Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Mrs. McCain, Fred Thompson and Cuba Gooding, Jr

Mrs. Roberta McCain, mother of candidate John McCain, is 96 years old and the McCain campaign has often made her available at events. She is a feisty, honest personality - we see where her son gets these qualities. Recently Mrs. McCain was issued a speeding ticket in Chevy Chase, Md and she is known, apparently, for her less than perfect driving record. The $40 ticket was just one of many she has racked up for speeding. McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers acknowledges that.

You may recall Senator McCain telling the story that his mother was denied rental of a car in France last summer, being told she is too old to rent a car. So, as she was traveling around Europe with her twin sister, Rowena Willis, Mrs. McCain solved the transportation dilemma by simply purchasing a car to drive around France. Listen, that family has some strong genetics going on.

And, for the record, Mrs. McCain is a big fan of NASCAR. No doubt.

Fred Thompson has been selected, according to sources close to John McCain's campaign, to vet judicial appointments, including those for the Supreme Court. Thompson has already been used in a conference call with reporters last week after the Supreme Court's ruling on detainees at Gitmo, without any formal acknowledge of his official input. This is a strong act of reaching out to conservatives in the Republican party who were disappointed Thompson ran such a lackluster campaign himself. He has a long history of working with McCain in the Senate, including the campaign finance reform legislation that was originally known as McCain/Feingold/Thompson Finance Reform before the Thompson name was dropped.

And, speaking of actors, did you know Cuba Gooding, Jr. was a guest at the White House last week? He was there for presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor, to Dr. Ben Carson. Dr. Carson is director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and best known for separating conjoined twins. He's been awarded lots of honors during his career and the subject of books and a play. According to the Washington Post, a movie project based on his autobiography, Gifted Hands, is about to get off the ground after many years of delay. Cuba Gooding has signed on to play the doctor and it is slated to be shown on TNT.

Gooding told the Washington Post that he wants children -"especially African American children - to be inspired not only by rappers and sports stars but professionals such as Carson".

That's a step in the right direction.

6 comments:

Nikki said...

Love this...McCain's mom is feisty and who needs to worry about his age with those genes...I like Fred he'll do a great job and good for Cuba. It's nice to hear movie stars can actually be nice to the President! :)N

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this post a great deal. Thank you!

Beverly said...

I, too, like Mrs. McCain's feistiness, but I do wish that at 96, she would give up driving. At least she doesn't have dementia.

An old gentleman got lost here last week. He started out for church, and they found him many miles up the road. In the report it said he suffered from dementia.

I've read of Dr. Ben Carson before. What a wonderful example for youth of any color. He was recently here in Bradenton as a guest speaker for a fundraiser.

Z said...

I'm with Beverly..time for 96 yr olds to STOP DRIVING!

Karen, all excellent information.

I STILL like Fred SO much....he was on FOX the other night and had such spunk and gumption and didn't hesitate to tell Colmes the Ghoul what a DOLT he is ..and I said to Mr. Z "Where was THAT Fred when he was running?" It HURTS to see him so engaging NOW.......where WAS HE THEN!?

Good for Gooding........it's about time.

Ottavio (Otto) Marasco said...

Good read! I must admit, my interest spiked when I read about Thompson supporting McCain. My hope is that McCain continues reaching out to conservatives in this manner throughout the entire campaign.

Spacemonkey said...

Fred would make a good SC Justice.