Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Fred Thompson's Cancer

A couple of Fridays ago I spent the day wondering if Fred Thompson was not lazy, as the popular media narrative would have the public suggest, but was instead unhealthy. This was largely based on having seen Thompson's flatline speech in front of the Value Voters Summit. I have to admit that I started to second guess myself following a much improved showing at the Orlando debate last week, but Fred still seems to be plagued by moments on the campaign trail that seem to admit of the "questionable health" explanation.

Now some of the more influential bloggers are taking note, including Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake (channeling Atrios at Eschaton), who's own battle through chemo gives her an interesting perspective on Thompson's health.

This could be the moment the "Fred is Lazy" narrative starts to change into the "Is Fred Sick?" question. Hamsher's post has been up for what looks like 4 hours now. So far there doesn't seem to be any links to the specific post (according to Technorati, in any event), but it has inspired 80+ comments. If Thompson keeps missing his cues he's going to start hearing a lot more questions about his health.

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