Fred Thompson: Al Qaeda smoking ban pushed Iraqis to U.S.

[kskiska]

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Freshly minted GOP White House hopeful Fred Thompson puzzled Iowans yesterday by insisting an Al Qaeda smoking ban was one reason freedom-loving Iraqis bolted to the U.S. side.

"They said, 'You gotta quit smoking,'" Thompson explained to a questioner asking about progress in Iraq during a town hall-style meeting.

Thompson said the smoking ban and terror tactics Al Qaeda used to oppress women and intimidate local leaders pushed tribes in western Anbar Province to support U.S. troops.

But Thompson's tale of a smokers' revolt baffled some in the audience of about 150 who came to decide whether the former Tennessee senator is ready for prime time.

"I don't know what that was about," said Jim Moran, 72, who had driven from nearby McCook Lake, S.D.

more…
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/09/08/2007-09-08_fred_thompson_al_qaeda_smoking_ban_pushe.html?ref=rss

[lligrd]

1. Great, Now We're Going to Have Thompsonisms

to keep track of. How do people support idiots like this?

[Bluebear]

2. "I don't know what that was about," said Jim Moran, 72 - when a MORAN doesn't get it . . .

...it's time to hang it up, Freddie.

[spindoctor]

13. LOL. I missed that one. n/t

:rofl:

[Swagman]

23. oh ...the .."get a brain" Morans again ..

[Ian_rd]

32. Moran(s) will still vote for him too, even though he's an idiot.

Next Thompson will say that Iraqis are fleeing because Al Qaeda wants to teach their children about evolution.

[ck4829]

3. K&R - What an idiot.

[Disturbed]

5. Al Q in Iraq are mainly foreigners & they are Fundies, like

the Taliban. Tribal Iraqis got fed up with them & the US saw an opportunity to get the Sunnis weapons & money to fight al Q. This would have happened without US help but it has happened faster with it. After al Q is dispatched will these Sunnis be peaceful & go along with the Central Govt.?

[NNN0LHI]

22. How do we know who Al Q in Iraq is?

Do they carry Al Q in Iraq identification cards with them?

Or do we have to take Bush and his thugs word for it?

Don

[immoderate]

42. You bring up some good questions...

A good rule is: Don't give weapons to people who hate you. Bush can't see that. Neither could Reagan.

--IMM

[Richard Steele]

4. What a dumbass. nm

[w13rd0]

6. So the way to win the War on Terror...

...is to get people in the middle east hooked on smokes?

Is Thompson STILL working as a tabacco lobbyist? Even while campaigning?

[BlooInBloo]

7. The old "it worked for gw, it'll work for me" tactic! Masterful execution!

[Raine]

8. God what a morAn!!!! nt

[Lucinda]

9. Well...we know he'll be the nominee now

Making absolutely no sense is 1. on the Candidate Selection Checklist

[TahitiNut]

10. "What's good for the GOP is good for America."

... and vice-versa? (After all, Democrats = anti-smokers = Al-Qaeda, right?)

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[CatWoman]

33. Damn!!

wait until they found out that Happy Hour has been abolished!!

:hi:

[TahitiNut]

35. Well, at least the two-minute-hate remains.

:silly:

:hi: :hug:

[tecelote]

11. No wait, it's true!

When they banned smoking in New York restaurants, a huge percentage of the population moved to Iraq! Then they banned smoking in Iraq and they had to move back.

The problem is that Thompson believes that Americans are idiots and he can say just about anything. Let's hope that it won't work for a third time in a row. Maybe, America will wake up.

[spindoctor]

12. I figured it out. lol

He's probably refering to the non-smoking campaign that was the first act of the newly appointed "Surgeon General" in Iraq.

The next Republican president will have a tough act to follow but it looks like there is no shortage of idiots in their dungeons.

[pnorman]

14. And what is HE smoking??

n/t

pnorman

[Swamp Rat]

15. LOLOLOL!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[blogslut]

16. Ahhh, the unscripted Fred.

May he continue to speak off book. No extra takes. No makeup. No background music. No crane shots.

[crispini]

17. W T F ? ? ?

:crazy:

[Enrique]

18. Fred Thompson: The Philip Morris Candidate

Fred Thompson: The Philip Morris Candidate

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/06/25/fred-thompson-the-philip_n_53736.html

Thompson's prospective presidential bid stands out in another respect: No campaign has been so dominated by staffers and advisers who have worked on behalf of Philip Morris, one of the world's leading tobacco conglomerates and a leading force in promoting cigarette smoking.


(...)

As for Thompson's personal ties to Philip Morris, they are evident not so much in the tobacco company's contributions to him -- just $13,000 to his two Senate campaigns -- but in how loaded his still unannounced presidential campaign is with people strongly tied to the tobacco company and its parent company, Altria.

Take Tom Collamore, who is expected to become Thompson's campaign manager. In 1992, Collamore went to work for Philip Morris and later became vice president of public affairs at Altria.

Howard Baker, who has been a top adviser to Thompson, represented Philip Morris as a lobbyist at Baker Donelson Bearman Berman Caldwell & Berkowitz in 1998 and 1999. Baker was paid $1.92 million for his work. In addition Baker represented four other tobacco companies during that period and received another $1.71 million from them.

[Bluebear]

20. - - -

[spanone]

19. fred is dumber than a stump

we're smoking over here so we don't have to go over there and smoke..eh fred? dumbass

[rucky]

21. Is this from The Onion?

Vote Thompson - for 4 more Surreal Years!

[spanone]

24. the great white hope will disappoint over and over again...just like he did in Tennessee

he's a lazy sonofabitch

[Snarkturian Clone]

25. Howard Stern

has been doing impressions of him saying goofy things. The only one I remember right now is: "We can solve poverty if we start building houses out of pizza... then poor people can live in them and eat them"

[TwilightGardener]

26. WTF? Pre-senile dementia, or just more "dumb as hell"?

[DeepModem Mom]

27. K&R

:eyes:

[Downtown Hound]

28. WE GOT THE SMOKERS! WE GOT THE SMOKERS!

YEAH BABY! U.S.A. RULES!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

29. Come for the tobacco! you'll stay for the manwiches!

:silly:

[struggle4progress]

30. We're helping them smoke over there so .. uh .. so .. eom

[Garbo 2004]

31. Now Thompson is writing for The Daily Show? LOL. Bizarre. n/t

[HughMoran]

34. Thompson is an idiot

His candidacy is going nowhere while making utterly stupid statements like that.

What a moran :rofl:

[Bluebear]

36. I cannot get enough of this! It's so bizarre, random, idiotic....

...name it, it has GOP written all over it, though!

[Buns_of_Fire]

37. ...and who said he couldn't "hit the ground running"???

I believe he's even outdone The Master. I think it took Bunnypants a week or so after he announced before he started speaking in forked tongues (of course, it took that week or so to dry him out). And here good ol' Freddy Farkle comes right out of the gate!

[DFW]

38. Boy George can't run again

SOMEbody has to step in and take the reins, after all...........

[LeftishBrit]

39. Now THAT'S terrorism!

A few little old bombs may be neither here nor there; but a smoking ban, now that's series11!!

[SkyIsGrey]

40. I wonder how fast his head will spin..

after he finds out about Al Qaeda's stance on abortion?

[Canuckistanian]

41. And here I thought it was the beef jerky

Live and learn.