Fred Dalton Thompson for President

Fred Thompson is what the GOP field has been missing. It seems the two-plus years since his senate term ended have refreshed him, enough so that he is talking about running.

I am not enamored by most of the current crop - the McCains and Romneys of the world. I could perhaps live with Guiliani, but he would not be a first choice. I could vote for Newt, but he carries baggage that would prevent him getting the nomination. I cannot see myself ever voting for John McCain in the primary. I would grudgingly support them in the general election over the likes of Hillary, Obama or Edwards, but I would not be happy about it.

Fred Thompson is a different story. He is a conservative, and he is a communicator. In many ways, he is the closest thing we have to Reagan's abilities today. Sure he is an actor, and has played many famous roles, including currently as the DA on NBC's Law & Order, but he is also a Lawyer by trade.

Yesterday's appearance on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace exemplified his on-camera presence. He makes no secret where he stands - pro-life, anti-Roe, pro-Iraq war, pro-America.

I would support Fred Dalton Thompson for President. And I could vote FOR him.

EDIT: Redstate commentary suggesting a draft Fred Thompson movement can be found here.

Texas incongruities

Scotusblog has this post dealing with the 5 redrawn Texas congressional districts on the heels of SCOTUS's 2006 decision on the Texas redistricting, where although the plan won overall, a single district, the 23rd, was found unconstitutional by the Court. The District court, on remand, has changed five districts to make the 23rd "legal". The Court has done this a mere 90 days out of an election, changing the election dynamics in such a way as to harm all the candidates in these 5 districts.

The Constitution leaves it to the States to decide the manner of election, yet a Federal court has stepped in and drawn a map of its own, rather than that chosen by the elected members of the Texas Legislature.

Earlier this week, a Federal Court ruled that the State cannot define its elections, declaring that the State GOP had no proof that Tom DeLay would not be a resident of the state on Election day, even though he provided a Virginia drivers' license, employment forms bearing a Virginia address, and other documents proving a Virginia Residency. Texas state law allows the party to "declare ineligible" any candidate that is not a resident per public record. (To the federal court, a Drivers' license is not a public record now) Although the Texas GOP has said it will appeal it to SCOTUS, as noted in this post on Scotusblog from Thursday, August 3rd. The 5th circuit opinion can be found here (ht: Scotusblog)

The panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reasoned that the Democrats suffered actual harm in having to change their election strategy to run against someone other than DeLay, who resigned from Congress in June, and publically announced his moving to Virginia. This is at odds with the redrawn map adopted by the District Court, where that "actual harm" is akin to what the Democrats had claimed in the DeLay case.

Coincidence? Where at once both decisions are in sync, but are also at odds with each other? Not a chance.

The DeLay decision stands in stark contrast to the Torch - where AFTER the mandated deadline, Sen. Robert Toricelli withdrew from the race, and was replaced on the Ballot by former Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The Court in NJ saw fit to ignore the ballot rules, on a matter of "fairness" that the voters be left with a choice.

DeLay may be forced to run for (re)election this November, and given the meddling of the courts, the chances of DeLay winning have likely improved. The Democrats may get what they want - DeLay on the ballot - but still lose big.

Fake TV Debates with real news logos

NBC did it this time, running its "West Wing" program live tonight, featuring a presidential debate "moderated" by their newsman Forest Sawyer. Alan Alda (certainly not a conservative activist by any means) was tasked with being the conservative republican candidate, while Jimmy Smits was tasked as the Dem candidate.

Alda did a remarkably good job, but one has to guess it was scripted, and he was simply memorizing lines, as opposed to him speaking from the heart.

And NBC's website, where they want the audience to go vote on who was the "winner" of the debate gives an error if you select Alda's character...

http://www.nbc.com/The_West_Wing/Campaign/

I did not see the whole thing, only the last 20 minutes. The script was set up to make the republican candidate look bad, at one point with the Dem candidate trying to frame it up by "taking a pledge not to go to war over oil" with the Alda character unwilling to make such a foolish pledge, likening it as useless of promising not to "go to war over sugar". Smits Character attempted to pose the question of whether the "country was ready for a latino president" as opposed to running on qualifications.

Alda's character's overarching theme was open-market solutions rather than government, while the Dem was feel-good Clintonesque attacks. One has to wonder how many of the audience believed it really was on "NBC News Live" as the logo in the bottom right of the screen showed...

Cheney's surgery excuse to elevate Condi??

The following story brings me to the long anticipated (by me at least) thought that Cheney would use a medical excuse to resign, and Bush to appoint current Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to the office of Vice President. She's been confirmed by the Senate twice, most recently earlier this year, so I don't see her having a problem being confirmed.

Such a scenario would immediately vault her to frontrunner status as heir-apparent for the 2008 GOP nomination. (That field is still wide open, with Virginia Sen. George Allen and former NY Mayor Rudy Guiliani leading early straw polls, such as the one that Patrick Ruffini runs monthly.)

Granted, the surgery described in the article below appears to be minor.

QUOTE(AP)

Cheney to Have Surgery Next Weekend
Sep 16 5:26 PM US/Eastern
WASHINGTON

Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo an elective surgery next weekend to treat an aneurism in an artery behind his right knee.

The condition, discovered earlier this year during a routine checkup, needs to be treated "as to not become a problem over time," Steve Schmidt, counselor to the vice president, said Friday.

"The procedure will be performed under local anesthetic," Schmidt said. "It will take place next weekend. It will involve a short hospital stay. The vice president will return to work shortly thereafter."

Schmidt said more details will be announced next week.