File it in the "Ooops" category!
"Thompson backs adviser" by Associated Press
"Republican Fred Thompson said yesterday that he was unaware of the criminal past of an adviser to his presidential campaign, but that he wouldn't "throw my friend under the bus" for decades-old indiscretions.
Thompson has flown around the country in a private jet borrowed from businessman Philip Martin, a cochairman of Thompson's campaign who has a criminal record for drug dealing, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
How come these guys always get off, yet the poor or the black or the latino is always tossed in prison?
Martin pleaded guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979, but the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation. In 1983, he pleaded no contest to cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, and was continued on probation.
Two strikes?
Thompson said he learned about Martin's past on Saturday and understood that the crimes were committed when he was in his 20s and living in Florida, before Martin moved to Tennessee and the two became friends.
Thompson, on NBC's "Meet the Press.":
"Nobody's made any accusations that he's done anything illegal with regard to our campaign. I know Phil is a good man. He is my friend. He is going to remain my friend. . . . He's paid his debt to society and turned himself around and become a good, productive, successful citizen (AP November 5, 2007)."
They always say that about their elite friends, but when it comes to you or me.... pfffffttt!
"On Sunday, Fred D. Thompson said he had been unaware that one of his early fund-raisers, who frequently provided him with the use of his private airplane over the summer, had a criminal record for dealing drugs.
With lines on the table?
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the man, Philip Martin, entered a guilty plea in 1979 to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana and pleaded no contest to 1983 charges of cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy.
Mr. Thompson, the actor and former senator from Tennessee who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said on “Meet the Press “ on NBC that he had not known of Mr. Martin’s criminal record and that his use of Mr. Martin’s plane complied with campaign finance laws:
"I know Phil is a good man. He is my friend. He is going to remain my friend. He didn’t go to jail, he got probation, he’s paid his debt to society and turned himself around and become a good, productive, successful citizen. [I will] take a look at [the situation]. I’m not going to throw my friend under the bus for something he did, you know, 25 years ago if he’s O.K. now (New York Times November 5. 2007)."
But in the campaign, against opponents, well, that's just politics!
