Richard A. Viguerie: "Conservatives, Beware of Fred Thompson"

"The frustration of conservatives is understandable. Faced with the prospects of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, or Mitt Romney as the next Republican presidential candidate, many are pinning their hopes on former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee. Could this actor-politician be the new Ronald Reagan?

Mainstream media types assure us that he is. His record suggests otherwise.

This is the second time conservatives have pinned their hopes on Thompson. When he was first elected in the Republican sweep of 1994, he was seen then as the “new Reagan”—a charismatic movie star turned politician. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole quickly picked Thompson to give the five-minute GOP rebuttal to President Clinton’s economic address, and no less than The New York Times swooned with its headline the next morning, “A Star Is Born.”

He turned out to be a shooting star—a dazzling flash in the sky, soon gone, not there dependably, night after night, like the Big Dipper. Or, as The Tennessean later put it, “A year ago [Thompson] looked like a rising star. Today he looks more like a fading comet.”

Especially to conservatives who have taken the time to examine his record."

- rest at www.conservativesbetrayed.com/gw3/articles-latestnews/articles.php?CMSArticleID=1827&CMSCategoryID=19

 

Oh puhlease. The Tennesseean is disppointed he isn't pro-choice, anti 2nd amendment, pro-union, pro-gay. He's got better marks on life, guns, etc. than most all of the psuedo conservatives running. Just more people scared of a conservative replacing the failed policies of Bush 41, Clinton, and W.

The article displays a lot of ignorance (or willful misrepresentation) of Baker and Alexander (one of the amnesty killers and supporter of a Ron Paul-like Iraq policy), as well as ad hominem against Thompson. Of course, it is correct about Thompson's flawed support of McCain-Feingold. But that's about it.

 

I hope that since you posted all of this stuff about Ron Paul's voting record(which I tried to explain) that you will also look at Fred Thompson's voting record mentioned by Mr. Viguerie. There are a lot of votes listed there. Since you appear, at least, to be the main defender for Mr. Thompson on this board, perhaps you can explain them to the rest of us.

 

I am not Fred's defender. (Most of what I've posted is to get away from the sheer volume of "Ron Paul had eggs for breakfast" threads :laugh:

I haven't made my mind up about who I support, and as a minister I will not say so publicly. I have probably said too much about who I'm warm and lukewarm about anyway. But I'm familiar enough with Fred from being in TN that I know his record. My family knew Mr. Baker well, and I knew Lamar Alexander casually.

As I recall, you did try to explain some of Rep. Paul's votes, but some you encouraged me to contact his campaign. Fred doesn't have an official campaign, but there are numerous supporter websites that could answer your questions. If you want to posit a question to me, feel free. I'll do my best. But you're not getting an advocate's answer :)

 

Fred Thompson's Bio
http://vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=22003

Fred's voting record:
http://vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=22003

Fred's ratings:
http://vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=22003

 

Why wasn't I notified!?

Why not?

 

Thanks to Big Brother, it can be construed as a political endorsement from a church. More importantly, it would potentially alienate me from people I seek to shepherd to maturity in faith or seek to win to Christ. These purposes are far greater to me than any political aim.

 

Sounds like crap to me. Reminds me of The Counterfeit Candidate, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000M4MXAO/?tag=baptis04-20, a book critical of Ronald Reagan, arguing that he wasn't a true conservative.

 

What does Big Brother have to do with what one of Christ's ministers has to say? Don't you have freedom of speech?

 

You're goading him, so I'll jump to his defense. No, not as far as the IRS is concerned. It's okay for certain ethnic groups to have political endorsements in their pulpits, but not okay for the rest of us if we want to keep our nonprofit status.

Pastors need to be more careful than we ordinary folks when it comes to speaking on certain topics, like politics, because they are more apt to be criticized about what they do or don't do, say or don't say.

Besides, I admire Tom's outlook towards eternal goals, not political ones.

 

Well he sure is awful vocal for someone who isn't allowed to have a political opinion. ;)

 

IRS laws, etc., and our dear friends at Americans United for Seperation of Church and State, have brought Big Brother in. Yet that's secondary to my role as a gospel minister.

 

How so? What have I said that is an endorsement? I admit I've gotten into the discussion about issues and asking questions about candidates, but I've tried to stay away from endorsing anyone.

I used to never come around for this reason (well, this is one of the reasons). However, I have a legal background and love talking about the Constitution, so it's hard to stay away. However, I do want to stay away from partisanship because the Gospel is too important.

 

You're right, I was. :)

Who cares about them? What about the separation of church and state?

Lose it. If a preacher is getting his instructions for what he should say or not say from someone other than the Lord Jesus Christ, then whatever hand out Caesar is giving can't be worth it.

Criticism is part of the gig and goes with the territory.

It is through politics that the devil is bringing together his earthly kingdom. If a preacher can not speak out about politics, then how is he hindering the devil's efforts?

 

I am well aware that criticsim goes with the territory. However, no need for me to invite more by being a shill for the GOP or Dems.

Evangelism and exposition, something the govt cannot and should not do. Geez Rufus, you sound like a Big Government type here. ;)

I believe in it and practice it. Too bad some people don't.

I thought this forum was now safe for the non-hacks who wanted to discuss the topics at hand. Maybe I was wrong.

Bottom line: I'm no Jerry Falwell or Jesse Jackson and never will be. If others think their ministers should be, then that's their problem. I have free speech, and instead of using it as soom do and would like in promoting the Kingdom of Bush, Paul or Clinton, I'm using it to advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, a Kingdom I value far more than any other.

 

You don't have to be a shill for the two party system to speak out on political issues.

You don't believe in it and practice it. You said the government controls what you say about certain topics, that's not separate.

Not sure what you mean by that.

Praise God for that!

If you have "Big Brother" telling you what you can say or can't say, you don't have free speech.

 

I speak out on moral issues that find their way into politics. Abortion, stem cell, etc., are nothing I shy away from. I've lost people advocating stances against porn and against gambling based on the Bible. So be it. But I don't advocate whether or not there should be term limits, for instance, from the pulpit. Find me where the Bible declares there should or should not be and I'll exegete these. Otherwise, my goal in seeing people come to Christ outweighs my desire in seeing people go to Washington. That's my priority.

No I didn't say that. Is govt too intrusive? Yes. Do they control what I say? No. Even if it were okay, I would still not advocate candidates from the pulpit if it meant losing one opportunity to be a gospel witness. I treasure the gospel above all else. I believe the gospel does what government can't. I must be in a minority ;)

I meant what I said :) I'm sorry you seem to disagree with me, but I believe in preaching Jesus, not Jesse; Paul, not Ron Paul :) I preach the Bible, not partisanship. If that offends anyone, so be it. Here I stand, I can do no other. And I shall say no more on this. We're going in circles and we're off topic to boot.

 

:thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

 

I think this is getting a little ridiculous, but I'm not going to stop it; be my guest, but watch out with the personal insults please!

Phillip, the ordnance engineer with big boy toys.

 

If I have insulted anyone, it was not on purpose. I do apologize.