Fred Thompson on McCain/Palin.

Fred Thompson is a special kind of guy. Fred was the guy who first got me interested in giving support to a candidate in the Presidential race. He is an original one of a kind character, he is witty, he has strength of character, he has gravitas, and much more.

As such it is especially pleasing to see Fred speaking for the McCain/Palin ticket at the National Convention. What follows is some of what he had to say. Follow the link to see the whole thing.

Here is Fred: -

Tonight our thoughts are still with our friends and fellow citizens in the Gulf Coast area, and our thanks go to those who have worked so hard to keep them safe. There can be no more important work than this.

But what we are doing at this convention is also important to our country.



We are going to nominate the next President and Vice President of the United States of America.



We do so while taking a different view of our country than that of the other party.



Listening to them you'd think that we were in the middle of a great depression; that we are down, disrespected and incapable of prevailing against challenges facing us.



We know that we have challenges ... always have, always will.



But we also know that we live in the freest, strongest, most generous and prosperous nation in the history of the world and we are thankful.



Speaking of the vice presidential nominee, what a breath of fresh air Governor Sarah Palin is.



She is from a small town, with small town values, but that's not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family.



Some Washington pundits and media big shots are in a frenzy over the selection of a woman who has actually governed rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit. Well, give me a tough Alaskan Governor who has taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the Union -- and won -- over the beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week.



Let's be clear ... the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic. She is a courageous, successful, reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment.



Sound like anyone else we know?

She has run a municipality and she has run a state.



And I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose ... with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.



She and John McCain are not going to care how much the alligators get irritated when they get to Washington, they're going to drain that swamp.



But tonight, I'd like to talk to you about the remarkable story of John McCain.



It's a story about character.



John McCain's character has been tested like no other presidential candidate in the history of this nation. ……
Now, being a POW certainly doesn't qualify anyone to be President.



But it does reveal character.



This is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders.



Strength.


Courage.


Humility.


Wisdom.


Duty.


Honor.



It's pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, "Who is this man?" and "Can we trust this man with the Presidency?"



He has been to Iraq eight times since 2003.



He went seeking truth, not publicity.



When he travels abroad, he prefers quietly speaking to the troops amidst the heat and hardship of their daily lives.


And the same character that marked John McCain's military career has also marked his political career.



This man, John McCain is not intimidated by what the polls say or by what is politically safe or popular.



At a point when the war in Iraq was going badly and the public lost confidence, John stood up and called for more troops.


And now we are winning. ……


To deal with these challenges the Democrats present a history making nominee for president.



History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history.



Together, they would take on these urgent challenges with protectionism, higher taxes and an even bigger bureaucracy.


And a Supreme Court that could be lost to liberalism for a generation.



This is not reform.



And it's certainly not change.



It is basically the same old stuff they've been peddling for years. America needs a President who understands the nature of the world we live in.

…….