Thompson, 64, said he was pondering a run after former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and other Tennessee Republicans began drumming up support for his possible GOP candidacy, citing his conservative credentials.
``I think people are somewhat disillusioned. I think a lot of people are cynical out there. I think they're looking for something different. ... and I think that they're going to be open to different things,'' he said.
Judging from what's there so far, where ironically enough only the Mormon guy isn't multiply-married or a serial adulterer, he might actually have a pretty easy time of it. His only real competition would be
Thompson, on the other hand, is a competent enough actor, as was Reagan, which enables them to capture the most retrograde ideas and put them forth in a comfortable, avuncular manner.
On the issues, Thompson said he:
-Is ``pro-life,'' and believes federal judges should overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision as ``bad law and bad medical science.''
-Opposes gay marriage, but would let states decide whether to allow civil unions. ``Marriage is between a man and a woman, and I don't believe judges ought to come along and change that.''
-Opposes gun control, and praised last week's 2-1 federal appeals decision overturning a long-standing handgun ban. ``The court basically said the Constitution means what it says, and I agree with that.''
-Supports President Bush's decision to increase troops in Iraq. ``Wars are full of mistakes. You rectify things. I think we're doing that now,'' he said. ``Why would we not take any chance, even though there's certainly no guarantees, to not be run out of that place? I mean, we've got to take that opportunity and give it a chance to work.''
-Would pardon former White House aide I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby's conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice now, rather than waiting until all his appeals are exhausted. Thompson is a fundraiser for Libby's defense.
There ya go. Some of the commenters here, index fingers jammed into nostrils up to the third knuckle, reflexively opined that Thompson's opinions would get "cherry-picked" and taken out of context in order to inflame librul sensibilities.
Well, here's the full Faux transcript. Judge for yourself.
WALLACE: As we said, perhaps the main reason that people are talking about you is this uneasy feeling among conservatives that there is not one of their own, a true conservative, in the field.
So let's do a lightning round — quick questions, quick answers, a variety of issues — to see where Fred Thompson stands.
THOMPSON: Um hmm.
WALLACE: Abortion.
THOMPSON: Pro-life.
WALLACE: Would you like to overturn Roe. ...
THOMPSON: You said lightning round, now. If you want ...
WALLACE: Well, let's go.
THOMPSON: ... more, give me another question. I'll work through it.
WALLACE: Do you want to overturn Roe vs. Wade?
THOMPSON: I think Roe vs. Wade was bad law and bad medical science. And the way to address that is through good judges. I don't think the court ought to wake up one day and make new social policy for the country. It's contrary to what it's been the past 200 years.
We have a process in this country to do that. Judges shouldn't be doing that. That's what happened in that case. I think it was wrong.
....
WALLACE: What would you do now in Iraq?
THOMPSON: I would do essentially what the president's doing. I know it's not popular right now, but I think we have to look down the road and consider the consequences of where we are.
We're the leader of the free world whether we like it or not. People are looking to us to test our resolve and see what we're willing to do in resolving the situation that we have there. People think that if we hadn't gone down there, things would have been lovely.
If Saddam Hussein was still around today with his sons looking at Iran developing a nuclear capability, he undoubtedly would have reconstituted his nuclear capability. Things would be worse than what they are today.
....
WALLACE: One area where you have been critical of President Bush is that you say that he never spread the burden, he never made all Americans share in the sacrifice.
And you have talked about the fact that we need to end our dependence on foreign oil. Would you impose a gas tax to push us in that direction?
THOMPSON: Well, you're getting a little bit further down in the weeds than I want to go right now. I don't know. I'm studying it. I don't know the answer to that question.
We're going to have to do some things differently. We're going to have to think differently about solutions.
You know, it's a price matter more than anything else. You know, gas is — I mean, oil is fungible. And there's going to be oil in different parts of the world having a price set, you know, that we're going to have to live with one way or another.
We can't ever be totally independent of it, but we can do some things to make it a lot better. We're going to have to look at fuel emission standards and things of that nature, things that we don't like to look at.
Right, which is why in 2002, Thompson voted both to terminate CAFE standards and drill in ANWR. Real strategic thinkin' there, Fred.
And referring to Thompson as merely a "fundraiser for Libby's defense" fails to properly limn his duties. Not to imply that Thompson is a cabana boy for the Cheney gang or anything, but....
WALLACE: You are on the steering committee of the Scooter Libby Defense Fund.
THOMPSON: That's right.
WALLACE: And you helped raise millions of dollars for his extraordinary legal expenses. Would President Thompson — you like the sound of that probably. Would President Thompson pardon Libby now or would you wait until all of his legal appeals are exhausted?
THOMPSON: I'd do it now.
WALLACE: Because?
THOMPSON: I'd do it now. This is a trial that never would have been brought in any other part of the world. This is a miscarriage of justice.
One man and his wife and 14-year-old and 10-year-old children are bearing the brunt of a political maelstrom here that produced something that never should have come about.
These people knew in the very beginning — the Justice Department, this Justice Department and the special counsel knew in the very beginning that the thing that was creating the controversy, who leaked Valerie Plame's name, did not constitute a violation of the law.
And then they knew that it — someone did leak the name. And it was Mr. Armitage. It wasn't Scooter Libby.
Only these people, who continuously rant and rave about the primacy of the law, and the wisdom of the people, and the sanctity of the efforts of war and protecting the people who are imminently endangered by it, would turn unblinkingly into such ginormous, pandering hypocrites.
Libby was convicted in a federal court, by a jury or reg'lar folk, with a heretofore Republican prosecutor whose record of aggressively and meticulously pursuing criminals was absolutely spotless. He is the nexus of a clear-cut whispering campaign to use handy media tools to defame a dissenter, endangering an intelligence agent in the process.
Libby is as guilty as guilty can be, and everyone knows. No, it is entirely unfair that he is the only one going to jail for this, but that is what these people do -- throw their underlings to the wolves and maintain their lies of plausible deniability. Frankly, I don't give two shits if Armitage goes down with the lot of them, but the fact that Libby is the only one convicted (so far), does not mitigate his complicity in the slightest. Justice was done, it just wasn't completed -- again, yet. Only Libby can change that if he decides to drop a dime on his superiors, which is why they're scared shitless and pushing the pardon talk.
Well, I call their bluff. Go ahead and pardon Scooter. Make it damned good and clear exactly what you're all about. And prepare to have another term in the wilderness, à la Watergate.
I'll say this much for Thompson -- he makes it clear exactly where he stands. He is not trying to be everything to everyone. There may be a lesson somewhere in this.
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