Tony Snow

As you have probably have heard, Tony Snow is once again battling cancer. My family's prayers are with him and his family for his speedy, successful recovery.

I think Tony Snow is a truly honorable man who is following his heart and serving his country, doing his best for what he believes in. I have always thought that his time at the White house has been a real open insight into the working of Bush's policy. I think he is great.

He will beat this. He has a lot more good work to do for himself, his family and America.

RR

The Fifth at the Halls of Justice.

With Monica Goodling taking "The Fifth" when she goes to senate hearings, I sense no good outcome for Alberto Gonzalez. I think he is in political trouble. I think that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty is out to get him. I think he decided that he wanted to be AG and set about to get the job. There is no actual wrongdoing, from what I have seen so far but Al Gonzalez is going to get whacked by politics here pure and simple.

That isn't what is so fascinating here however. It is the strategy that Goodling's lawyer, John Dowd, is implementing here. If I was being investigated by the democrats, I think I might want this guy on my legal team. Here is what he said...

"The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from
even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very
real," said the lawyer, John Dowd.
"One need look no further than the recent
circumstances and proceedings involving Lewis Libby," he said, a reference to
the recent conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff in
the CIA leak case."

Did you catch that. Dowd is saying, very clearly, that his client can't testify at all without the potential for her to incriminate herself. I do not think he thinks she has done anything illegal, just that the potential for incriminating oneself in testimony is a great risk to his client. Still don't follow....

Why is it such a risk to talk to the Senate subcommittee? Dowd has looked at the Libby case and sees Libby did not break any laws in his actions. He correctly sees that Libby was 'hung' because his recollection of events was different that Russert's recollection of events. This became a procedural act, not a substantive act. If Libby took the Fifth in the grand jury and kept his mouth shut, he would not have made statements that would have conflicted with Russert's. And since no one committed a crime in the 'outing' of Valerie Plame, Fitzgerald would have had no one to prosecute and it all goes away.

Goodling's attorney is saying that the potential for being challenged procedurally, with perjury or similar infraction, is possible when going in front of the current Senate Subcommittee. Even if she tells the truth and has video of her entire life like a reality show, she could be called out on any misstep by the current congressional majority. Because of this risk, He has come up with a valid reason , correctly, I might add, to take the fifth.

Even if she did do something wrong, will never know now. Thanks Fitzgerald.

Stay Tuned

RR

Fred's Boss says he can win, plus the first polls of spring...

Each day that goes by, May is closer and so is Fred announcement to seek the presidency. Here are just a few of the morsels I have been savoring today.

When your wife tells you to do something, you better do it. I feel a whole lot better now that I know that Fred's wife is telling him to run.

A lot of initial polling out there done by reputable firms have Thompson in this race before he even officially announces he is in. This article talks about how he's already tied with Hillary.

Another straw poll of a few counties in Georgia show how strong Fred would be in the south. He would clean up.

In Ohio, with no infrastructure or organization, Fred is in a strong third behind Giuliani and McCain.

Again the Pundits are starting to see Fred as the man to win in 08. My favorite has to be Paul Mirengoff 's Powerline piece.

And I will speak to this rumor that Fred is being groomed to take Cheney's place...as soon as I find out more about this from McLaughlin

Stay Tuned

RR

On the Fred/McCain Bait and Switch

H/T to Blonde Sagacity

There is this horrible speculation out there regarding a bait and switch by Fred to McCain.

"...There is, however, another theory circulating about Thompson, one being floated by critics of the Tennessean. Some Republican insiders suspect that Thompson, who makes no effort to hide his close friendship with McCain, instead might be working a behind-the-scenes, McCain-orchestrated strategy to build support among conservatives for the Arizonan. According to this theory, Thompson – who backed McCain in the 2000 presidential primary race – would build support and anticipation among conservatives for his own campaign, and then abruptly direct them instead to McCain's camp. Sources note that Thompson and McCain had an extensive telephone conversation on March 9, just two days before Thompson discussed his presidential ambitions on "Fox News Sunday." And both camps have worked hard to keep the substance of that conversation private. Whether or not he runs, Thompson might benefit McCain, if only because he appears to be slowing the momentum enjoyed recently by McCain's two main rivals, Giuliani and Romney, among conservatives..." (source)

I don't think Fred would do that, and If he did, I would lose a lot of respect for him. Why would conservatives, who are excited about Fred, jump to McCain, who is not a conservative...

I would not go to McCain. I would fall back to Giuliani or Romney, or pray Newt could roll on it. I don't think that Fred will drop out, seeing that he could be the front runner and even be president. If the opportunity is there to serve, great men find a way. I think Fred might be one of those men.

Stay Tuned

RR

Stand Up and Take Notice!

When Larry Sabato takes notice of a candidate, then there is fire at the end of the smoke. In this article he is quoted as saying...

"If the current Republican candidates destroy themselves in some sort of demolition derby, then Thompson is one of a small group of top Republicans who could ride the horse over the hill to save the damsel in distress," Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said recently in a NewsMax interview. “Of course, he'll have to fight the other Republicans who are also riding other horses," such as Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Tommy Thompson and, possibly, Newt Gingrich."

But, Sabato added, Thompson has many admirers – inside the Beltway and around the country – some of whom view the folksy Republican as the second coming of Reagan. "He might be able to rekindle the views people had of him back in 1994 as another Ronald Reagan, someone coming out of Hollywood, on a white horse to rescue us," he said. "He's got some strong pluses. He's smart and certainly has a good television presence, and of course that matters quite a lot."

The push, a real grass roots, net roots push for Fred is starting to work.

Go Fred Go!

RR

Why Fred Thompson isn’t on the Pajama Media Straw Poll…Yet.

After the Fox News Sunday (FNS) and the Hannity Radio Show interview, it seemed that Fred Thompson had the momentum. He had exposure, excitement was building and all he did was speak on the air for less than thirty minutes. Fred had ‘blown up the trial balloon.’ Now it was time to see if it floated, and took off.

It did. Big time. People across he country started to notice that Fred would be a great president. They liked the answers from the ‘lightning round’ on FNS. They were the ‘right’ right answers. People liked his positions on the issues, and especially liked the fact that he seemed to truly believe what he said. He is the package that delivered what the other big three candidates did not. Fred Thompson is a true conservative and would govern as the chief executive with conservative principles guiding him. No wobbling, polling or flip-flopping.

It was strange. There seemed to be a ground swell of support from the people for Fred and the support of a conservative candidate. (I am not saying the other big three are not conservatives but each of them has an issue that they support that deviates from the conservative platform. See previous posts for an explanation.) There wasn’t a movement to support him or even recognition of his potential impact on the race in the Right punditry and media. They seemed to brush off Fred as someone who wasn’t going to run.

For example, Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes (two of my favorites,) both said he wouldn’t run. Charles Krauthammer, (I call him The Kraut respectfully since he is the best political analyst period,) also said that Fred was not in. The fine crew over at National Review blogged on The Corner that it was nice but nothing would come of it. The right punditry and media didn’t want to ride the Fred bandwagon, or even acknowledge it was up and had wheels.

I think I know why. A lot of the right punditry and media have already picked a preliminary horse to ride in this race. Since this is so early, there is an unbelievable ability for this group to have their say sway voters to their side. Their comments will have a great weight on people decisions in this election since the new media is the main way republicans, both conservatives and moderates, get their information.

Kathryn Jean Lopez (KJL) at NRO already has interest in Romney. Other pundits and writers also had people they particularly liked, and they were not pushing but pointing others toward. Pundits and writers really want their predictions/support to come to fruition. That’s why they write. They want their beliefs and ideas to become reality; just like every blogger and myself. (Now I am not on the same level as them but on this topic I think I am spot on.)

This was going on all week, until today. KJL wrote an article that basically says, “Hey, why not Fred?” As of this afternoon, I am noticing other writers and media types are wondering why not Fred. Then comes Pajama Media. I love them. The website and the whole effort is awesome. They run a straw poll each week on presidential candidates. The week following Fred Thompson’s appearance on FNS, the Right media they did not include him in the Poll, even though they include Newt. I think the reason is the same. PJ has people they want and that’s fine, Fred isn’t in yet and they want to stick to their current people. But without gauging Fred’s s support with their audience, how do they know he’s not in. Fred is waiting for the groundswell of people to carry him into this race. PJ and others need to bite the bullet and test the waters to see if they are right, or if Fred is the right man for 2008.

Stay Tuned

RR

Fred: Gandhi wouldn't win the War on Terror

Fred Thompson is still moving toward running. He has increased his political profile tremendously in the past 4 days. Not to mention the media is scrutinizing his every move now too. Check out his article where he steps up and says that if Gandhi was running the war on terror, we would surrender to the terrorists. I think he has a point. If you let tyrants and murderers do their thing, you will have no one left to stop them. If you don't fight back, you are not really free. That's why Bush is right, like Reagan was. Call them what they are, murderers and evil doers. Then bring the full might and power of the USA military upon them to stop them before the Free World is no more.

Run Fred Run!

RR