I think this is an appropraite time to break my silence after years of reading in secret by saying

HELL
YES!!!

I went outside today and the sky is bluer, the trees are greener, the bunnies and birds all said "Yay, Fred Thompson will be our leader" & vans full of Canadian Wide-Stancers were seen leaving the Minneapolis International airport headed north!

There is a direct relationship between increased Soviet...err...Russian activity and Fred Thompson's announcement.

Also, it proved that the law of conservation of matter is false, as Ron Paul effectivly disappeared.

Like JP I have sat in silence reading IMAO for many years. But this being the best post ever written I just had to write in and say

AMEN!!!

darn --- ussjimmycarter stole my thunder!!

Yes - the woodland creatures all seem to be twittering 'Fred' and all the left-wing putzes weep openly in public places....

AHHHH....finally, there is Fred!

I've already "Fred-ed" my blog --- have you?!?!

I'm SO GLAD I got my T-shirt, EVEN IF I CAN'T WEAR IT TO WORK!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

ONE DAY THERE WILL BE FRED THOMPSON.

I have been doing a happy dance since midnight.
I'll just add another HELL YES!

Okay folks, we know Fred! is the nominee awaiting coronation. Who should he give the VP slot to?

Here's a daily Fred Thompson fact for you.

Fred will beat the other candidates so badly that in the future, candidates will compete to see who can be the last one to enter the race, sparing the nation a full 12 months of brain-fogging jibber jabber.

Hazel-

I volunteer for the position. Granted, I'd have to stock up on SPF 75 sunblock so that I can stand in his presence...

As for my qualifications- who cares? He's Fred Thompson. All his vice president will have to do is:

1) Preside over the Senate, which will be incredibly boring, since most of 'em will be cowed into silence once Fred makes his first state-of-the-union speech shortly after his inauguration.

(BTW- preview of the speech: "I'm Fred Thompson." [Standing ovation for the rest of the evening.])

2) Attend state funerals- this may seem like a big job, since many leaders of non-allied nations will die from fear of Fred Thompson, but I expect them to start dropping off as early as today, since Fred is now officially in the race. The hardier ones might last until the day after the election, but by 01.21.09, the only funerals left to attend will be the occasional friendlies. Cheney and Rice are going to rack up some hefty frequent flier miles and florist bills until then...

3) Adjust the Naval Observatory's atomic clock for daylight savings (the Veep's official residence is at the Observatory). Spring ahead, fall behind- what's so hard about that?

But just to reassure, I'm a US citizen, over 35 years old, and have lived in the US >14 years, so constitutionally, I check out.

K T Cat, from your mouth to God's ear. A 15 minute video of Fred! tells you more than you get from at least 6 debates between all the other guys. And as a bonus of Fred! being POTUS, I keep imagining a side by side photo of Fred with midgets like Kim Jong Ill and Ahmanutjob. I am pretty sure that just his official announcement made both of them shrink another 6 inches!

Response meant for Alamo, sorry.

Duncan Hunter for Veep!

He kicks butt and has for decades, and his son is in Iraq kicking AQ butt daily! Thompson needs someone like that covering his back.

I second that. Hunter for VP! He was my choice before there was Fred!. Only problem with him is super lack of name recognition.

No problem, McBain.

McBain;

It looks to me like you have all the bases covered, and given that Fred! really doesn't need a VP, I am willing to support you. How awesome will that be, learning at the knee of Fred Thompson?

You should prepare for your new position by buying a full Nasa-style spacesuit so you will not be burned by the radiaiting energy of Fred's greatness. I've heard that being in his presence continually is equivalent to living on the planet Mercury.

Fred's intellect is a lot like being hit with "hammer and tongs." If you disagreed with him before, you'll come away thinking "He's exactly right. Why didn't I think of that?"

A Duncan Hunter Vice Presidency would please me VERY much. "Thompson/Hunter" - it even sounds good.

Fred Thompson will be elected president in 2008.

This would be accurate even if he weren't running.

And on the 6th day, Fred said "Let there be Fred!"

And there was Fred.

And the people rejoiced.

What are all you Fredophiles gonna do on Feb.6th? Wait - let me guess. A furious wave of cybertwitter calling for an Independent run by Fred, right? How lame...

Your guy look rather "pasted" last night. Actually, botoxed and glued is more like it.

Hey, don't kid yourself that looks don't matter - probably half the country votes for the better looking candidate. Unfortunately, our best looking candidate (Romney) comes across as phony as John Edwards. It's gonna be an uphill fight, which is why it's critical to win Independent (i.e. people too stupid to know what they think) voters.

The Republican base will RISE FROM THE DEAD to vote against Hillary - despite the low morale horseshit the media are trying to push. So with them in the bag, the key will be who can win the most Indies. Fred Thompson will deliver very few. McCain could - his problem is too few Republicans want to vote for him. And as stated before, Romney just seems like a phony.

That leaves - you guessed it - Rudy. He won twice in the biggest Democratic stronghold there is - and then did it HIS way, transforming a formerly "ungovernable" city. He can put New York in play - and maybe New Jersey and Connecticut too. And he can win those Independent voters.

It's really a no-brainer...