Matt Ortega

David Sirota went to town on the media’s neglect to adequately cover former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson’s long history as a lobbyist.

Then, in a New York Times story about the possibility that Republican Fred Thompson will run for president, we get biographical revisionism worthy of a top-flight public relations/crisis management firm. Here’s the excerpt:

“Mr. Thompson came into the public eye — and ear, considering his distinctive voice — in the early 1970s when he served as Republican counsel to the Senate Watergate committee. He then took on some lobbying clients, and was later asked to investigate a parole scandal in Tennessee. That episode led to a book and a movie, ‘Marie,’ in which Mr. Thompson played himself, kicking off his acting career. Elected to the Senate in 1994 to fill the remaining two years of Al Gore’s term after he was elected vice president.”

Notice anything smoothed over in there? Anything at all? Yes, that’s right – there seems to be a strange-yet-massive 18 year gap in there between Watergate at his election to the Senate that is explained by a 6 word aside: “He then took on some lobbying clients.” The throwaway nature of this line leads us to believe that Thompson’s shilling for Big Money interests is just mildly interesting yet nonetheless extraneous narrative color – the kind of thing you might mention along with, say, someone’s proclivities for a kind of music (”He then took on some lobbying clients and began listening often to Menudo”). Because in Washington, selling out to special interests isn’t seen as controversial at all – it’s just what you DO inside the Beltway. And reporters aren’t about to – gasp! – point out that the latest presidential flavor of the month has spent far more time as a paid shill than as a public servant. [original emphasis]