Who is Fred Dalton Thompson

Why Am I Scared to Death That He Might Run for President?

The First Actor/President We Had Didn't Teach Us a Lesson?

The actor, Fred Dalton Thompson wants to run for President. Believe me he wants to. There never has been a Draft 'InsertNameHere' Campaign that wasn't run without the blessing of 'InsertNameHere'. 'InsertNameHere' may be smart enough to never, ever admit to the fact that he really wants to run, but believe me, people don't write blogs and sell T-shirts for nothing.

The first thing that scares the bejesus out of me is that Thompson has a history of getting into the race at the last minute and winning.

Late entry is a smart strategy. It allows all the other candidates to make all kinds of mistakes, point the finger at each other and then the newcomer makes hay from the barn that's already on fire without getting his own fingers burned. So I'll admit it. Thompson is smart.

The second thing that scares me about Fred Dalton Thompson, is that he's an actor.

Every politician is a shill to a certain extent. At the very least, at the heart of things, they're supposed to be shilling for the interests of the American people. And there's no shill like a man who learned his craft as an actor.

That's why politicians who are less than perfect are the good ones. Gerald Ford used to trip all over himself. He was a human being, he had all the failings of a human being and he understood what it was to be human.

Politicians who don't make mistakes aren't human: They're actors. They're staged. They're lines are written for them and at heart they have no feeling for their constituents. They're playing a part and doing a job.

I started this piece back in April '07 just around the time Thompson finally threw his hat into the ring. I'm finishing it in September '08 with great relief that, for this election at least, Fred Dalton Thompson has come and gone.

But like the Ghost of Christmas Past, I saw him give his speech at the Republican Presidential Convention this month. I fear we haven't heard the last of Fred Dalton Thompson. I fear what other mischief he may be up to. (If you haven't heard, it seems Fred Dalton Thompson was more or less the architect or the Savings and Loan debacle which cost tens of thousands of American senior citizens their retirement savings and cost the US taxpayers around $300 Billion Dollars.) - © 2008 The Chewed End All rights reserved.