Fred Visits Nashville!

On Tuesday, June 26, 2007, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson visited his home state once again. In the late morning hours, he arrived at the Mercury Air Center at the Nashville International Airport. The following are the images that Joan M. Iwanyszyn (my mom) captured during the event. He spent over half-an-hour at the rally, which attracted a couple hundred people. Afterward, he went to the Fall School Building downtown, where he said the historic structure would serve as his national campaign headquarters if he were to jump into the race for the White House in 2008 (which is highly likely). In the evening, he attended at least two fundraisers for his likely campaign, which is in the exploratory phase, allowing him to raise money for such an action. After a day in Nashville, it was on to South Carolina and New Hampshire for him.

For video from on the visit to Nashville International Airport, visit the following links:
-WKRN-2, Nashville
-WTVF-5, Nashville

On an announcement note, I talked to a friend of Mr. Thompson's at the rally. He claimed to know Fred through Vanderbilt Law School and by practicing law with him. He told me when and where the official announcement is going to be. However, I do not want to pre-empt Mr. Thompson's official announcement, so I will say that an announcement is very soon. If you watch the videos, you will see that he is almost certainly a candidate. Now, it is just a matter of officially announcing, and mark my words, you won't have to wait long.

To the best of my knowledge, the pictures are in chronological order. Without further ado, THE PICTURES!

All Pictures Taken By Joan M. Iwanyszyn.

A SHOT OF THE CROWD GATHERED TO SEE FRED.




ANOTHER SHOT OF THE CROWD OF 200+ GATHERED TO CHEER ON THE THOMPSON TRAIN AS IT CHUGS ON TO D.C.





THE CROWD ANXIOUSLY AWAITS FRED'S ARRIVAL.

INSIDE THE MERCURY AIR CENTER AS THE BIG MAN HIMSELF IS READY TO ENTER.

A BLURRY SHOT OF ABOUT THE SAME SCENE AS THE ONE JUST PREVIOUS.

FRED ENTERS - HE IS JUST ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS IMAGE - AS MEMBERS OF THE NASHVILLE PRESS, AND EAGER SUPPORTERS SNAP PICTURES.

A DARK VIEW OF THE SCENE INSIDE WHILE FRED GREETS THE "FRED HEADS".

FRED TALKS TO HIS SUPPORTERS, AND TO THE PRESS.

FRED CONTINUES ON, TALKING TO MORE SUPPORTERS AND TO MORE PRESS.

THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? YES, IF GOD AND THE PEOPLE WILL IT.



THE "CONSERVATIVE STATESMAN" GETS INTO THE FRONT LINES, AND GETS THE CHANCE TO SEE THE BIG MAN AND GET HIS AUTOGRAPH (IN A MINUTE, AT LEAST).

THE "CONSERVATIVE STATESMAN" AWAITS HIS CHANCE TO TALK TO HIS CANDIDATE.

"WE'RE PRAYING FOR YOU, FRED!"

"RUN, FRED, RUN!"

YOURS TRULY WATCHES AS FRED SIGNS A NAVYMAN'S RECOGNITION OF SERVICE.

I SOAK UP THE REALITY OF THE EVENT IN WHICH I AM PARTAKING IN. I AM MEETING A CRUCIAL MEMBER OF THE WATERGATE TRIAL, AN ACTOR, A FORMER U.S. SENATOR, AND PERHAPS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY ON THE PLANET!

TWO CONSERVATIVE STATESMEN IN THE SAME PHOTOGRAPH. I AM POSING WITH A MAN WHO COULD VERY WELL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT!

ON GOES FRED TO DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE, ON TO THE OLD FALL SCHOOL BUILDING.

GOD BLESS YA, FRED! (THAT IS WHAT I SAID AS HE PASSED AND WAVED OUR DIRECTION.)

Britian Again A Target

On top of yesterday's planned twin bombing in downtown London, came a plot to kill hundreds at the Glasgow International Airport in Scotland Saturday.

Today, two South Asian men rammed an SUV into the entrance of the main terminal. Thank God, though, that no one was killed, and the only known injury is that of one of the two South Asian men who was engulfed in flames after exiting the vehicle. The SUV was stopped by barriers, but part of the front of the vehicle did enter through the doors. If the vehicle did get into the terminal, authorities say there would have been likely hundreds of casualties. Both men were arrested afterward. Now, just in, is word that the United Kingdom has raised their security alert to 'critical', indicating a likelihood of more imminent attacks. U.S. officials, also, raised security at airports, but not the threat level.

Yesterday, two Mercedes-Benz cars were found in downtown London. Each contained hundreds of pounds of fuel, and at least one had 20 boxes of roofing nails. The one with the roofing nails was found in the popular Piccadilly Circus entertainment district, the other car was found near Hyde Park. Both bombs had the ability to create shockwaves over 400 yards, and create a huge fireball, which would have likely killed hundreds, if not thousands. Al-Qaeda looks to be the blame for this.

One thing we know from this is that acts of violence will continue to be something we have to prepare for, and deal with, for the foreseeable future. Also, it will be interesting to see how new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is able to handle this. It looks like he will be tried by fire right from the beginning of his administration.

Where We Stand On The Amnesty Bill

Over at Save The GOP, they have a pretty good list of where we stand on votes against cloture on the "Senate Immigration Compromise", or better known as the Amnesty Bill. According to the National Review, it looks like the cloture motion, and thus the bill's return from the dead, will be on Tuesday, and NR says we have "32 pretty solid No votes for cloture". That means that there appears to be 32 guys (and girls) on our side.

Those 32 are:
Alexander (R-Tenn.)
Allard (R-Colo.)
Baucus (D-Mont.)
Byrd (D-W.Va.)
Bunning (R-Ky.)
Chambliss (R-Ga.)
Coburn (R-Okla.)
Corker (R-Tenn.)
Cornyn (R-Texas)
Crapo (R-Idaho)
DeMint (R-S.C.)
Dole (R-N.C.)
Dorgan (D-N.D.)
Enzi (R-Wyo.)
Grassley (R-Iowa)
Hutchison (R-Texas)
Inhofe (R-Okla.)
Isakson (R-Ga.)
Landrieu (D-La.)
McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Pryor (D-Ark.)
Roberts (R-Kan.)
Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)
Sanders (I-Vt.)
Sessions (R-Ala.)
Shelby (R-Ala.)
Smith (R-Ore.)
Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Sununu (R-N.H.)
Tester (D-Mont.)
Thune (R-S.D.)
Vitter (R-La.)

NR says that there are 12 senators that lean against the bill, but lean towards yes on cloture. That, in turn, would be support for amnesty. Since these are on the fence, they just might be persuaded to join our side. Since we need eight more that the previously mentioned names, it would be good to persuade these guys and girls. Please dial those numbers, especially if these are your senators. Here are their names:
Bond (R-Mo.)
Bingaman (D-N.M.)
Burr (R-N.C.)
Boxer (D-Calif.)
Cochran (R-Miss.)
Conrad (D-N.D.)
Ensign (R-Nev.)
Levin (D-Mich.)
Gregg (R-N.H.)
Nelson (D-Neb.)
Hatch (R-Utah)
Webb (D-Va.).

As previously reported, Wyoming has a new Senator in John Barrasso. I am still unsure as to how he will vote, but my gut tells me that he will be on our side in this and he will vote no on Tuesday. Also, Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota is still not in a good voting condition. Barring the situation where he will be brought in to vote on this (a national disgrace if this happens), that would be two more votes to our side. That means we would need at least seven of the 12 mentioned just above to go our direction. We need 41 senators to vote no on the cloture motion.

Also, word from Save The GOP says that Tom Coburn may not be able to vote, because he is recovering from surgery. Our prayers go out to Mr. Coburn for a good and speedy recovery. I have really gotten to like the man. He is a reliable patriot of America.

Barrasso Is The New Senator From Wyoming

Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal appointed Republican State Senator John Barrasso to the vacant Senate seat once held by Craig Thomas who passed away earlier this month. He beat out two other candidates chosen by the state's Republican Party, former party state chairman and U.S. Department of Justice official Tom Sansonetti and former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis. By state law, if a senator dies or some other event happens to him where he can no longer hold the seat, the party who last held the seat must send three names to the governor, who will then select one from the three. After making his choice, Freudenthal said, “There are many factors that went into this decision, and it was the sum of these factors that led me to this choice. While I don’t intend to indulge the speculation on why I made this decision, I will say that I hope I made the right choice.” His appointment is effective as of today.

I do not know a lot about Senator Barrasso, but I am hopeful that he will be a reliable conservative in Washington. I am concerned about his statements on "women's choice" in regards to abortion, but he is against federal funding of the ghastly act. He says he is in support of fair trade. He opposes "homosexual rights". He has also reportedly voted in favor of school prayer. The National Rifle Association also has shown support of him by giving him an "A" rating. “I believe in limited government, lower taxes, less spending, traditional family values, local control and a strong national defense,” is what he wrote on his written application to replace Senator Thomas.

Congratulations to the new Senator from Wyoming, and I look forward to watching to see if he is the reliable conservative in the same form as Senators Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

New West article on today's appointment
Casper Star-Tribune
Los Angeles Times
CQPolitics.com
Washington Post

The full account from Senator Barrasso's first press conference as a U.S. Senator

On The Georgia CD-10 Race

There will be a runoff between Republicans Jim Whitehead and Paul Broun Jr. on July 17. The stronger of the Democrats, James Marlow, was in second place for most of the returns, but fell into third with the race called last Tuesday evening. I will say now that it was probably premature to lock the race up for Whitehead. In the runoff, I will say that Whitehead will likely win. However, seeing that Broun is the opponent and not Marlow, there might be a small chance Broun does win, but I doubt it. It will be a fun runoff to watch!

Update On Georgia CD-10

I'll probably make this the last update before the precincts-in number reaches about 96%. With 77% of precincts in, Whitehead certainly has this one locked up and the key thrown away. He has 39% of the vote, Marlow has 23%, and Broun has 22%. Greene now has under 3% of the vote. Most of the rest of the precincts are in Columbia County, where Whitehead should continue to get good results. To find out more about the new congressman who will replace Charlie Norwood, click here. He seems to be against amnesty for illegal aliens, in support of family values and has strong respect for human life, and it seems he will protect taxpayers. Congratulations to Congressman-elect Whitehead, and I hope and trust that he will be a reliable conservative who stands on principle.

A run-off election looks likely, but expect Whitehead to win that one pretty handily.

Whitehead represented District 24 in the Georgia State Senate. A special election was held today to decide who would take Whitehead's seat there. With 80% of precincts in, a winner can be declared in that race. William Jackson, a Republican, has 61% of the vote. Behind him is Scott Nichols, a Democrat, with 21 percent of the vote. In third is Brett McGuire, a Republican, with 15 percent, and in fourth is Lee Benedict, a Republican, with 4 percent. Congratulations to Jackson on a very good win. I hope he represents the people of Georgia well, and I hope he stands on principle as he does that.

Latest Update On Georgia CD-10 Special Election

I will now call this race for Republican Jim Whitehead. With 52% of precincts in, Whitehead leads with nearly 36% of the vote. Behind him is Marlow, a Democrat, with 24% of the vote. In third is Broun, a Republican, with 22% of the vote. All the others are also-rans, with the leader of that bunch with 6% of the vote. This blog's candidate, Republican Bill Greene still holds only 3% of the vote.

The district's most precinct-rich county, Columbia County, has not reported a precinct in yet, but it should go strongly to Whitehead when it reports. He represented this county in the Georgia State Senate. Another update coming in short order.