The candidates react to Scooter Libby’s Commutation

You would think that someone who has been on the hit TV show Law and Order for 5 years would know something about, well, Law and Order. Not to mention the fact that Fred Thompson was a lawyer/attorney before he became an actor. Nevertheless, here is Fred Thompson’s reaction to President Bush’s commutation for Scooter Libby, who was recently convicted for obstruction of justice: “I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President’s decision. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life. (emphasis mine)”

It will be interesting to see what kind of stances the other candidates will take on this issue, and whether or not opinions will split along party lines. Barack Obama, the first Democratic candidate to release a statement, described the commutation as “exactly the kind of politics that we must change”. Real Clear Politics has more about what Obama and other candidates have said so far.

Considering that 69% of Americans oppose a pardon for Scooter Libby (from a CNN Poll taken in March), I imagine that Republican candidates will try to distance themselves from this…

Fred Thompson, for the love of God (and all Law and Order Fans), DO NOT run for president!!!

Why do you ask? Well the answer is really simple…because of the equal time rule, NBC would likely NOT broadcast any Law and Order episodes featuring Fred Thompson, and then what would we all do?? The equal time rule is a federal law that guarantees equal air time for all candidates (with the exception of news programs and some documentaries) on broadcast stations. Fortunatlely, however, equal time does not apply to cable networks, which means Law and Order re-runs on TNT and USA will not be affected.

But Law and Order will not be the only thing to go. If Fred Thompson does officially declare – he was then was not going to officially declare on July 4 – then we can forget about seeing (non-cable) broadcasts of “In the Line of Fire”, “Die Hard 2”, “Days of Thunder”, and “The Hunt for Red October”, and many others, in addition to episodes of Law and Order: SVU, Law and Order: CI, and Law and Order: Trial by Jury.

Ronald Reagan, Part Deux

I love Law & Order as much as the next guy (my favorites were the Orbach-Bratt years, ahhh the good ‘ol times), but Fred Dalton Thompson who currently plays Arthur Branch, District Attorney, on Law & Order (and in shortly lived Law & Order: Trial By Jury) is thinking of entering the race. Fred formerly filled Al Gore’s vacant spot as Tennessee’s Senator, and prior to that he was also in a number of movies including Days of Thunder, Die Hard 2, and my personal favorite Curly Sue.

ABC News also recently reported that Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel may also enter the race for the Republican ticket. Although following the news conference he held yesterday, he stated that he needed to focus on the war and other pressing issues before making a final decision, and that entering the race later this year is still possible. Chuck has opposed the Iraq war since the beginning and back in January he called President Bush’s plan to send an addition 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder carried out since Vietnam.”