Rolling Stone: Make-Believe Reagan (devastating Fred Thompson piece)

[kskiska]

In Fred Thompson's fantasy world, all you have to do to be president is pretend you're the Gipper and act tough on TV

Matt Taibbi

(snip)

I freeze. Probably what? Probably a shoo-in for the presidency, that's what! I shudder as I realize my mistake, and suddenly the candidacy of Fred Thompson, which seemed impossibly silly just a few minutes ago, makes deadly serious sense. Thompson may act like a blank slate -- a homespun version of Being There hero Chauncey Gardiner running on a platform of "Whatever you say" and "I'll get back to you on that" -- but he represents something else that no one, after seven years of George W. Bush, could possibly have expected: a new low. It was bad enough when the GOP field was led by a grinning Mormon corporatist and a fascist ex-mayor itching to take his prostate pain out on the world, but Thompson is the worst yet -- a human snooze button, campaigning baldly for the head-in-the-sand vote by asking Americans not to think but to change the channel.

And that, after all, is what the campaign trail is all about. Give voters a chance to go lower than they've ever gone before, and you'll get numbers in a heartbeat. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the next Republican front-runner. ***

In person, Fred Thompson reminds you of a lot of good actors who go numb when asked to play themselves. If you've ever listened to interviews with Laurence Olivier or Robert De Niro or any of a hundred other talented performers who can manhandle a script but seem at a loss when it comes to who they themselves really are, you'll recognize the same thing in Thompson.

(snip)

You have to see it to believe it, the effect that Fred Thompson has on certain crowds. Reporters who describe his public appearances as "bland" and "uninspiring" and "vague" and "blurry" do so because they're looking for the wrong thing; they're looking for theatrics, for fire and brimstone, for that candidate who can get crowds howling for blood. What Thompson inspires is something much more appropriate for Americans of the TV age: He gets audiences purring in a cozy stupor. Their eyes glaze over and they end up looking like a bunch of flies happily lapping up their own puke.

more…
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16546031/makebelieve_reagan/print

[pretty_lies]

1. Excellent, Thank You

<3 Matt Taibbi

[pretty_lies]

2. On Reading, It's Even Better

I think Taibbi's right, Thompson is a serious threat considering how terrible the Republican contenders are. If Hillary-hatred is strong enough, he could bullshit his way straight to the presidency.

[pnwmom]

3. Reagan was the actor playing the part of the President. Thompson

is the actor playing the part of the actor playing the part of the President.

Is this what we've come to?

:banghead:

[mark414]

4. Taibbi skewers through the heart and hits the ball out of the park as usual

the late great Dr Gonzo comes to mind when I read this guy....he tells it like it is and manages to be funny as hell while doing it