Fred Thompson on '300'

Posted: Monday, March 19, 2007 5:27 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Republicans

From NBC's Mark Murray
Fred Thompson (R) might be a possible presidential contender, but the former senator/actor is also now moonlighting as movie reviewer. And in his review of "300" on Pajamas Media, he combines the political with the entertainment.

From Thompson's' review: "'300,' shows a small band of Spartans saving the lives of their countrymen AND the seeds of modern Democracy by kicking the much larger Persians forces effectively in the backside at Thermopylae until the shear numbers overwhelmed them. If I remember my history, that’s exactly what happened. But the Iranians have filed a flurry of complaints with the United Nations, claiming '300' is 'cultural and psychological warfare.' Who are these guys who are getting all flushed over our cultural insensitivity?

"People who want to blow Jews off the face of the earth. The regime that stormed our embassy in 1979 and kept Americans captive for 444 days. Iran’s Hezbollah puppets have killed more Americans, than any other terrorist group except Al Queda [sic]. Explosive devices from Iran are being used right now against our soldiers in Iraq...I must say that I’m impressed that Hollywood took on a politically incorrect villan [sic]. Must have run out of neo-Nazis. So now these sensitive souls in Iran think that Hollywood is part of a U.S. government conspiracy to humiliate them into submission. I can only wish we were that effective."

Update: Thompson also misspelled "shear [sic] numbers." That's at least three misspellings.

Update II: The mistakes now are corrected in the online version of the review.

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Comments

There needs to appear another [sic] following "shear". Or was that word used instead of "sheer" to indicate a figurative "lopping the heads off the Spartans"?

Herschel Ducker, Melbourne, AR (Sent Monday, March 19, 2007 5:36 PM)

Haha, Herschel. Nice catch.

Mark Murray (Sent Monday, March 19, 2007 5:55 PM)

"How Stella Got Her Groove Back"-movie

Still Crazy After All These Years (Sent Monday, March 19, 2007 6:31 PM)

Fred Thompson- What can I say? Nothing....so I'll comment on the movie 300's impact on Iran Pres. Ahmadinejad. His Cultural Advisor told him that this movie was an attempt by the American government to atack Tehran with political and psychological warfare. Funny that this seems to be their perception AND that it seems to have been a real insult to them. If something this trivial can turn into "much ado about nothing", just think how they must feel about what we are doing in their neck of the woods. I think the words "resentment" and "contempt" would be putting it mildly. Do you think Bush "really" understands what the underlying message is here? That there are cultural differences that he has no clue about? That he doesn't, and never will, understand that these differences are the reason there is no resolution to this war other than leaving it to them to fight among theirselves? That we are just in their crossfire? "Crossfire"-Stevie Ray Vaughan

M.E., Albany, Ga. (Sent Monday, March 19, 2007 11:21 PM)

"Kicking them in the backside until they lost." Wasn't that pretty much Hitler's story? If I remember my history, that is.

Just some stupid Hillbilly (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:43 AM)

Unfortunately, there is this idea that someone who can't put together a coherent English sentence can, paradoxically, be an intelligent person; many have claimed this about G.W. Bush in response to others, who in using their common sense, have concluded that his mangling of our language indicates muddled thinking. It is as simple as this: Bush does not suffer from a speech impediment, but rather, from simplistic and clowdy faith-based thinking which is exposed when he is required to explain the details of the policies he espouses. And in light of his performance on the job, I am simply leary, given Thompson's early indications of stupidity and simplicity, that we should turn over the reigns of the most massive, complicated organzition--the U.S. Federal Government--the world has ever known. I am aware of American's long-running vein of anti-intellectualism, but I think it is time we put our pride away and be willing to elect someone smarter than us. Intelligence is not a sufficient condition for good governance, but given the complexity of the issues we face, it is a necessary one. I'll withhold further judgement re. Thompson until he has more of a chance to reveal his intellect, but I am doubtful, given his writings as outlined above, that he has the intellectual firepower for the job. Oh, but I guess that would make him an ideal candidate for the 21st century GOP [sorry to all you thinking Republicans and Conservatives who have had your party hijacked].

Vridar, Seattle (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:57 AM)

Hi, my name is Ferd Tomp-sin. Last week I could not spell Persidential Candy-date. This week I are one................................................... OH PLEASE! Do we REALLY need another "decider?"

J. Merle Stanley, Westchester, NY (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:02 AM)

"Bush does not suffer from a speech impediment, but rather, from simplistic and clowdy [sic] faith-based thinking..." Hmmm. Is that the pot I see calling the kettle cloudy?

Stephen West, London UK (Sent Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:55 AM)

The Spartan action wasn't like Hitler, more like the Alamo or the British/French stand at Dunkirk. An action against overwhelming odds which halped to secure a later victory. Also, had the Persians won, Western Civilization as we know it could have been wiped out forever. The world is better that Greece, including Athens, survived.

David Powell, Cape May, New Jersey (Sent Monday, April 30, 2007 6:02 PM)

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