This is the first thing about Fred Thompson that I've ever liked. Obviously it's tongue in cheek, and it's a nice jab at those who say he has a trophy wife. He's not gonna be president, so can't we just give him credit for a good crack?

funny? to women?

Actually, his first impulse was to say "Good Crack", but thought better of it and toned it down to "Trophy Wife".

He's a cultured knuckle-dragger, afterall.

"May I please have a round of laughter (for the joke I just told)?"

For a trophy, she's lookin' more tarnished every day, but I doubt that exhaustion has come from servicing ol' Fred.

That trophy wife needs some Febreze to the the old man smell out of her Victoria's Secret panties.

-GSD

When we use sarcasm, we say the OPPOSITE of what we mean. Children understand this. Fred understands this. Many TPM readers, apparently, only understand this when it suits them.

Alexandra is right: There is actual sexism to worry about. See, for example, the post by Veritas78.

His trophy wife is a major negative and it makes perfect sense for him to try to diffuse the issue by ridiculing it. But it also makes perfect sense for us (ie enemies of any Republican) to extend this theme and try to make his trophy wife even a bigger issue.

I'm glad he makes the distinction. I wonder what he calls his other wife?

Oh, yeah... "Ex."

I wonder if the GOP's "values" voters think Fred shows good values.

That's funny. Give The Fred a point for that one.

He also said it to put the knife into the terminally offended. You pants wetters need to get a sense of humor.

Lots of guys want to show off their wife's ample bosom.

None of them should be President.

Did he send in photos of her to a motorcycle magazine ?

In my last post there is some bad grammar. I apologize.

I meant to say:

A lowbrow enjoys exhibiting the bosom of his wife.

I think we would need to know more about the setting in which Freddy made his comment to properly judge its propriety.
For instance, it might not be appropriate at the black tie WH Correspondents Dinner, but perhaps he was attending the Livestock Exhibition at the Iowa State Fair, with Jeri standing beside him holding his "corndog", while he spoke to the reporters. In which case..no problem.
Context folks, context.

The guy's entire campaign seems to consist in saying "fuck you" to all progressive valuers and ideals, so this is merely par for the course. I like to call him "Cheney Jr."

In deference to Chris Matthews' fawning, I'm surprised Thompson didn't reply, "My Aqua Velva collection."

Fred the footnote...............

This guy does NOT want to be President.

Y'know, Fred and the missus have probably been taking crap about their age difference for a while now, and I imagine they joke about it between themselves and with friends. I'm not giving him an automatic pass here, but I wouldn't automatically assume he's a jerk, either.

GOP meets DOM (Dirty Old Man)

Fred's "trophy wife" got him into this race. Now, she should get his tired, old ass out of it.

Face it, he's a buffoon.

I'd suggest most of you don't know what a "trophy wife" is, since Thompson most assuredly doesn't have one. A trophy wife is when you trade the old wife in on a younger, more spry model. Thompson was well single for many years before getting remarried. Trophy wives slide into the family picture, replacing the wife that helped the guy to his success with none of the muss and fuss required to start a family - skip the maternity, I've got a figure to maintain. So sorry, McCain may have one, Giuliani may have one/two, but Thompson doesn't have one. So eat your hearts out.

Hi Desider. I interpret a trophy wife as being a young attractive woman married to a much older man. I don't think it has anything to do with formally being previously married or the other things mentioned in your post.

On another note, loki, colonpowwow, dc and the rest of the clinton II people that have accused me of being sexist. This is a sexist statement. Attacking clinton II due to policies, triangulating, lack of experience, or basing her campaign solely on clinton I's administration is not sexist.

Stay classy, San Diego!

Didn't his 'trophy' wife play the part of 'Baby Bink' in the 1994 movie "Baby's Day Out"? One of Fred's memorable roles in film.

This makes me kind of like ol' Fred. It was a dumb question, utterly useless in terms of evaluating the candidate, and didn't deserve a serious answer. His response was funny and helps defuse a perceived weakness of his candidacy (his pretty, younger, blond wife). Between this and his comments last week about not talking about his faith publicly, he's starting to seem more appealing than any of the Republicans not named Ron Paul.

I suppose people have different definitions, but the guy dated this woman for 6 years before marrying her, he'd been divorced 10 years when he met her, and if he wants to call her his "trophy wife" because he's proud of her and loves her, fine by me. I understand the typical "trophy wife" to be a trade-up once you become successful, and Thompson waited a long long time to do that. I hate the guys who toss the now fat wife who raised/is raising their kids out the door and take up a new younger not-beaten-up one - how cool and easy that is.

One commenter said we have two cracks. One we sit on. And actually the other separates the halves of our brain.

In Thompson's case they lead to the same thing....

You can have him as your poster President Winghunter. Because that and TV, (he is after all a Hollywood elitist) are the only kind of presidency Thompson will ever know.

Michael, I don't know what Thompson looked like 10 years ago, probably not such a prune, and I imagine he's probably charming in person, and this woman dated him for 6 years before getting married, and had her own career to boot, and isn't exactly young by bimbo standards. So maybe, just maybe she does love him beyond being a trophy husband. But there are many complexities to relationships and marriage that we don't need to discuss. Politically this is about as meaningless as Gore's "too long kiss" and all those other tempest-in-teapots. The dude likes his wife, cool, maybe he won't waste his good will and political energy on interns.

Anyone get a quote from the trophy?

It's funny because it's true...

mmm-hmm, that's very funny, fred. i bet wifey was laughing that night as she handed your ol' ass some blankets and a pillow to sleep elsewhere.

"A trophy wife is when you trade the old wife in on a younger, more spry model. Thompson was well single for many years before getting remarried."

During which time he was bedding a number of floozies, because he had power and fame and was using it to bed bimbos. He also dumped his wife, a HS sweetheart, as soon as he got fame and power.

so, OK, fine. It's his business. If he wasn't a public figure claiming to represent conservative family values nobody would care.

But dumping the old wife for a younger one as soon as you get fame and power, sleeping around for a decade, and eventually remarrying someone half your age whose is good looking but rather common otherwise? More like Hollywood values.

No woman who was herself top notch material would marry a guy twice her age who happened to be powerful and famous. And no guy who really wanted a great woman in his life would marry a floozy. If she was really so great she could find a Mr Fantastic, 24 years younger. And if Thompson valued more than youth and looks he would have found someone with more and different qualities.

Why was a good looking, but otherwise unremarkable, woman even dating someone twice her age to begin with? Wealth and power. Flooozy.

Hollywood values? Mr. Fantastic? High School sweetheart? Floozy?

Kozmik, do you live INSIDE a television?

So funny isn't he? as he bumbles his way through the campaign so he won't lose the Federal funding.

Funny that he considers a human being to be a "possession."

Who cares about his wife, what about his wearing Gucci loafers to a country fair?

Thanks dcwriter, that certainly adds some well-needed context to it. In any case, people seem to think that somehow his wife never heard the term "trophy wife" or can't deal with obvious humor.

Trophy wives are 27 and Russian, not 40. Besides, this entire discourse around Thompson's wife is (to this Democrat) distasteful and misogynist. Why doesn't Kucinich come under the same fire? His wife IS in her 20's (she has a tongue stud, for crying out loud), which puts Kucinich at more than twice her age (ewww..) and is so far more of a babe than Kucinich is a hunk that a normal man is left wondering. Yet he (and she) is exempted the unpleasant conversation.

Thompson, after a prolonged single period in his life, married an attractive woman in her 40s who is aware of her own sexuality. Full stop. All comments beyond that are ugly and unnecessary and kind of gross, to be honest.