This is the savior of the Republican Presidential sweepstakes for 2008?  (via Bloomberg)

His career has also been characterized by bouts of what even some allies describe as a detachment that sometimes verges on laziness, and by providential help from influential backers….

Some also wondered whether he had the drive required for political combat. A Republican aide who has played central roles in both Tennessee politics and Washington spoke with Thompson a few years ago about a possible run for governor. The aide said he told Thompson the next governor would have to take on two arduous tasks: fixing the state’s health-care system and balancing the budget. Shortly after the conversation, Thompson announced he wouldn’t run….

In the end, Thompson may find the prospect of a turn in the world’s brightest spotlight too tempting to pass up. High-school friends and teachers in Lawrenceburg recall that Thompson showed an early hunger for public affirmation, particularly on the football field.

“He wasn’t a real good football player because he liked to have fun and didn’t take it that serious,” said Garner Ezell, 74, a former assistant coach for the team. “He was popular and he liked attention, and would do things to get it.”

In one incident recalled by Ezell and others, Thompson appeared to be injured during a game. The coach ran out to see if he was all right and a smiling Thompson greeted him by asking, “How’s the crowd taking it?”

That Sally Quinn sure can pick them, huh?  An attention-seeking ham, a liar and a cheat, and a slack-ass to boot, all wrapped up in one egomaniacal, jowly package. 

Don’t think one little football incident qualifies as a character flaw in the truth-telling department?  Well, how about this string of half-truths and outright distortions as documented by Media Matters.  (H/T to Scarecrow for the link.)  And, in addition to raising defense funds for Vice Presidential ass-covering felon Scooter Libby, Thompson has represented a host of savory individuals and corporations as a high-priced lobbyist:

The actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee added, “Nobody yet has pointed out any of my clients that didn’t deserve representation.”Thompson, who likes to cast himself as a political outsider, earned more than $1 million lobbying the federal government for more than 20 years. He lobbied for a savings-and-loan deregulation bill that helped hasten the industry’s collapse and a failed nuclear energy project that cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars.

He also was a lobbyist for deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was widely criticized for endorsing “necklacing,” the gruesome practice of execution where gasoline-soaked tires are thrown over a person’s neck and set ablaze.

In September 1991, Aristide said: “The burning tire, what a beautiful tool! … It smells good. And wherever you go, you want to smell it.”

For even more on Thompson’s KStreet days, see here about helping another client to limit liability for asbestos-related illnesses.  I mean, honestly, how bad are you as a Republican candidate when even NewsMax says you’d represent anyone for anything, as long as they paid you money?  Look like Howard Baker’s golden boy is really all about the gold, whoever he has to step over to get it.

We’ve had enough Potted Shrub juvenile antics the last eight years, thank you very much, so I say we pass on Cocktail Weenie Fred (H/T to Bonkers).  The nation needs a leader, not a narcissistic untalented greedy spotlight hog.

PS — Jane has her last chemo treatment today, so please send her some spare thoughts and prayers.  She’s done amazingly well — would you have expected anything less? – but every little bit helps, and there is still more fight ahead of her from here.  It’s a great milestone, though, and we’re all pulling for a full recovery when this is all finished, because if anyone is a fighter, it’s Jane.  Go get ‘em, Jane! 

Also, I’m going to be on Thom Hartmann’s show today around 2:30 pm ET.  You can listen live here.

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