As we all (well, most) struggle to make ends meet in a bleak economy, it's good to know that there are failed millionaire presidential-hopeful blowhards who can't wait to wag their finger at us for having the audacity to seek solutions to our problems that do not involve idiots like them. They keep us on our toes to make sure we do the complete opposite of their condescending advice.
On the flip, watch in horror as actor/phony politician Fred Thompson attempts to stay relevant while spouting Republican talking points and trying to be funny.
If you made it through all eight minutes of that tripe, congratulations. Myself, I started pulling my hair out (what's left, anyway) about, oh, 11 seconds in:
I've been with the government in Washington, so I've come to understand the complexities of it all. The intricacies of the economy that may be over the head of the average person who only applies common sense to these matters.
Excuse me? The only complexities and intricacies of the economy that Fred Thompson understands are his residual checks from the 842 episodes of Law and Order that air every day. There is a reason this fool lost his party’s nomination for the presidency, and there is a reason his party tries to nominate fools like him in the first place. They encouraged this crap because it made them and their friends more money than you and I can even possibly fathom when the getting was good. Now everything is tumbling down and the cat is out of the bag--their policies and their ways of thinking are literally and figuratively bankrupt.
Here’s a transcriptfor you, when ol’ Freddy was still considered a leading candidate for President. Let’s glean all we can from his prescient sensibilities:
CAVUTO: ...are you concerned about a recession?
THOMPSON: No. No. You have got to understand that recessions happen, and that we have been in an extraordinarily long period without one. But it's, what, 22 successive quarters now of economic growth...
CAVUTO: Right.
THOMPSON: ...ever since the tax cuts kicked in. But inflation rates, unemployment rates, all those are good indicators. I think we're part of a healthy global economy. And I think, as long as we stick to the principles we believe in, in this country — and that is market economies, and competition, free Americans with each other, engage in world trade, innovation — we are going to be OK. Clearly, the Fed looked down the road and saw a little something there, and with their drop in rates recently. But they're always trying to stay ahead of the hounds a little bit. And, hopefully, they did.
***
CAVUTO: ...But this view, the doom-and-gloomers who say, hey, get ready for more doom, more gloom, you don't buy that?
THOMPSON: No. No. I don't see — you always have to be mindful in terms of our fiscal policies and what we are doing with the economy, which direction do the people that it's going to go in. I think, if Wall Street decides that we're going to go into a period where we tax-and-spend ourselves into oblivion, then we're all going to be in trouble.
That's what this next election probably is going to largely hinge on. But I think, for right now, if we stick to the basics, and do what made us a great nation, that there is no reason why we can't continue the prosperous times that we have now.
It goes on like that, but you get the idea. This video made me furious. People like Fred Thompson have no clue. No clue. All they have are talking points: tax and spend. Liberals. Entitlements. Free market. Blah blah blah. They hate the idea of government, so they do everything they can to take control of it, run it into the ground, and say, "Told ya so!" But not before they take their cut first. Meanwhile, ordinary people suffer.
So let’s take Fred’s advice. Let’s cut spending everywhere. Let our infrastructure continue to crumble because it costs too much to fix. Let’s continue to drive cars that suck up oil like a sponge because it costs too much to invest in new technology or mass transportation. Keep fighting wars and killing Americans to secure that oil. Let’s cut benefits. You lost your job? Sorry, no unemployment insurance for you. Oh, you lost your job and now you’re sick? Sorry, your health care went bye-bye with the job. Just take some aspirin, and remember—you’re guaranteed health care anyway because you can always go to the emergency room.
This video encapsulates perfectly the reason why Republicans have been soundly rejected the last two election cycles. They offer nothing new in ideas and no empathy for the common person; just condescension and a wag of the cigar-stinked finger.
Suck it, Fred.