30 July, 2007

neocon republicans

The leading GOP contenders are all die-hard fans of the war. And the newest star in the show--Fred Thompson, the former Republican senator from Tennessee, onetime lobbyist and TV actor who has all but officially announced his candidacy--might be the most neoconnish of all.

Thompson, a prominent member of the Libby defense fund, called for Bush to pardon the former Cheney chief of staff. While doing so, Thompson repeatedly misstated core facts of the CIA leak case. Deriding special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Thompson, who played a prosecutor on Law & Order, insisted that Valerie Plame Wilson was not covered by the Intelligence Identities Protection Act--though indeed she was.

Thompson has a strong claim on the neoconservative heart. If he ends up in the White House, the neocons will rise again.

No comments: