NEWS BIASED? JUST ASK FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD

There's a whole website, a really well-done one, dedicated to keeping count of Fox's activities as a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and for the right-wing agenda, as well as cable TV's #1 purveyor of soft-core porn. And then Media Matters does a pretty phenomenal job keeping watch on Fox, it's biases and distortions as well.

But now we find even a right-winger, Fred Thompson (still running for president-- of the United States) complaining about how Fox talking heads consistently twist reality. And he did it on Fox.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace pressed Thompson on how some conservatives have lambasted Thompson's campaign and showed clips of Fox conservative commentators Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes criticizing the former senator.

Thompson said, "This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth." He noted that other conservatives have praised his bid for the GOP nomination and took issue with a Fox promo that focused on polling in New Hampshire, where Thompson is registering in the single digits.

He said he is running second in national polls and has been leading or tied for the lead in South Carolina for "a long, long time."

Thompson, in a firm, but measured tone, scolded Wallace: "...for you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, kind of skew things a little bit. There's a lot of other opinion out there."

Too bad faux journalist Chris Wallace didn't ask Thompson how he felt about the coverage Fox metes out daily to John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

WHY DO THE REPUBLICANS HATE CANCER SURVIVORS?

Well, not all Republicans hare cancer survivors. In fact, some Republicans are cancer survivors-- like 3 of the pathetic pygmies™, Giuliani, McCain and Frederick of Hollywood. Odd thing, though, those 3 cancer survivors are the very ones I'm talking about. Their health care proposals have lots of love for big medical corporations-- but not so much for consumers and none at all for cancer survivors. Today's L.A. Times explains how the anti-government party wants to deal with health care.

Oh, one caveat, the 3 cancer survivors above are all multimillionaires who have no worries about medical care. "Under the plans all three have put forward, cancer survivors such as themselves could not be sure of getting coverage-- especially if they were not already covered by a government or job-related plan and had to seek insurance as individuals." In fact an analysis of the 3 pygmies™ proposals by an economist from the Employee Benefit Research Institute says "People with preexisting conditions would not be able to get coverage or would not be able to afford it." Sounds like the GOP. The pygmies'™ plans seek to help their campaign contributors, not regular Americans. They want to "expand the existing private insurance system, offering new tax breaks as a way of helping people buy insurance individually. But they also want to avoid federal regulation that would tell insurers whom they have to cover and how much they may charge."

That means the self-employed and others seeking individual coverage would be subject to a marketplace in which insurers generally pick the healthiest applicants and turn the rest away. Cancer survivors-- even if they have been free of disease for several years-- are routinely denied health insurance when they try to purchase it as individuals.

Even if coverage is offered, it often comes with restrictions or high premiums that many find unaffordable.

In the individual market, coverage rules "are really quite fussy," said Karen Pollitz, a Georgetown University research professor who specializes in the field. "Most companies won't touch you if you have a cancer history within five years, and with some companies... if you've ever had cancer, you can't get coverage."

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMEMBERS GETTING BUYER'S REMORSE OVER THEIR SUPPORT FOR FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD'S ANEMIC CAMPAIGN

zzzzzzzzz...

Today's Congressional Quarterly claims House Republicans who endorsed Fred Thompson are sorry they did and some are eager for him to drop out of his silly, meaningless bid for the GOP nomination.

Several House Republicans who endorsed Fred Thompson for president now say that they are frustrated with what they view as an apathetic campaign, and at least one regrets having committed to the former Tennessee senator.

“I think he’s kind of done a belly flop,” said an estranged Thompson backer who indicated he will not pull his public support before the “Super Tuesday” primaries. “We’ll just wait till after Feb. 5 because I think he’s going to get beat.”

In his one campaign theme-- that he is the new Reagan-- he is emulating Reagan's lazy, distraction and utter indifference. What he forgets is that Reagan waited until after he was elected to let that cat out of the bag. When he first ran, he came across-- even if he was just acting-- as a fiery reformer. Thompson is putting every audience he comes in contact with to sleep. Republicans and observers alike say he is "unwilling to campaign hard enough to win the presidency."

And the congressmembers who did endorse him "aren't lifting a finger." One told CQ “I’ve kind of pulled back. I’m not not supporting him, but I’m not doing anything."

Thompson currently has been endorsed by 21 members of Congress, 6 of them from his home state, Tennessee. With McCain, Flip Flop Mitt and Giuliani gobbling up most of the endorsements, Thompson is left with this batch of far right kooks he's scraped off the bottom of the barrel:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
David Davis (R-TN)
John Duncan (R-TN)
Zach Wamp (R-TN)

Thad Cochran (R-MS)
james Inhofe (R-OK)
Gresham Barrett (R-SC)
Dan Burton (R-IN)
Steve Buyer (R-IN)
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Don Manzullo (R-IL)
Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), widely thought to be one of the anonymous sources for the anti-Thopmpson hit piece, along with Adam Putnam
Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Sue Myrick (R-NC)
Adam Putnam (R-FL)
Lee Terry (R-NE)
John Sullivan (R-OK)
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that chocolate chips make the best cookies for your holiday recipes Frederick of Hollywood is now polling #6 among the pathetic pygmies™, behind even Ron Paul and Huckabee. And even if Thompson managed to scrape the bottom of the congressional barrel, look what garbage Huckabee's come up with: Chuck Norris, Ted Nugent, The Nature Boy (aka- Ric Flair) and, lowest of all, putative Democrat Rahm Emanuel.

THOMPSON ELIMINATES DRUG DEALING CRONY BUT SUSAN COLLINS STILL HASN'T RETURNED THE DRUG TAINTED CASH

Yesterday Frederick of Hollywood was stand-in' by his man come hell or high water. He didn't care how many kilos of drugs he had been busted for while accumulating his millions-- just as long as those millions kept flowing towards himself and other Republican enablers-- like Susan Collins, Zach Wamp. Elizabeth Dole, Lamar Alexander, etc. Philip Martin was known around the campaign as the "Chief of the Thompson Air Force" but, even more importantly he was chairman of Thompson's "First Day Founders" team of fundraisers, a shady bunch of wealthy right-wing favor seekers who have been pumping cash into Thompson's campaign coffers in the relentless quest to fulfill the young Mrs Thompson's drive to be First Minister Lady for her lazy, fun-loving, and distracted husband.

Yesterday Thompson said he wouldn't "throw my friend under the bus for something he did, you know, 25 years ago, if he's OK now." But barely 24 hours have passed and Mrs, Thompson has put her foot down and shoved the coke pusher off the bus-- if not under it. Thompson who once actually was a district attorney concerned, at least ostensibly, about upholding the law (not just someone who played, and will soon again play one on TV) didn't seen concerned that his close pal pleaded guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979, and then started a major cocaine trafficking operation 4 years later. He was arrested in a conspiracy stemming from a plan to sell $30,000 worth of coke and pleaded no contest. He's managed to spread around his ill-gotten gains to big-time Republican politicians-- like Thompson, Lamar Alexander, Zach Wamp, Elizabeth Dole and Susan Collins-- to keep himself out of prison. Think of all the non-millionaire, non-GOP-connected people rotting in prison for possessing a small amount of drugs while this freak was selling huge quantities-- and chauffeuring Thompson around in his privately owned jet, writing checks to Susan Collins and other shady Republican senators.

MSNBC reports that Thompson isn't using Martin's plane today. But Susan Collins still won't return the tainted drug money.

WHY WON'T SUSAN COLLINS GIVE BACK THE DRUG MONEY FUNNELED INTO HER CAMPAIGN BY A FRED THOMPSON CRONY?

While I was researching the connection between Susan Collins and Republican coke dealer Philip Martin, Maine's College Democrats had an upbeat, celebratory convention at Bowdoin, where everyone was pumped up at the prospects of replacing Bush Regime rubber stamp Collins with Tom Allen.

Unlike several Republican College and Young Republican conventions, no one was raped or sodomized. Instead people put their energy into positive tasks, like this inspiring video:



I'm still wondering, though, if Collins will disown her relationship to Philip Martin and return the cocaine money he donated to her political career. Tom Allen doesn't take money from multimillionaire cocaine pushers. So if you want to help out... we're open 24/7.

TOP THOMPSON FUNDRAISER IS A DRUG DEALER-- ALSO GAVE TENS OF THOUSANDS TO GOP CANDIDATES, FROM SUSAN COLLINS TO LAMAR ALEXANDER

So now we know why Sir Frederick dresses so... psychedelic

So Rudy Giuliani isn't the only Republican presidential hopeful who chose a big-time drug dealer for his campaign. According to tomorrow's Washington Post, Frederick of Hollywood "has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing." Philip Martin, the alleged "businessman" was in the same "business" as the head of Giuliani's South Carolina campaign, selling cocaine.

Martin entered a plea of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979; the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation. He was charged in 1983 with violating his probation and with multiple counts of felony bookmaking, cocaine trafficking and conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from a plan to sell $30,000 worth of the drug, and was continued on probation.

This story is starting to sound very familiar-- and not just because of the cocaine. When Giuliani was confronted with Bernie Kerik's criminal past-- which court documents show he was clearly made aware of before he appointed Kerik to a string of jobs that proved very lucrative for both of them (and long before he tried getting Bush to appoint Kerik, despite his strong ties to the Mafia, to run the Dept. of Homeland Security-- he denied knowing anything (a blatant lie). Guess what Thompson says? Yep, he's reading right from the Giuliani playbook. Thompson claims he "was not aware of the multiple criminal cases" against the close friend who is known as "the head of 'Thompson's Airforce.'" The campaign says they didn't vet Martin because he was such a close personal friend of Sir Frederick's. Watch, in 2 weeks, they'll be claiming they never really knew each other.

Thompson's frequent flights aboard Martin's twin-engine Cessna 560 Citation have saved him more than $100,000, because until the law changed in September, campaign-finance rules allowed presidential candidates to reimburse private jet owners for just a fraction of the true cost.

I'll bet this doesn't get the kind of prolonged media attention the relatively innocuous Norman Hsu did for his Clinton donations even though "Martin has been more than just a key fundraiser to Thompson." Apparently there were tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of dollars in flights that have not been properly accounted for.

There have been rumors around Hollywood for years that aside from being a notorious woman-chaser, Thompson is also a big-time coke hound. That would certainly explain the closeness with Martin, who has also been in cahoots with a shady right-wing extremist Zach Wamp, now a Tennessee congressman. "Archived Florida court records provide details of the various cases against Martin, including alleged sports-betting activity, a cocaine deal he arranged with an undercover sheriff's deputy and carried out through a middleman, and the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana to an undercover detective for $3,400. Martin produced the marijuana from the trunk of his 1973 Cadillac as the two were parked behind a Tampa-area department store, according to the arrest report.

Records show that he has contributed at least $77,000 to Republican candidates, from John Ensign and Lamar Alexander to Elizabeth Dole, Susan Collins, and John McCain. None have said they would return the tainted drug money. And the pay-offs to these powerful Republican politicians have been excellent investments that have paid off handsomely for the former low level street dealer, no longer selling pounds of marijuana and cocaine out of his car's trunk, but accumulating millions and millions of dollars in wealth, wealth he has been happy to chair with powerful Republicans like Thompson, Wamp, Collins, Dole, etc.

Wow, these Republicans sure surround themselves with an unsavory bunch. I guess, to be fair, it isn't just Republicans. All the political insiders have the worst kind of scum around them. Nancy Pelosi was hanging around with Al Wynn today. And the Clintons are tight with Rahm Emanuel. There's way too much money floating around in the political system to trust politicians to look after get anywhere near it.


UPDATE: THOMPSON PLEADS IGNORANCE AND LOYALTY TO DRUG DEALER PAL

Yesterday Frederick of Hollywood said, basically, he doesn't care how many pounds of pot or how many kilos of cocaine his top financier has sold to children, friendship comes first. He's exactly like Giuliani. And Elizabeth Dole, Susan Collins, Zach Wamp, Lamar Alexander are the rest of the recipients of tens of thousands of dollars in tainted money, still refuse to return the drug profits.

FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD COMES OUT... AGAINST CIVIL UNIONS (OR THE SOVIET UNION)

Ole Fred opposes civil unions but he's ok with dirty old rich men marrying youngsters

Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with one of the most brilliant and extraordinary candidates I have ever spoken with. Dennis Shulman is running against New Jersey rubber stamp Republican Scott Garrett in the northern and northwestern edge of New Jersey (NJ-05). He's a rabbi. He's blind. He's a drummer, a psychologist and a truly unique individual with the most positive energy I've ever encountered from anyone vying for office. He's going to be the Blue America guest at Firedoglake this Saturday at 2pm (EDT). Neither Rabbi Shulman nor I ever mentioned the words Fred Thompson (or Frederick of Hollywood) while we spoke and why should we? By the time Dennis starts debating Garrett, Thompson will be a footnote to the political history of the 2008 election campaign. But yesterday Thompson blurted something out that reminded me of an important point the rabbi made.

Yesterday Thompson was in New Hampshire unsuccessfully wooing Granite State voters. While visiting the Delta Dental Plans Association he was asked if he supports New Hampshire's new civil unions law and if he thought that would work on a federal level. Ole Fred wasn't sure what he was being asked. "Soviet Union?" he muttered. "No, civil unions," the questioner repeated clearly. "Oh. No, I would not be in support of that," Thompson said. No, I'm sure he wouldn't. I mean isn't that exactly why homophobic country singer John Rich of Big & Rich said he was supporting Thompson the other day-- because he's the most anti-gay of the pathetic pygmies™?

Rabbi Shulman, on the other hand, has a very different approach to this entire Republican-manufactured "issue." "These are issues of equality under the law, not issues of sexual orientation or morality... In the traditions of Reform Judaism, the rabbis have voted to bless gay marriages. I am appalled by the idea that the federal government would intrude on my right to perform a same-sex marriage if I choose to do so. Marriage should be an issue-- as it always has been-- between the states and religious institutions. I don't see that the federal government has any rights to define who and how people should be married."

Imagine if Obama, Edwards or Hillary were making this kind of clear, straight forward sense on this fake issue that the right tries to use to divide people? Meanwhile... help a blind drummer who speaks Truth get to Congress.

JOHN RICH OF BIG & RICH DOES A RICK SANTORUM IMPERSONATION ON NASHVILLE RADIO-- A NAIL IN HIS PROFESSIONAL COFFIN?

I had already left Warner Bros by the time our Nashville division had released its first album with Big Kenny (Alphin) and John Rich (pka, Big & Rich). When I first heard Warners had a hit artist called Big & Rich I thought they had finally broken into the rap business. They hadn't.

I was vaguely aware they had a big, albeit humdrum, wedding song last year called "Lost in This Moment," and that the first album, Horse of a Different Color went platinum a couple times. Other than that, I wasn't hearing much about them... until Thursday. Thursday I started getting barraged with e-mails from distraught former employees of mine all complaining about Big & Rich being homophobic.

It stems from half the duo, John Rich, going on a gay-bashing, Santorum-like jag for his political hero, Frederick of Hollywood. Rich is a regular commentator on Steve Gill's radio show in Nashville, where he spouts his Limbaughesque nonsense to an audience where marrying one's cousins and aunts is a lot more common than gay marriage. After a thorough tequila-fueled search for the most backward of the pathetic pygmies™ vying to personify a third George W Bush term, Rich has endorsed Thompson. And in a slap at the cousin-marrying Rudy Giuliani and at gay-Americans, he spouted off about gay marriage on Wednesday:

"I think if you legalize that, you've got to legalize some other things that are pretty unsavory. You can call me a radical, but how can you tell an aunt that she can't marry her nephew if they are really in love and sharing the bills? How can you tell them they can't get married, but something else that's unnatural can happen?"

I suppose far more "natural" would be Rich's own lifestyle as an embarrassing and philandering slob. He may be hysterical and obsessive about his irrational zombie-like hatred for Hillary Clinton but reports from the road are that when he's got enough substances in him there isn't a woman breathing he doesn't try to jump on.

Gay employees and straight non-bigots at Warner Bros, and that pretty much accounts for almost everyone who works there, are pretty disappointed, to put it mildly... and I'm not the only one getting complaints. One person who has worked on the Big & Rich projects wrote, "I tend to support all of our artists unconditionally even when some of their politics don't necessarily coincide with mine. I have been made aware of comments made by Big and Rich and I must say this is a real blatant slap in the face and it's somewhat scary to think that I'm helping to make artists' voices such as theirs heard out in the world. I feel deeply torn by comments that they've made recently and can't help but feel really uncomfortable having to see or hear them played in this amazingly diverse environment of Warner Brothers Records that to me has always spoken on behalf of the eccentric and artistic."

Another WB employee, an out front gay men, is torn between his disapproval of censorship and his disapproval of bigotry. He feels it's the company's duty-- their moral responsibility-- to take a public stand against this denigration of a class of people. "Rich's comments are not a political position, they are words of hatred that denounce an entire community and are taken as a personal attack on many of our families. CBS did not tolerate Imus's racist remarks against Blacks nor should we with Rich's remarks about gay families."

I spoke with one of Tennessee's most influential and respected radio programmers. He was still dismayed today and he said most everyone he knows in the music business is as well. This is what he told me:

"Much of the Nashville music scene is ashamed of John. We have felt betrayed because many of us had embraced him and his mantra of love everybody. John has made a career on the backs of many people, and a lot of them are gay. More than anything, his hateful comments have hurt them and they feel especially betrayed. John is entitled to his opinion. However, comparing gay marriage to incest was unforgivable. I have urged those who feel as I do to stop buying his records and songs that he writes."

That sounds like a very sensible suggestion.

UPDATE: SUDDENLY I'M IN BIG & RICH WORLD

Not a pretty place! People are sending me reports from tequila bars, houses of ill-repute and of wildly careening Bentleys. And I now know more about Big & Rich than I ever wanted to. Like they're such big Sean Hannity fans that not only do they go on his HOP propaganda show, they have him come and perform with them onstage (in front of people). And then I'm hearing the more serious charges that the fix is already in and they are winning a shit-load of awards next month (from the Country Music Awards on Wednesday, Nov 7 and the American Music Awards on November 18.)

And one of their fans even defended them by saying they have a gay song called "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)." I used to be a dj at a couple of gay country bars, The Cinch and the Rainbow Cattle Company and I'd rather go to a dentist everyday for a week than play this musical turd. And... Perez Hilton indicates there are "rumors" about John Rich! Well, well, well... so another Larry Craig?? He doesn't mention what kind of rumors but he did call him a "queen."


UPDATE: JOHN RICH'S OTHER HALF ISN'T A BIGOT

Turns out Big Kenny is a normal American. Not only that, he's an empathetic humanitarian and he and his wife just returned from Sudan where they delivered school and medical supplies (and musical instruments) to orphans in Darfur. He also donated $2300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. His only previous political donation was to right-wing Democrat Harold Ford last year when he ran against even further right Republican Bob Corker. Rich never donated to anyone.

WHO WOULD DRACULA ENDORSE?

The new Forbes has a story about the ability of celebrity endorsements to help-- and hurt-- candidates. Oprah helps the most but not far behind are Tom Hanks, George Clooney and John Stewart. Other celebrities worth getting on your team would be Angelina Jolie and Tiger Woods. The story doesn't go into micro-marketing but if you're a fan of, say, Morrissey's... you can imagine what an endorsement by him would mean to a candidate. Madonna... not so much. In fact, on net, at least according to Forbes, a Madonna endorsement would be a 28% loser. Maybe that's why Wes Clark tanked last year after she endorsed him. And if you're a candidate, you also want to stay away-- far away-- from Donald Trump, Rosie and Tom Cruise, who will turn off more people than they turn on.

But there are even worse endorsements than from celebrities. What if a politician endorses you and gets caught in a rest room trying to have sex with a plainclothes policeman, like Romney's man Larry Craig or McCain's man Bob Allen. Or what if another Giuliani associate gets indicted? Today radical right Congressman Mark Souder found himself in such a mess after endorsing a loon running for mayor of Fort Wayne (who was indicted) that he withdrew the endorsement.

Romney has some other problem endorsements beyond Larry Craig. One of his top fundraisers, Robert Lichfield, has been charged in a child sexual abuse case. And you might think no one in their right mind would want anything to do with Ann Coulter but... well maybe Full O'Mitt's not in his right mind. That would explain how he's been running around today ballyhooing his endorsement by Bob Jones III of the Buy Bull "college" that bears his name.

At the same time, Texas' extremist governor, Rick Perry, disappointed fellow extremists by endorsing Giuliani today, the first big state governor to do so. Perry couldn't resist slapping down Romney as he embraced Rudy. "A future president 'must be able to stare down criminal elements,' Mr. Perry said, 'whether they’re trafficking drugs or planting roadside bombs-- without dialing up their lawyer first.' In the most recent Republican debate, Mr. Romney said he would have to consult lawyers to determine whether the president could attack Iran’s nuclear facilities without congressional approval.

But today's biggest loser in the endorsement sweepstakes? Frederick of Hollywood. He's the beloved of an even worse pariah than Ann Coulter-- Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church and Fred Thompson see eye to eye on homosexuality.

FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD NEEDS TO HAND OUT NO-DOZ ON THE STUMP

Dullest campaign of the year: Frederick of Hollywood Goes to Iowa. Tomorrow's NY Times caught him begging a crowd of reluctant old Republicans for a round of applause... literally. Thompson's campaign has been a colossal bust since before he even started. The "Great White Hope" for conservatives proven to be just an even tinier and more pathetic addendum to what Newt Gingrich referred to as a "pathetic bunch of pygmies."

You'd think a former U.S. Senator and an actor, if just a mediocre TV actor, would have some pizzazz. But then you'd be wrong. Thompson is a complete stiff who not only has no lines but even less substance. Rarely does a day go by when he doesn't prove he's out of touch and unaware of even the most basic current events driving the passions of the day. The National Journal entitled a recent piece on him Another Day, Another Gaffe For Fred Thompson, highlighting his cavalcade of what they generously term "verbal missteps."

MSNBC reports that at a campaign event in Iowa Tuesday night, the candidate was asked about last year's Senate hearings on the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts, whom Thompson "shepherded" through the confirmation process. The former Tennessee senator had this to say in response:

"Even though the other party controlled the Judiciary Committee, we got some votes there. For a good, sound, what I would call conservative justice."

News flash: Democrats didn't regain control of the Senate until 2006. Roberts' confirmation took place in 2005, when the GOP was still firmly in charge of both chambers.

Good shepherd. But that wasn't the only evidence of his complete disconnect from political reality. He's probably one of the only people in the world who still hasn't heard the news that Bush and his propaganda machine made up the WMD in Iraq. He thinks we found them. The people who have seen him on the stump-- press and civilians alike-- seem to have come to a verdict: whatever else he is, he's not Ronald Reagan, just another pale, shallow imitation. Even voters interested enough to come to his boring, sleepy "rallies," were "struck by how little energy or passion he appeared to bring into a room."

As he defined his candidacy, Mr. Thompson spoke in broad generalities about the conservative principles that he said had informed his political views-- in particular, federalism and cutting government spending-- and led him to run for president.

In the process, he often lulled audiences into the kind of stillness that engulfed the room when he finished talking at the “Lunch With Fred Thompson” in Marshalltown.

Here he is doing an interview at the Des Moines Register and badly in need of a trip to the little boys' room, boring the editors with his analysis of the Republican problem with what they call gay marriage. Unfortunately for someone trying to court the bigots and haters, he concludes that it doesn't matter all that much one way or the other. "So be it", as a radical right religionist broadcasting network just pointed out, is not what the rabid homophobes and loons he needs to rally to his banner want to hear.

CHRISTIAN RIGHTIST JAMES DOBSON GIVES FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD THE BIG THUMBS DOWN-- PROVING IMBECILES SOMETIMES STUMBLE ONTO TRUTH

Looks like far right religionist Jimmy Dobson-- who has previously condemned Giuliani, McCain and Flip Flop Mitt-- is holding out for his one true love: Newt. Today he said he will not support Republican lobbyist Fred Thompson's quest for the presidency. AP divulged the contents of a private e-mail in which Dobson accuses the bumbling, plodding lobbyist, who last weak admitted he doesn't go to church, of being "weak on the campaign trail and wrong on issues dear to social conservatives." The new Harris Poll shows Thompson has pulled ahead of the execrable Giuliani, almost as hated by many Republicans as he is by Democrats, and the rest of the pathetic pygmies™.

"Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?" Dobson wrote.

"He has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to.' And yet he is apparently the Great Hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers. Not for me!"

Thompson, busy sucking up donations in Texas, had no comment on Dobson's devastating accusations against him, accusations that will be taken very very seriously by much of the brain-dead, zombie-like GOP base. He would only say he's never met or spoken with Dobson but that some of Dobson's friends like him. I'm sure they do.

Last week Dobson wormed his way out of charges that he was illegally endorsing candidates on behalf of his politicized church. Bush's politicized FEC and IRS have been going after progressive organizations and fining them left and right but when it comes to reactionaries clearly breaking the law, like Dobson, no need to break a sweat.

THOMPSON'S STUMBLING, BUMBLING CAMPAIGN... APPEALS TO REPUBLICANS

The latest polling numbers all show Thompson pulling ahead of Giuliani, having left Flip Flop Mitt, McCain and the rest of the pathetic pygmies™ in the dust. He was endorsed today by one of the extreme right-wing senators from Mississippi, Thad Cochran. All that has a lot more to do with the fact that he isn't Giuliani, Romney, McCain, Hunter, Huckabee, Tancredo or the other pygmies than with who he actually is.

Republican propagandist George Will writes today that his rollout was... rocky.

Fred Thompson's plunge into the presidential pool -- more belly-flop than swan dive-- was the strangest product launch since that of New Coke in 1985. Then, the question was: Is this product necessary? A similar question stumped Thompson the day he plunged.

Sean Hannity, who is no Torquemada conducting inquisitions of conservatives, asked Thompson: "When you look at the other current crop of candidates -- Republicans -- where is the distinction between your positions and what you view as theirs?" Thompson replied: "Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't spent a whole lot of time going into the details of their positions."

He also is unfamiliar with the details of his own positions. Consider his confusion the next day when talk radio host Laura Ingraham asked him about something he ardently supported -- the McCain-Feingold expansion of government regulation of political speech. His rambling, incoherent explanation was just clear enough to be alarming about what he believes, misremembers and does not know.

Is that his Reagan impersonation? George Will isn't the only right-winger wondering why Frederick of Hollywood is bothering to run. Bob Novak, another GOP propagandist, paints an even worse picture of what is looking an awful lot like a DOA campaign. He thinks Thompson has already turned off some major GOP power interests.

Thompson's late start is not in itself a fatal flaw. Still, it had been conceded in party circles that when Thompson finally became a candidate, his beginning needed to be memorable. It was not. While Thompson offered obligatory conservative slogans in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, he was not the white knight whom worried Republican loyalists desperately desire. His debut might have been more blood-stirring had his gatekeepers not turned away talented helpers.

Thompson's burial, nevertheless, is premature. The conditions persist that caused him, an actor supposedly finished with politics, to emerge suddenly in March as his party's potential savior. The leading Republican contestants -- Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain-- all have glass jaws in the view of neutral Republican Mike Murphy (though Murphy says Thompson does as well). The Republican electorate is still looking for the forceful, dynamic conservative many have thought Thompson might be.

Right-wingers in Florida today sure didn't see that in him. According to today's Palm Beach Post Thompson came to the Tampa area and showed he doesn't have a clue. When asked about a Republican base iconic question, he fumbled... badly. He said he has no opinion on the Terri Schiavo case.

“I don’t know the facts surrounding that case…That’s going back in history. I don’t remember the details of it,” Thompson said. In 2005, in an attempt to keep the brain-damaged Schiavo alive against the wishes of her husband and rulings by Florida courts, Congress voted to have federal courts review the case. Federal courts ultimately declined to intervene and Schiavo died a few weeks after the vote.

Thompson said that, in general, “local matters should be left to the locals,” but that he also has consistently supported “the sanctity of life.”

I guess if people think what we need in the White House is a forgetful grandpa rocking back and forth in a chair with a blanket over his knees, slowly fading away, they've found their man.

ROMNEY AND THOMPSON, THE TWO BIGGEST FLIP-FLOPPERS, DECLARE WAR-- ON EACH OTHER

Frederick of Hollywood has only been officially in the race for a couple of days and he's already rocketed past Mitt Romney. Romney's response was a vicious, mean spirited, anonymous web site slandering the hell out of Thompson. Seeking to deflect blame from him or his nasty brood of net-savvy sons, Romney threw his high-paid consultants under the bus and claims they did it on their own. What a stand up guy and what a leader-- just what the Republicans need! Thompson called it a "half baked cover-up attempt."

Each side is demanding the other apologize. If they don't they will have to stop impersonating Reagan. This is getting really nasty and personal-- and reeks of desperation. Giuliani is laughing his ass off. Frederick of Hollywood's spokesman said, "this latest episode only serves to prove what many voters are already figuring out: Mitt Romney will do anything, say anything, smear any opponent and flip flop on any position in order to win. The American people in general and the Republican Party in particular deserve better than this." He added that if Romney is "going to hit is, we're going to hit back harder." Girls, girls, girls...

FLIP FLOP MITT DUBS THOMPSON "FLIP FLOP FRED"-- YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP

The only part of Frederick of Hollywood's demand that Democrats not take any money from MoveOn that is a surprise is that he beat Romney to the punch. But Flip Flop Mitt missed a beat because he was busy starting up an anti-Thompson site, PhoneyFred.org. Don't bother hitting the link, it looks like Piece of Mitt has already removed it after being exposed as the perp. You can see a screenshot the Washington Post captured before Romney tried to cover up the evidence of his typical dirty dealing.

The funniest part is all the nicknames Romney gave Thompson-- Fancy Fred, Five O'clock Fred, McCain Fred, Moron Fred, Playboy Fred, Pro-Choice Fred, Son-of-a-Fred and Trial Lawyer Fred-- although none were as good as a real stroke of Piece of Mitt genius: "Flip-Flop Fred." Romney is one nasty little twerp. According to the Post the site was taken down as soon as the Post called the campaign to ask about it-- but not before they noticed this lovely heading:

"Playboy Fred: Once a Pro-Choice Skirt Chaser, Now Standard Bearer of the Religious Right?"

There are a lot of people who dislike Fred Thompson-- and for lots of excellent reasons-- but there's no one as nasty enough to put up a site like this other than Mitt Romney or one of his vicious sons.


UPDATE: WHAT HAPPENED TO REAGAN'S 11th COMMANDMENT?

Flip Flop Fred and Flip Flop Mitt are at each other's throats. After Romney's sneaky attack on Thompson with the crude and insulting website, Thompson demanded that Full of Mitt fire the consultant he's blaming it on to avoid responsibility. Of course if it was one of the vicious Romney brats... how do you fire a son?

FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD BENDS OVER FOR ANYONE-- AS LONG AS THEY BRING PLENTY OF THE REALLY EXPENSIVE LUBE

Earlier this summer Republican lobbyist Fred Thompson was exposed as someone willing to sell his influence-- influence derived predominantly from the trust placed in him by Tennessee voters-- to the highest bidders. He seemed more than willing to sell out everything he claimed to have ever believed in-- if the price was right. And that included working for pro-abortion groups seeking to influence the Bush administration. He sold out his Tenneessee incumbents for a pittance. But now that he's running for the Republican nomination for president, we should ask ourselves if he would sell out America the same way he sold out Tennessee.

Today's NY Times makes it clear that he already has. Another shady, carefully concealed client of Frederick of Hollywood has reared it's head: Libya.

A little over three years after Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, Fred D. Thompson provided advice to a colleague about one of his law firm’s new clients: The man representing the two Libyan intelligence officials charged in the terrorist bombing... Revelations that American firms were representing Libyan interests provoked a furor among the Pan Am victims’ families. Some law firms refused to represent the country or the suspects, while others withdrew.

It has now been confirmed that Thompson's firm did not refuse the Libyan money ($833,960) and that Thompson himself, who has always managed to keep anyone from finding out about his lucrative terrorist connections, had no problem advising the mass murderers and sworn enemies of America.

Thompson has dodged questioners and done his best to mislead anyone trying to find out about his lobbying efforts on behalf of the abortion lobby, Jean-Betrand Aristide of Haiti, the Libyans, and illegal toxic waste dumpers who were poisoning families in Texas. Republicans thinking about voting for Thompson have to ask themselves if the man is even too much of a whore for the GOP.

Today Thompson is hysterical about fighting what he calls as "radical Islamic terrorism." It plays very well among the Know Nothing Republican base in low information places like rural South Carolina and Iowa, areas where people think he's a good ole boy.

Thompson has said he makes no apologies for his legal and lobbying work, emphasizing in one online essay that every person, no matter how unpopular, is entitled to representation and that lawyers’ work on behalf of a client is no indication of their own personal views.

Asked about Mr. Thompson’s participation in the Libya case, James Kreindler, a lawyer who represents 130 of the victims’ families, said: “Pan Am 103 was really an attack on the United States, so while some families understood the concept that everyone deserves a defense, a number were offended and angered that American lawyers were willing to earn fees by doing anything to help this pariah nation or the two bombing suspects.”

Despite Thompson's best efforts on behalf of his Libyan clients, they finally lost in 2003 and "accepted responsibility for the Pan Am bombing and agreed to pay the victims $2.7 billion in compensation." If Thompson were up against any reasonable competition, he wouldn't have a chance. But the field, dubbed "a pathetic bunch of pygmies"™ by Newt Gingrich, doesn't offer any outstanding alternatives. "None of the Above" wins every poll against the gaggle of Republicans seeking to continue the discredited policies of George Bush.

Giuliani, the most cutthroat of the aspirants, is the first on the attack against Thompson. According to today's Sunday Times says he will "contrast his experience as a welfare reformer, tax-cutter and crime-beater in America’s toughest city with Thompson’s record of having named a few post offices while he was a senator."

Adding to doubts about his managerial experience, Thompson has seen his campaign team rocked by half a dozen high-profile departures in the past month. Mark Corallo, who launched Thompson’s informal presidential bid last spring, resigned in frustration last week after another well-regarded colleague, Jim Mills, a former Fox News producer, was sidelined and quit.

Several appointees gave up good jobs to commit to Thompson and have been left high and dry, creating much ill-feeling. In contrast, Giuliani’s tightly knit team includes long-term aides who have worked with him since the 1990s. He is also bringing in advisers with strong links to Christian conservatives and the gun lobby, two powerful groups in the Republican party that are sceptical of Giuliani’s pro-choice record on abortion and his antigun policies in New York.

Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee has called Frederick of Hollywood's bluff and challenged him to prove he's something more than an empty suit, an actor reading his lines, and-- in the end-- nothing more than another version of Jack Abramoff.

After 8 years of the disastrous, rapacious and incompetent Bush Regime, lead by an alcoholic flim flam man who replaced booze and cocaine with the last refuge of all scoundrels (and a belief in ghosts and other Bronze Age superstitions), there are some-- though not many-- who think the next president should be something like Bush without looking like Bush. Enter stage right: a gross old actor with no core values but with a well-honed skill for deception-- as well as a rapaciousness to rival Bush's, a promise of more incompetence, and a trademark laziness that would ensure the Bush program to bring America low will play out to its inevitable conclusion.

Those who remember Fred Thompson's years in Washington recall that the "slow pace of life on Capitol Hill manifestly bored him, and while others would slog selflessly through long nights of committee work, Fred was firmly of the 'let's wrap it up and go for a drink' persuasion."

One thing about Frederick of Hollywood's role as the GOP goat fighting Hillary: the Republican Party's hope to smear the Clinton's with tales of Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs will be neutralized by Thompson, whose boyhood shotgun wedding has been followed by a life's obsession with lust. "At an appearance before senior Republicans investigating possible skeletons in his closet, he declared: 'I was single for a long time. I got chased by a lot of women, and usually I got caught.'"

FREDERICK OF HOLLYWOOD ANNOUNCES HE WILL ANNOUNCE-- AFTER THE REPUBLICAN DEBATE NEXT WEEK

swashbuckling???

As you may have heard, Senator Larry Craig was recently very abruptly tossed out of the closet. And it only took a full 2 decades after it first came to public attention that he was thrusting unwanted attention on other men. It may seem as long, but it's only been a few months, for Frederick of Hollywood to finally come out too. Yes, finally Republican lobbyist and actor Fred Thompson, after being charged with skirting campaign finance laws by raising money for a presidential campaign he was denying existed, and after being threatened by the ultra conservative Manchester Union Leader that he'd better participate in the September 5th New Hampshire debate. Instead Thompson has announced he will be announcing-- but not 'til a day after the debate.

He was primed to be the summer's big blockbuster and the script was written in advance: A dispirited party finds its great hope in a swashbuckling Southern senator, riding to the rescue to save Republicans from themselves.

It hasnt quite worked out that way. Instead, he's been posting miserable fundraising numbers and has been questioned closely about an unscrupulous lobbying career that could be more disturbing to Republican voters than even Abramoff's criminal behavior. Larry Craig may have seen Frederick of Hollywood's momentum circling a toilet in one of the many public restrooms he's always visiting.

THE SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS IS MR. RELIGIOUS RIGHT

And in the sinful world inhabitted by the Republican base, Sam Brownback needs a closer look. Forget Obama Girl or Giuliani Girl for a minute and let's give Brownback Girl a chance to explain why her guy distinguishes himself from the pathetic bunch of pygmies. (I wish they could have afforded a better drag queen... Republicans are so square even when they try to be hip.)



You like? Cat Fight!

And then there's always the real danger (to America): Thompson Girl, a slutty and alcoholic opportunist living on the edge of the law in Nashville who married a dirty, albeit rich and powerful, old man. And now she wants to be First Lady... of the United States. "After meeting Fred Thompson, Kehn began establishing herself in Washington Republican circles, and marriage more than consolidated her place in the city. Today, Jeri Thompson, 40, has emerged as a driving and at times divisive force within the presidential campaign her husband is preparing to launch, one that could make her the nation's youngest first lady since Jacqueline Kennedy." It was her decision to portray money-grubbing Thompson, a lobbyist and malleable old actor with as few core values as Flip Flop Mitt, as "the true conservative in the race."

In the nascent Thompson campaign-- anticipated with high hopes by many conservatives unsatisfied with the current crop of GOP candidates-- Jeri Thompson plays a role arguably as influential as those of two better-known spouses of Democratic candidates, Bill Clinton and Elizabeth Edwards. She helps shape her husband's conservative message and image, has been a strong voice urging him to run and recently helped instigate a shake-up that pushed aside Thompson's first campaign manager and his research director... [She] works mostly from the couple's home in McLean, "running the campaign from the kitchen table." She frequently calls aides and demands answers quickly. "Everything for her is at Defcon," the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on behalf of the campaign.