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Why You Won't Hear Fred Thompson's Latest Speech
Topic Started: May 13 2007, 06:16 AM (97 Views)
QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05...enough-meeting/

Quote:
 

Fred Thompson’s Just-Secret-Enough Meeting
By Sarah Wheaton

Fred D. Thompson, the “Law & Order” star and subject of much speculation about his presidential ambitions, is practically above our head right now, speaking to a secretive group of conservative heavyweights and activists.
The Council on National Policy is so secretive, in fact, that they kicked us off the entire floor of the Ritz-Carlton here in Tysons Corner, Va., before we could even try to get in to the closed-press dinner where Mr. Thompson is speaking right now. The former Tennessee senator is considering a bid for the Republican nomination, and his current popularity in the polls —ahead of many of the declared candidates — is a reflection of both admiration he holds within the party and the base’s dissatisfaction with the current crop of candidates.
We did, however, catch Mr. Thompson in the elevator on his way up to a private meeting with a select group of the council. He declined to talk, saying he was at the “behest” of the group and its schedule.
Tonight’s speech was anticipated by some political observers as a second chance for the former Tennessee senator after a speech to Orange County, Calif., Republicans on May 4. Robert D. Novak, the conservative columnist, called the speech “lackluster,” and others criticized it as too low-key and plagued by technical problems.

An associate of Mr. Thompson said the speech was “completely different” from the Orange County address. It would focus on “the rule of law and how that comes into play in civil society,” he said. Mr. Thompson would also discuss his experience guiding John Roberts, now the chief justice of the Supreme Court, through the confirmation process.
As was the case before his speech in California, there were rumors that Mr. Thompson would announce his candidacy. The associate said those were not true, adding that the speech is “not political.”
A prepared text is not available, aides said, because Mr. Thompson speaks extemporaneously from notes.
Formed almost 26 years ago by the Rev. Tim LaHaye, the author of the “Left Behind” series about an apocalyptic Second Coming, the Council for National Policy includes high-profile figures representing the spectrum of the conservative movement, such as Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association and Grover Norquist, the anti-tax lobbyist.
Then-Gov. George W. Bush met with the group in 1999 to seek its approval of his primary campaign. Wary of the top-tier Republicans, the council heard earlier this year from Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Representative Duncan Hunter of California. In each, members found something left to be desired in terms of both politics and policy.
The group’s meetings, held about three times yearly, are highly secretive. Not only is the press barred from attending, but the bylaws also ban members from discussing the meetings.

It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
Go Fred!



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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Does the NYT have some problem with like minded folks peacefully assembling and carrying on their business in private?
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
Quote:
 
Grover Norquist, the anti-tax lobbyist


My kind of guy! :thumb:
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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
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George K
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Finally
ivorythumper
May 13 2007, 03:19 PM
Does the NYT have some problem with like minded folks peacefully assembling and carrying on their business in private?

[size=1](shhh...it's a conspiracy....now that we brought down the twin towers, the world is ours!)[/size]
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
Gee, I'll bet you could just see the evil oozing out from under the door of the meeting. :rolleyes2: What a stupid, agenda-driven attempt at writing; what a waste of ink and time publishing it.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

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George K
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Finally
It's OK, Dewey, we're not going to see their tax returns either.

No Disclosure: Presidential Candidates Defy Tradition, Refuse to Release Taxes

ince Watergate, Only Clinton Refused to Release Income Information

By JENNIFER RUBIN
May 11, 2007—


Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.,worked for a hedge fund while heading a poverty center in between his presidential campaigns. But since he isn't telling, voters can't know how much money he earned.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., says his wife, Ann, once donated to Planned Parenthood, but that he never contributed to an abortion-rights group himself. But there's no way for the media and the public to check that claim.


Candidates Keep Taxes in the Dark

In a break with the tradition of recent presidential campaigns, most of the major presidential candidates aren't releasing their income-tax filings.

Edwards has indicated that he will keep his tax returns private, and while Romney is still considering his options, he has never released his returns in previous runs for office.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., aren't saying whether they will or not, but neither has released income tax forms filed this year.

That means voters are likely to know less about the income sources, personal wealth and charitable inclinations of the presidential candidates than in any election in the past generation.

"When you run for president, you really have to open yourself up to the American people," said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause, a government watchdog group. "If you're asking voters of this country to elect you as president, it's reasonable and rational that your tax returns are made public."


Tax Release Common Post-Watergate

The release of candidates' tax forms has become common practice in presidential campaigns since the Watergate era of the early '70s.

Since 1984, only one major-party presidential candidate -- Bill Clinton in 1992 -- has refused to release the tax forms he sent to the Internal Revenue Service.

In 1996, Clinton did release his forms, and Republican nominee Bob Dole released his tax returns going back 30 years.

Candidates, including 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, were criticized for not releasing their spouses' returns but offered no resistance to releasing their own.

Yet as the 2008 election draws near, the only top-tier candidate who has committed to releasing his 1040 forms is Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who already made public the return he filed this year.

Rudolph Giuliani, R-N.Y., released his while he served as New York City's mayor but has not said whether he will revive the practice during his presidential run. (The tax forms from his mayoralty presented an unwelcome distraction to his campaign this week, when reporters tallied up six separate donations he and his then-wife made in the 1990s to Planned Parenthood, a prominent abortion-rights group.)
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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