Why is anyone taking this man seriously?

Fred Thompson, helping George Bush move the goalposts of apprehending Osama Bin Laden:

"Bin Laden being in the mountains of Pakistan or Afghanistan is not as important as there are probably al-Qaida operatives inside the United States of America," Thompson said.

Bin Laden is considered the man behind the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The former Tennessee senator and actor argued that "bin Laden is more symbolism than anything else. I think it demonstrates to people once again that we're in a global war."

Thompson said the al-Qaida leader and the Iraq war must be seen as part of the larger war on terrorism.

"It's one that bin Laden and people like him are heading up and we need to catch him and we surely need to deal with him, but if he disappeared tomorrow we still have this problem. If Iraq disappeared tomorrow, we'd still have this problem," Thompson said.

Later in the day, and after Democrats had been critical of his earlier remarks, Thompson took a much tougher stance. "Apparently Osama bin Laden has crawled out of his cave long enough to send another video and he is getting a lot of attention," he said at a rally in Mason City. "He ought to be caught and killed."

Thompson maintained, however, that killing bin Laden would not end the terrorist threat.

[snip]

On Iraq, Thompson defended his support for the war and contended that progress has been made months after President Bush sent in 30,000 more combat troops. The American people, he said, recognize that the situation has improved.

"I think you're already seeing a change in perception as better news comes out of Iraq," Thompson said. "I think the American people will come to that view as they see things develop. We are finally on the right track in Iraq and we're making progress."

Asked whether the U.S. should have focused on getting bin Laden instead of going to war in Iraq, Thompson said: "It's not an either or situation. Saddam Hussein was on the cusp of having defeated the United Nations and the free world and the United States. He had certainly had weapons of mass destruction and the capability of reviving his nuclear program."

Uh, Fred? No, he didn't. And if you hadn't spent the last six years pretending to be a tough guy on TV, you might know that.

What an idiot.

If it weren't possible that one of these men would be the next president, it would be fun watching Frederick of Hollywood and Flip Flop Mitt falling all over themselves trying to find the right way to both put lipstick on the so-called Global War on Terror pig and keep the population nice and frightened at the same time.

One has to wonder how they think it's going to be possible to spin the fact that Bin Laden is looking healthier than ever six years after bringing the United States Constitution to its knees simply by arming nineteen guys with boxcutters as some kind of proof that the Bush Doctrine is working.