Fred Thompson

Forgive me, my devoted Cake Eater readers, I stayed home tonight.  I wanted to actually watch the speeches, rather than having to listen to crappy sound at the highest ring of the X.  Although, I suppose I could have gone into the ladies room and listened, because they pipe sound into the bathrooms, lest some rabid hockey fan miss a power play whilst doing their business, but, that would have been uncomfortable, I'm sure you'd agree.  

I'm not really sure anyone is interested, but here are my observations...

• Fred killed. What a speech! God, if I'd actually received the "embargoed until delivery" copy of the speech before he'd given it, I totally would have violated the rule, and gotten myself in big trouble. There was no better person to defend Sarah Palin. At the press conference this morning, it would have been obvious to a blind man on a galloping horse that he was exercised about the media's---and the Obama camp---treatment of her. He stood up for the lady, and got a few smacks upside the Democrats' big, fat, collective head in the meanwhile. But it was his actor skills that really got across the message of just what John McCain suffered while he was a resident of the Hanoi Hilton. You could have heard a pin drop as he described McCain's injuries and the treatment he endured. I'm not really sure that anyone else could have done as well. "Now, being a POW certainly doesn't qualify anyone to be President. But it does reveal character. This is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders." Amen, brother! Unfortunately, it appears that none of the major networks actually carried his speech. Fuckers.

• I thought Lieberman was quite effective, but he'll pay a price for his effectiveness. Saying, "Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times." is not going to endear him to his former masters. But more to the point, I suspect that Al Gore's former VP pick doesn't give a rat's ass.
• If it was up to me, I would have switched Lieberman and Thompson's speeches, and ended the night on the high Fred gave the audience. I'm not saying that Lieberman wasn't good---he was. I am, however, saying is that you deliver the fish course before you serve the red meat.
• Normy Boy delivered a very nice welcome to the delegates. St. Paul really was in dire straits when he was elected mayor, way back in the day. He wasn't kidding when he said it was the only place in America that a McDonald's closed because it wasn't making enough money. The arena where this convention is being held was, pretty much, Norm's idea. He got it financed, partially with government bonding, if I remember correctly, but the important thing is that the place is paid off, and it's not even ten years old. You can thank the State of Hockey for that, and Norm was the one who realized that bringing the NHL back to the State of Hockey could help St. Paul in ways that no other business could. St. Paul thrives because of what Norm did for that city. Al Franken can suck it as far as I'm concerned. Writing for Saturday Night Live and then bloviating in an extremely uneducated way on a bankrupt Air America does not compare to bringing a city back from the brink.
• Sadly, I missed Michelle Bachmann's speech. Oh, boo hoo. I'm so disappointed.

And there you have it. I'll be heading back over to St. Paul in the morning for another RedState/Google event with a mystery speaker. I have NO idea who this person might be, but they warned us to make sure that we all wore our badges, to make sure we could get through all the extra security. Hmmmm. Check back tomorrow to find out who it is.

This morning, I headed over to St. Paul (again) to attend a brunch hosted by Redstate and Google where former Senator Fred Thompson spoke.  The event was at the Crowne Plaza hotel, with one of the best views of the Mississippi river I've ever seen.  I was originally told the brunch was at eleven, and that was when Teh Fred was going to speak, but alas, the time must have been changed, because as soon as I'd gotten a danish and a glass of juice, Fred showed up and was ready to chat with the assembled bloggers.

Action Fred!  

(The guy uses his hands a lot when he talks.) 

He had some prepared remarks, mainly about what he's going to do for John McCain tonight, with his speech, and how he was going to highlight what an extraordinary man John McCain was.  Then he went on to talk about many things...and it was such an informative talk, that I figured the best thing to do, rather than summing it up for you, would be to post the audio here, so you can hear it for yourself.  And it will be posted shortly, in a separate post, because that's how we roll, my devoted Cake Eater readers.

.Some highlights:

• Yes, that's me asking the question about if McCain was elected, and he asked Fred to serve in his administration, would he do so?  Russ from Winterset set me up with that question, and I don't think it endeared me to Fred, although it did provide a nice response from him after he said it would be presumptuous of him to even address such a question. 

   

• Pay attention to what he has to say about the Sarah Palin situation---and he has PLENTY to say about it---and how the media has pretty much thrown caution to the wind in going after her, and that, he believes, in general, there will be a backlash against the media for their pro-Obama stance. 

 

• A few memorable quotes from his remarks, before questions:

"The mainstream media wouldn't know a scandal if it was walking down main street, under a searchlight.  Unless it was a Republican."

 "Like everyone, I fell for the story that John McCain's campaign was over.  Someone asked me yesterday what I learned from my campaign and I said the main thing I learned is not to underestimate John McCain."

 "It's no time to turn the keys to your car over to a fourteen-year-old in heavy traffic."