Fred Thompson is not Dr. Knox Pooley

Fred Thompson as Knox Pooley

The Democrat Party and its loony left core is nervous about the burgeoning popularity of Fred Thompson. When Fred first showed a public interest in seeking the Republican Presidential nomination a few months ago, Patterico's Pontifications posted How Will They Trash Fred Thompson?, asking readers to anticipate how the left would go about attacking Fred. It was a tough question, given that Fred Thompson seemingly has all the right stuff to win in '08.

One of Patterico's commenters came up with the fact that Fred had played a nasty role as a hypocritical, bigoted, racist, right wing cult leader and swindler, Knox Pooley, pictured above, who appeared in a few episodes of an abysmal undercover cop series from the 80's titled "Wiseguy". He played a bad guy on TV, maybe he is one. As absurdly reaching as this appears on its face, the LA Times has decided to run with it. Patterico has it here.

The LA Times published this piece: Will Fred Thompson's racist role have political repercussions? by Tina Daunt. It is a rhetorical question, but campaigns are largely about rhetoric, no? LA Times critics are piling on. More proof that the LA Times is a leftist screed that "no longer deserves to be taken seriously as a newspaper" according to Jim Geraghty at National Review, and more proof that the left has nothing else to use against Fred.

Ronald Reagan, the greatest President of the United States in my memory, was a Hollywood actor. Much was made of some of his sillier roles during his many political campaigns, such as Bedtime for Bonzo, where he co-starred with a chimpanzee. But Ron never brought a monkey into the Oval Office. Heck, Ron wouldn't even take off his jacket in the office, let alone unzip his fly for a chubby intern. And Bill Clinton wasn't even in the movies.

If this is all the liberals have to use against Fred Thompson, I'm going to go ahead and book a room in DC for the inauguration. As Tim Hays puts it: I have been "an admirer of Sen. Thompson from his days as CIA Director in No Way Out."
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More: Ponterico suggests that he was unduly harsh on Tina Daunt, the author of the LA Times article. You read it, I can't figure it out.

Radio Left: Geoff Staples covers the story here: We can use Fred Thompson's portrayal of white supremacist to destroy his POTUS dreams.

See more cool white supremacist screen captures of Knox Pooley at AMillionMonkeys.
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BTW: The cult that Fred's character Dr. Knox Pooley led was called the Pilgrims of Promise. It is also the name of a book based on the tragic Children's Crusades of 1212. Maybe the LA Times can find a way to use this connection with anti-Mohammedan Crusaders to smear Fred.
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