We absolutely hate to be the bearers of bad news, but that Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has dropped out of the 2008 election.

Tragic, yes, but look on the bright side: we can look forward to his inglorious Law & Order resurrection!

Rumor has it Thompson will endorse John McCain.

On a related note - why do some candidates insist on staying in the race despite the fact that they have no chance of winning? Have some dignity!

He didn't appear on the red carpet, but Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson reportedly stopped by the Country Music Awards last night. The gay marriage moderate Thompson agreed to go as the personal guest of John Rich, a man once caused a stink with his unsavory thoughts on same-sex nuptials:

I think if you legalize that, you’ve got to legalize some other things that are pretty unsavory. You can call me a radical, but how can you tell an aunt that she can’t marry her nephew if they are really in love and sharing the bills? How can you tell them they can’t get married, but something else that’s unnatural can happen?

Rich later apologized, saying, "My [comments] don’t reflect my full views on the broader issues regarding tolerance and the treatment of gays and lesbians in our society." Don't you just love "tolerance"? So friendly!

Regardless of Rich's personal views, Thompson's alliance could spell electoral gold:

If Thompson can harness his Music City connections to appeal to rank-and-file country-music fans, it could help his campaign enormously. According to the CMA, country is the nation's dominant radio genre, with 2,046 stations last year and more than 48 million adult listeners.

Yee-haw!

• Garden State Equality and Blue Jersey will start airing some pretty clever gay marriage ads tonight.

• A hefty paycheck ain't the only thing Rosie O'Donnell wants from potential employer MSNBC. From Jossip:

Sources tell us the network is frantically trying to scrounge up the cash to bankroll her outlandish list of demands (Think a gold-plated trapeze and a private chopper to take her to and from 30 Rock every day. Seriously). But why now? Because MSNBC’s on the eve of renegotiating their contract with their cable provider and landing a big star (no pun intended) and proving they can go toe-to-toe with O’Reilly will give them infinitely more leverage.

If anyone can take on O'Reilly, it's O'Donnell.

• Michigan Supreme Court mulling university benefits.

• The Scottish Socialist Party wants you to put pressure on Stagecoach buses, which attempted to boot a gay teenage couple last weekend. Re-read the original story and check out comment number two.

CONTINUED »

The Republican party's having a gay identity crisis as of late - and the ideological winner could change the party's political fate, not to mention the election.

CONTINUED »

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson sat down with Tim Russert yesterday on NBC's Meet The Press.

CONTINUED »

Calling same-sex marriage a "judge-made controversy," on Monday Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson declared his opposition to gay civil unions…at least, we think he declared his opposition to gay civil unions. At any rate, Thompson is vehemently against condoning any hanky-panky between Mikhail Gorbachev and Nikita Khrushchev.

Perhaps we're exaggerating a tad, but when Thompson opened the floor to questions following his stump speech, the Associated Press reports the following exchange between voter Edward Paul and the Law & Order candidate:

I'm proud to say that in January 2008 New Hampshire has passed a law facilitating civil unions here," Paul asked. "What is your belief for federal civil unions to be passed?"

"Soviet Union?" Thompson responded.

"No, civil unions," Paul said.

"Oh. No, I would not be in support of that," Thompson said.

Paul said he wasn't surprised, or impressed.

We're not, either.

"Thompson Quizzed on Civil Unions" [Associated Press]

Harnessing her lawyerly powers, Shirley Phelps Roper wants to set the record straight about what happened with her evil father, Fred and presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

CONTINUED »

Fred Thompson's departed from the other Republican presidential candidates by tacitly endorsing federalist gay marriage. While it may seem like he's the preferable conservative hopeful, Fred Phelps and his frightful Westboro Baptist Church remember a more homophobic - and thus favorable - Fred Thompson. Here's an excerpt of the group's open letter to Freddie:
The letter goes on to say that Thompson even spent some time at the Phelps home. They had tea made of Jewish baby brains and chatted about Donna Reed. And how gays will burn in the pits of hell, of course.

Fred Thompson likes like minded people.

The former Tennessee senator and GOP presidential candidate announced last week that he'd support state's rights on gay marriage. Sure, he thinks states should have the right to decide their marriage laws, but he doesn't think it's right. And neither do two of his new staffers.

Thompson, who makes his big debate debut tonight, just hired former Virginian Senator George Allen as one of his campaign co-chairs. Allen, of course, voted for a constitutional ban on gay marriage. The other campaign co-chair, former Michigan senator Spencer Abraham, also voted against gay marriage.

The 65-year old politico also hired Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of Dick and sister of that lesbian, Mary. Of course, the Cheney's have never been very good at protecting their own.

If you have to vote for a Republican in the rapidly-approaching primaries, make it John McCain or Fred Thompson. These two presidential hopefuls stand apart from their political peers. While most of the GOP candidates have called for a federal ban on gay marriage - and Rudy pussyfoots around domestic partnerships - McCain and Thompson tacitly support state-endorsed gay nuptials.

CONTINUED »

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson talked gay marriage in Iowa two days ago.

Watch the former Law and Order actor fidget as he again explains how his soft gay marriage ban would be a "judicial solution" to a "judicial problem". We always thought of it as a "constitutional problem".

Guess that's why we're not running for president, although maybe we should be…

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson reiterated his anti-gay marriage policy today.

CONTINUED »

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson made clear that he will not be supporting Republican Fred Thompson's bid for the White House. It seems Thompson's simply a little too gay friendly for old Jimmy's taste.

The evangelical leader wrote in a "private" email:

Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?
…
He has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to.' And yet he is apparently the Great Hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers. Not for me!

That's fine by us. The more division in the Republican ranks, the better.

Mike Huckabee must be thrilled.

• James Dobson and his GOP-backing not an infringement of Focus on the Family's non-profit status, says IRS.

• Worst opening to a Larry Craig story ever?

If nothing else, Sen. Larry Craig defies our impulsive hetero stereotype of gay men as frail, prissy little things flitting around like butterflies on a hydrangea bush.

That's quite a specific stereotype.

• There's something rotten in the state of YouTube: the mega site's apparently censoring gay kissing, but allows videos of gay bashing. WTF?!

CONTINUED »

Now that he's an official presidential candidate, Fred Thompson's been cruising around Iowa spreading his not-so-good word.

The former Tennessee senator appeared in Sioux City earlier today. While chatting with about 250 supporters, Thompson took a few seconds to address gay marriage.

I would support a constitutional amendment which says some off-the-wall court decision in one state that recognizes a marriage in a state like Massachusetts cannot go to another state and have it recognized in that state.
…
The second part of my amendment would also state that judges, judges could not impose this on the federal or state level unless the state legislature signs off on it.

The issue ever-controversial issue definitely hits home in Iowa, where a judge found the gay nuptial ban unconstitutional. That ruling opened the door for four hours of gay marriages, which ended when the same judge stayed his own decision.