Thompson Responds to Roger Simon's Hit-Piece in The Politico

With humor: "Just remember...we don't raise our hands when we're told to, and we don't wear any hats, unless they're our own."

Thompson's dig is funny; the response from The Politico thus far is not.

Despite attempts to reach them via both the media and editorial email addresses on their site, The Politico seems to be going the route of The New Republic, and seems intent on trying a strategy of stonewalling. Perhaps they are hoping that the story of Simon's doctored quote will simply go away.

I was hoping that as an ostensibly "new media" organization they would address controversy with transparency, but that does not seem to be the case.

Old habits apparently die hard.

Update: Now on Youtube.



Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 01:03 PM

Comments

1 Bob, how DARE you question them? If they tell you it's Shinola, then that settles it!

Posted by: Mike G in Corvallis at December 21, 2007 01:18 PM (qmdN5)

2 Hey Mike! Fancy seeing you here.

FRED IS THE MAN!!!

Posted by: Gullyborg at December 21, 2007 01:21 PM (Vy/A9)

3 Nice, I just added it to my Politico post.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at December 21, 2007 01:29 PM (P17op)

4 Gee, color me surprised, an opinion site with pretensions of being part of the MSM turn out to be your regular crapweasels.

Posted by: David at December 21, 2007 01:49 PM (x25n0)

5 Color me surprised, an opinion site with pretensions of being part of the MSM turn out to be your regular crapweasels.

Posted by: David at December 21, 2007 01:53 PM (x25n0)

6 Where's Frank J.?

Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin at December 21, 2007 04:42 PM (FngTJ)

7 OOPS!

Roger thought he was so slick he didn't think he would get caught.

Spread the other research around because most folks are apparently supporting liberals who shouldn't be running on a republican ticket;

http://candidateresearch.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Winghunter at December 21, 2007 05:59 PM (2vp3x)

8 I mean this not as a criticism, but as a sincere question:

What exactly was it about the "misquote" of Thompson that was unfair?

It's not unusual to truncate quotes like that. It is of course objectionable if the omitted phrase changes the meaning. But how was that the case here?

As quoted: "I've got a silly hat rule."

As said: "I've got a silly hat rule that I'm about to violate." Which rule Thompson did NOT, then, go on to violate.

In other words, he was offered the helmet, and didn't put it on, citing the "silly hat rule." Just like the Politico article said.

Posted by: JC at December 22, 2007 01:30 AM (Q/itq)

9 Fred's stock just skyrocketed as far as I'm concerned. This incident is just the latest Fred has handled with grace and style. Here's a candidate who really understands the new media environment -- and has a sense of humor.

Posted by: Laika's Last Woof at December 22, 2007 01:45 AM (9ruXO)

10 Wasn't Bob Simon a big name on the NPR circuit?

Posted by: davod at December 22, 2007 04:34 AM (llh3A)

11 JC,

Simon was implying that Fred was sour and borderline insulting, completely missing the good natured banter that occurred, which the truncated quote tends to show. As do the video and pictures of the smiling faces.

Simon also states in his very first sentence that Fred never got off the bus, which is false.

Though Simon says it was "no big deal" he wasn't allowed to sit in on the interview with the local editor, he seems like he's pouting about it like a widdle girl. Man up, Simon.

Fred isn't lazy. Not finishing a quote--that's lazy.

Posted by: Noel at December 22, 2007 07:01 AM (0eKTE)

12 I like your Fred Thompson's steadfastness. It is a realistic approach that is sorely lacking in this country today. Some call it old school. I call it the Fred Thompson reality check. Whats the new creedo 'man up' ha thats a good one. It must be a girl thing!

Posted by: vince spataro at December 22, 2007 09:59 AM (Cwho3)

13 Yes y'all the MSM has a impossible time with truth, but they are great on lies, slander, innuendo, short lines etc., but it rarely bothers FRED, he walks so tall among the slobs and ignores most all the junk!

A good man, a real man, and the leader of America in 2008--Join me voters --Fred's tops with class, toughness, brains and manners too!!!

Posted by: jftous at December 23, 2007 01:45 AM (pn7ik)

14 just for the record - a fireman's hat IS a silly hat. c'mon, do you ever see anyone over the age of 12 wearing one out in public? i bet if you count hats at your local mall you'll see more guys in berets than in firefighter hats! not even firefighters wear it unless they are fighting a fire. and then they wear it because of its functionality, not because its cool.

Posted by: chas at December 24, 2007 12:58 AM (6a+Fd)

15 I'm fairly new at this blog thing and would like to know what does URL stand for?Fred sounds like he is the man for the job. The more I hear what he stands for the more I like him.He sounds like he is a man of his word.

Posted by: Gary at December 25, 2007 09:24 AM (BZHuI)

16 Gary, URL is short for Uniform Resource Locator... or some people would say Universal for the "U" (you say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to...). Basically, that's the technical term for a web address. For instance, www.confederateyankee.mu.nu is a URL.

I could go on, but that's enough geekiness for one Christmas morning.

Posted by: C-C-G at December 25, 2007 11:09 AM (4tS0i)






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