This story is funny. The Libs will have a "Field Day" with this one...

the liberal media is really pulling at strings to use a "Nixon quote"

Say what you will about Nixon, he was a very smart guy. He probably would have found most of us dumb as well.

Thompson is as dumb as a stump.

Thompson needs to take credit for bringing Nixon down before you remember how hard he tried to prop him up. We see the wonderful republican trait of trying to destroy the government from within that emerged in the mid 1920's, was catapulted by Nixon, and gained steam under ronnie rayguns, until the bushbabies brought US to fruition. FADE to the MAINSCREAM media and their talking heads to parse this out for you...

Well this should just about do his campain in! A proven liar and willing to subvert the Constitution and put party before country. Typical republican.

McCain advisor, formerly Bush advisor, Mark McKinnon, who is also founder of Public Strategies, was a cocaine dealer during the early eighties. His history as a former cocaine dealeri in Austin during the eighties was notorious and his legend lives on in many places around the capital of music. . McKinnon's
history has been quieted by his good guy reputation
back then, but few of his old cronies today talk to
him.

Fred Thompson secretly helping tricky Dick, and THEN taking credit for toppling him?

What a shallow opportunist.

I sure miss Nixon, that was a man's man. No pussyfooting around with this political correctness crap. Why do I want it done? Because I told you so. May his soul rest in peace...

So, we are not taking NIXON's word to discredit Thompson? We're now going to side with the man Thompson was investigating? Nice.

I've read elsewhere that a Republican "staffer" asked a question of Buzhardt private testimony and was told of the 'tapes'. A Democratic Staffer later picked up on that and got more details. DASH was asked by BAKER if "his side" could ask the question about the tapes during the PUBLIC Committee meeting. Baker than "invited" Thompson to ask the question. Thompson had nothing to do with the discovery of the taping system - only "invited" to ask the powerful question that was the public foundation for the rest of his political future!

I'm with stupid! No wonder that is his campaign slogan.

Another lazy, Republican idiot in the White House. Just what we need. You Republicans have turned our country into a joke.

Sounds like the man we need to run this country. Reagan was judged as a dumb Actor. I hope this one(Actor)will be as good.

Tapes are cool -- but only when our media reports all of the news - all of the time. From the Progressive Review, 1998:

-- While the press has no problem reporting such stories about Barry (or
Dan Quayle for that matter), it has not told the public about the existence
of a police tape of Roger Clinton describing his own cocaine trafficking
and saying of his brother, "Got to get some for my brother; he's got a nose
like a vacuum cleaner."

-- A former informant for a drug task force in Arkansas tells Ambrose
Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph that she supplied Bill with cocaine
during his first terms as governor. On one occasion, according to the woman,
"He was so messed up that night, he slid down the wall into a garbage can."

I'm not surprised at all. The guy is a slimeball lobbyist. What, did you people think he had scruples? lol...I have this swamp land I'm selling...

Dumb as Hell? Folks: meet Fred Thompson, our next President.

Very interesting post. Thanks.

America needs a real leader, not another dumb, smiling Republican mediocrity like Bush whose only real qualification is that he's "idologically correct." The GOPs inflexible ideological straightjacket is killing America!

Thanks for putting the tape on line, but haven't we read these quotes before?

I guess it boils down to who would you rather have over for dinner -- Nixon or Thompson?

The good news for Thompson is that being dumb was not an obstacle for the current President.

Comments from fourty years ago? Brian, wouldm't it be interesting to have tapes about you at that age? See what people realy thought?

You can smell the republican desperation. Projecting their delusions on the empty suit of Thompson the Christian Taliban zealots are DESPERATE and imigaine him to be Reaganesque.

Time to pay the piper. There is a price to pay when you hitch your failing cronyism and anti-american authoritarianism to Bush's wagon.

Good riddance.

We survived 8 years of Ron and George the second, Thompson should be perfect.The United States now will have proof that the office President is really not necessary, congress can screw things up without any help from the Whitehouse.

Your timeline seems a little off. If the last comments you quote were made by Buzhardt in June 1973 (which is what your story indicates), then it was more than a year before Nixon resigned, which was in August 1974.

Nixon never had any dealings with GWB. If so, he would have thought Fred Thompson was a genius!

the guy's the perfect choice

To say that Thompson is "dumb as hell" in no way distinguishes him from the current commander-in-chief and also suggests he would make a good nominee for the party.

Yes, Nixon would have found most of us dumb, even the dumb ones.

It seems the press is doing everything it can to shoe string Senator Thompson's presidential campaign. It is surprising the press would use Nixon quotes for charactor reference. In the 70's most people thought Nixon was like a used car salesman with posters saying "would you buy a used car from this man?"

I'm glad to see someone is onto this story. But, you missed a VERY important part of this story. Thompson has for years gotten away with claiming the mantle of the one who exposed the taping system when he asked the question about it in open session when in actuality he was busy WARNING the Nixon White House ABOUT the discovery of the taping system behind the back of the committee. As you have pointed out in your story, Thompson violated the confidentiality of the committee investigation and acted as a mole for the White House.

Ironically, he was given the honor by his mentor, Sen. Howard Baker, of asking the question about the tape system - discovered during private session by one of the investigators on the team - in open hearing. He and Baker both realized that it would reflect well on Thompson and the minority if he asked this question.

It's simply mind boggling that he now gets away with the claim that it was he, Thompson, that was responsible for revealing the taping system when in actuallity he was the one who tipped the White House off about it. And, it's equally mind boggling that you have missed what is an even more important aspect of this story - not only did Thompson violate the confidentiallity of the investigation but he has lied for years that he was the one responsible for nailing Nixon by revealing the taping system.

Here, let me make this easy for you. Imagine that Al Gore has just mentioned in an interview that he was instruemental in passing legislation that helped launch the internet. Now, imagine making that into a front page story about Gore making a dishonest claimi to have invented the internet. Only in the case of Thompson, there IS a false claim and there IS a lie that should be a front page story.

Sorry I don't have time to give you some links for research but it should be easy to find the documentation for this.

People need to remember who Nixon was. I viewed him as arrogant, condescending, and bigoted. I don't think that it's surprising that he had a low opinion of everyone else around him.

Typical Liberal Media, put down the Republican candidates and prop up the Democratics (especially Queen Hillary). Where is the "real" news article about the investigation into Henry Shu and when did/where Hillary turn that dirty money back into? What would Nixon call Hillary Clinton?

Isn't this story several months old?

Only bad actors (reagan) make good presidents. Good actors (thompson-law and order/hunt for red october) make bad presidents.

You are always attacking those who are not liberal. Those who are liberal and live in liberal ways that are of your persuasion seem to be spared the dug up bull that quickly shoots them down as you report. There are many who are getting their news elsewhere because you cannot willingly simply report the news.
Yes you buy your ink by the train car load and that is your advanage, but the public can sure let the flim flam you write go unheard of. It is sad that we the public can't rely on honest news. But when you put a figure up on your screen to tell the public what has happened, if he is not liberal you have to report on him or her then put him down so as to discredit. Why? Why can't you be balanced in your reporting? I don't expect an answer but that is how I feel about ABC reporting.

Baker isn't a dumb Senator, he just plays one on t.v. and 'da movees.' say what you will about Tricky Dick -- he makes the entire field of current GrOPers seem like the petulant corporate whore boyz they iz -- too dumb to count even a hanging chad. thank you, the Ghost of Dick Nixon. at least you know a pack of ghouls when you see 'em! ;)

Thompson was a US Senator in 2002, we were at war in Afghanistan, getting ready to start another war with Iraq, and Thompson thought the best use of his time was to quit the Senate to follow his minimalist acting career on Law & Order? Why should we believe he is really interested in public affairs now?

"And he said he realized his responsibility was going to have to be as a Republican increasingly."

Says it all, doesn't it?

RE: Fred Thompson secretly helping tricky Dick, and THEN taking credit for toppling him?

Sounds good to me!

"Dumb as hell"? That means Republicans will vote for him in droves.

OMG! that's hysterical! I voted for Nixon and proud of it. Aside from his missteps, he was considered to be one of the most intellectual presidents we've ever had just like Clinton.

This of course doesn't surprise me as I follow politics, talking points and all the candidates very closely. Even though I'll never vote republican again, I still follow all the peeps in politics closely... many of us already knew he's a dumb lazy bunny.. but it's great this new news came out. Every bit of important details that get out, hopefully a few more of those ignorant red staters will read and wake-up.. and get a clue.

they like fred for the same reasons they like bush.. cuz he's a good ole boy... not because he has a brain cell to stand on or any qualifications or ability to be in washington.

it was one sad day, the day bush was put in ofc... one very sad day for this country that we may take a century to recover from..

I never thought I would see a President come along and actually make me nostalgic for Nixon. If Tricky Dick thought Thompson was dumb, he would have mistaken this bunch in the White House for turnips.

Thompson dumbson and a lazy one too.

Ol' Fred doesn't have a chance anyway. In order to get elected you've got to want the job more than life itself and he looks like he's barely interested. If the other Republican candidates don't crucify him, then Hillary certainly will. He needs to either get serious or back out.

Nixon? As Hunter S. Thompson said "His body should have been burned in a garbage can." He is mentor and spiritual guru of the Bush Administration.

P.T. Barnum said it "There is a sucker born every minute" that is America, a land of sub-par T.V. addicted fools. Believe it or not the French were once the greatest military power in Europe, 200 years ago, that is America in 50 years. Dumb just gets dumber.It really doesn't matter which empty suit we put in the oval office, the outcome will be the same,so make sure the fridge has plenty of cold ones and ease back in the recliner, its going to be a nice slide.

Can't remember a Republican ever being hurt much politically just for being stupid.

Sure Thompson may be dumb as a post, but come on, he's played a president on TV. For conservative dead-enders you can hardly come up with a better qualification than that.

Anyone sophisticated enough to be bothered by Thompson being a simpleton wouldn't have voted for him anyway.

And I was naive enough to think that the idea of a prosecutor was to prosecute. I didn't know that the prosecutor was a member of the defense. And he took an oath of office to defend the constitution of the united states. Instead, he works as a mole for the criminals.

So much for being a law and order guy. I guess being a law and order guy takes more than just playing one on TV.

Saying Fred Thompson is as dumb as a stump really isn't fair...to the stumps, of course. Besides, I think stumps in general would have far more integrity than Mr. "Law and Order."

I cannot vote FOR anyone - I can only vote AGAINST Hillary. Sad, isn't it.
I guess I had rather have 'dumb' than devious. I just can't trust her.

Robert, did you here they have quotes from Mr. Ed

Perfect. No need for any elections as I see it, just appoint this idiot now so he can complete the destruction of America that the Republicans so desire.

The reason Watergate happened was because Nixon was paranoid that he was being implicated in the JFK coverup and murder. Nixon talking about Thompson as a 'friendly' , is really saying that he is friendly to the cause of the CIA/BUSH controlled mafioso.

See the 'JFK & Bush connection' full length documentary at google video, for a non partison expose of the murderous people who control the US government, liberals and republicans - its just a stage - setup to magnify human differences while changing public policy to the fit the C.F.R and other New World Order pushing agendas. To merge us into a one world economy, government and religion and remove our God given liberties!

"You are always attacking those who are not liberal. Those who are liberal and live in liberal ways that are of your persuasion seem to be spared the dug up bull that quickly shoots them down as you report. There are many who are getting their news elsewhere because you cannot willingly simply report the news.
Yes you buy your ink by the train car load and that is your advanage, but the public can sure let the flim flam you write go unheard of. It is sad that we the public can't rely on honest news. But when you put a figure up on your screen to tell the public what has happened, if he is not liberal you have to report on him or her then put him down so as to discredit. Why? Why can't you be balanced in your reporting? I don't expect an answer but that is how I feel about ABC reporting."

What the hell are you talking about, it's on tape, it's fact, you can listen for yourself??

If Nixon was so damm smart how come he was the one resigning the Presidency? Ego, hubris, and self-centered greed seem to trump the brain everytime.

Like an endorsement from Nixon would be good? I thought ABC News lived to smear republicans with any little bit of hear say they could dig up or make up.

One down, fourteen to go.

What's real funny is somehow John Dean has become this pillar of truth and integrity now that he is bashing repubs...Geez this guy did time didn't he, Just shows how far lefties will go to push any lie..What a colossal weasel Dean is

I knew Ronald Reagan. He was governor of my state for 8 years. Fred Thompson is no Ronald Reagan. That being said, Mitt Romney is no Brigham Young, Rudy Giuliani is no Mario Cuomo, and Mike Huckabee is no D.J. Bonebrake. Face it, Redublicans, you're cooked.

Happy Trails...to you...until we meet again....Happy trails to you.......watching the republicans falter...is like taking a new bride to the altar...Happy trails to you repubs...when we meet again..

Fred Thompson is definitely a dud, continuing to fizzle out and underimpress with his first debate performance. If he wants to connect with voters, he'll have to quit looking at the podium and start looking people in the eye.

As for me, give me Huckabee!

Nixon may have been almost as crooked as Reagan and Bush, but no one ever accused him of being as stupid as those two .

Paul Simon had it right years ago in "At the Zoo.:

..And the elephants are kindly, but they're dumb....

"Another lazy, Republican idiot in the White House. Just what we need. You Republicans have turned our country into a joke."

To the rest of the world, it isn't a joke. Especially a "lazy, Republican idiot" able to start wars, lie and cheat, bomb or invade other countries at will, killing their own sons and daughters as well as hundreds of thousands of innocent children, men and women, destroying property, polluting the environment with Agent Orange, depleted uranium, unexploded munitions.

>> -- A former informant for a drug task force in Arkansas tells Ambrose
Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph that she supplied Bill with cocaine
during his first terms as governor. On one occasion, according to the woman,
"He was so messed up that night, he slid down the wall into a garbage can."

i'd like to see this article -- what's the issue and date for the newspaper?

thanks

All of the GOP candidates will be extremely easy to beat in 2008 regardless of who the democratic candidate is but i'm hoping it will be thompson -- he's hilarious although i must say guilani would be almost as much fun to kick around.

Won't vote for Thompson because he's CFR

There is simply no reason to launch such an attack on Fred Thompson. He probably has a snow ball's chance anyway? Why stoop to this?

Never seen a larger collection of idiots and paranoid delusionals than those that have posted before me...

You are all wasting air...

AGENT ORANGE was used in Vietnam from 1961 through JFK and LBJ. Stop being a Lazy Lib and educate yourself.

Corrupt?
To Date the Clintons have accepted money from Known Chinese Military Agents ( Huang, Chang and Trie) Buddhist Temple Fronts for the Commies and 2 Fugitives, Hsu and Marc Rich.

Thompson IS dumb as hell.
Does America really need another dumb as hell president?
I think not.

This is a low-blow... Does anyone really believe ANYTHING Nixon or his staff said during that time? I sure hope not. It's not very fair of Mr. Ross to trudge up tapes that can never be truly vetted as Nixon is DEAD! And, what about the staffer heard talking? Who is that, and what kind of character does THAT guy have/had? Is HE still alive? I guess no-one even considers the fact that these staffer could've been lying to Nixon about Thompson, or that Thompson may have been playing the game to get the TRUTH... I would guess that Thompson was and IS a lot smarter than Nixon gave him credit for. Again, another low-blow for the liberal media... Why don't you just put up a Hillary campaign sign behind your desks and get it over with... Gessh...

I'd love to hear what Nixon said about Hillary.

I thought Republicans didn't ever say anything bad about their own? Or is that a Post-Reagan mantra? I will say that Nixon was asute at sizing people, unlike many of today's partisan politicians who can't seem to see that Bush is a failure as a president and an advocate of the law.

Fred Thompson cooperates with the Nixon White House during the Watergate investigation and now he wants to be president? I guess they'll be no Law and Order if Fred's elected . . .

I'll have to agree with Nixon on this one. If he's dumber than Bush, the republicans walk a mile in the snow to vote for him. He just looks over the hill.

Wow! Nixon didn't like Thomson? That's gotta really cause some progressives to have smoe mixed emotions about Fred now!

Currently, we have a president who can't chew and swallow a pretzel without choking, or ride a bike without hitting someone with it. We all know he can't express a coherent thought or complete a sentence without mangling our language.
So the bar is pretty low and the hoop is very wide regarding requirements. Still I wonder about the whole GOP lot.
At least one can say ole Frederick of Hollywood and of course, that's no mean feat.
So Fred was a mole for Nixon, huh?

Description of an elephant?

If Nixon didn't like him, that is all the more reason to vote for the man. I don't see his being all that dumb. Maybe a bit intimidated at first in the debates but that will change too. Better Thompson, or most any Republican, than Hillary. Now there is one smart cookie & all will pay dearly for it if she is elected. Something just not right about that one, as if this is a new discovery. The only positive on Hill is maybe she would return the rest of the items they took when Billy Boy left the White House. Nixon was one of the greatest embarrassments to the USA ever. GWB isn't exactly leaving us with a good rep. either but at least he isn't "a crook".

SURE NIXON WAS SMART!! HE WAS SOO SMART THAT HE WAS BUSTED FOR WATERGATE WITHOUT ANYBODY'S HELP!! NORMALLY,WE DO NEED HELP...BUT THIS CAT? HEAVY!!!!

You liberals out there are ridiculous. About as shallow and hollow as you're leading candidate Hilarious Clinton. Talk about someone with no qualifications other than having lived in the White House, and sitting idly in the Senate. What has she done! The Democrats, if elected to the Presidency will completely destroy this country.

oh come on, like you or anyone else in the world gives/gave NIXON credit for anything. That just shows you how smart people are nowdays, quote NIXON. Oh well, go ahead, laughing at you makes my day.

Entirely fascinating coverage of an era we should all remember for it was during that time that the outter layers were removed from the inner workings of government. Thompson's high visibility took wings then so it is particularly relevant to ponder a deeper analysis of who was on first, etc. I did meet Nixon in 1968, more than once, and encountered an emotional mess, a man so insecure within himself he could barely countenance strangers, an entirely unsociable zombie whose inability to even make normal eye contact with me convinced me I was in the presence of an incredibly strange individual.

What does it matter who is in Washington. We will ALL be praying to the east in a few years anyway.

-- A former informant for a drug task force in Arkansas tells Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph that she supplied Bill with cocaine during his first terms as governor. On one occasion, according to the woman, "He was so messed up that night, he slid down the wall into a garbage can".

I can't believe someone would post this garbage. How can you compare the dubious statement of a presumably criminal informant to that of an authentic tape from the National Archives of a president in the Oval Office? You really can't see the difference? Well I'm glad you don't run a major media outlet.

Just a thought, but wasn't Thompsons aide one of Bush 41 and Ollie North's drug mules as Thompson was subvering the rule of law to protect Nixon who was a Prescot Bush lackey forced upon Eisenhour's 52 ticket! The entire Bush mafia is nothing more than a whitehouse whitewash of a crimminal conspiricy going back to the fraternal and paternal grandparents of this generation of chickenhawks. Read your history before you let another skull and bones don ruin you world further for you are running out of time and resources to save America.