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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Monday, June 04, 2007

Picture of the Day - 2


















Seriously, that's not his daughter.

(Actor and former senator Fred D. Thompson escorts his wife, Jeri, at a GOP fundraiser in Richmond. Several hundred attended the event, scheduled before Thompson's moves toward a presidential candidacy. (AP/Steve Helber))

(Joe Scarborough on his radio show, Friday: "You think she works the pole?")

Later: EPM points out in the comments that Fred Thompson has three kids all older than this, his second, wife. (I can't verify that, but in 1964 he had three children by his first wife.)

EPM also points to this creepy "hitting on the cheerleader" photo.

posted by mikevotes at 3:51 PM

21 Comments:

  • I think a lot of people would call it a sign of success.

    He is the guy. I just know it.

    By Blogger Praguetwin, at 4:08 PM  

  • I don't know. It doesn't feel very "heartland," you know?

    I get your point that alot of the trogs will say, "ooohh, lucky guy with the hot wife," but where I come from, the taking of a trophy wife is looked down on and tells about the shallowness and trashiness of the husband.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 4:18 PM  

  • Isn't that like, his second wife, too?

    By Blogger Lew Scannon, at 8:13 PM  

  • Thompson divorced his first wife after 26 years of marriage.

    I don't know what the so-called heartland voters think, but I wonder whether there protestations of disgust are sincere or just what you're supposed to say in polite company.

    By Blogger -epm, at 8:23 PM  

  • Lew, I don't really know his history, but I'd trust EPM on that.

    EPM, I don't know about anyone else, but I find it sincerely kinda trashy. Like a too old guy in a sportscar.

    It's a kinda sadness for them.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 9:06 PM  

  • Mike, I may be letting my prejudices against what I perceive as the holy-roller heartlander's get the best of me by casting these aspersions. I shouldn't have done that.

    I don't know at what age-delta these things become sordid, but I think when we get to father-daughter spans (and above) it gets a little creepy. I know, for me, on a gut level, the snapshot of Fred and Jeri (who looks a decade younger than she really is) is disturbing, but were talking about adults here... all well over 30.

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:30 PM  

  • Oh, I'm not saying they can't or shouldn't do it, it's their business, buy it has an effect on how I perceive him.

    It's certainly a bias I'm carrying in. I know guys who have done this, and listening to them talk about their hot wives trying to impress me, makes me very sad for them. It's like they're trying to justify it somehow.

    I have no idea how the heartland might perceive this. I'm just talking about the "ick factor" it generates in me.

    (I think the flashiness of the wife adds to the perception.)

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 9:38 PM  

  • Thompson has three children from his first marriage... all older than his current wife. Now wrap you head around that... Has a whole Appalachian, Deliverance dueling banjos feeling to it.

    I think the thing that strikes me with Jeri is that in all the photo's I've seen of her she's has more of a Paris Hilton, Rodeo Drive, botox, boob-lift j'ne sais quoi about her. In short, she looks just a little tarty.

    This from a party that rolled their eyes at Teresa Heinz-Kerry's wardrobe.

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:45 PM  

  • ...and then there's the fact that Thompson looks like a big, evil, ugly troll of some sort.

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:50 PM  

  • Oh, I didn't know about the kids older than his wife. That makes it all sooo much worse.

    And yes, their appearances do make the ick.

    If she weren't so silicone it wouldn't be nearly as striking.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:05 PM  

  • If this photo doesn't look like grandpa puttin' the squeeze on the cheerleader, I don't know what does:

    http://blogs.usatoday.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/04/fred_and_jeri_2.jpg

    By Blogger -epm, at 10:12 PM  

  • Oh yeah, that is awful. I'll link that, too.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:16 PM  

  • Yeah. I'm officially creeped out now.

    By Blogger -epm, at 10:22 PM  

  • Ick factor.

    I'm out for the night.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:27 PM  

  • From NYT:

    Children: (with Sarah Lindsey; m. 1959; div. 1985) son Fred Dalton Jr., born 1960; daughter Elizabeth, b. 1963 (died 2002); son Daniel, b. 1965; (with Jeri Kehn) daughter Hayden, b. 2003; son Samuel, b. 2006.

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:31 AM  

  • Thompson was 17yr 1mo when he married his first wife. I have no idea how old his wife (Sarah Lindsey) was at the time.

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:33 AM  

  • Thanks. In the wikipedia they had that he was 17 when he ot married, and worked his way through Vanderbilt with three children.

    Question. Married at 17. Do you think he had to get married?

    Married in late 1959, child in 60? It's possible.

    That's more work than I'm willing to do.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:55 AM  

  • Fred Thompson looks like Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2.

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0507/Mirror_image.html

    I thought it was hilarious

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:00 AM  

  • Huh, well it didn't post the full link the first time.

    Again

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:02 AM  

  • Yeah, jeff. I linked that the other day. It's pretty funny isn't it?

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:13 AM  

  • EPM, I did a little homework on the Thompson timeline, and it does look like it was only seven months between marriage and birth.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:14 AM  

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