Thompson Owns Up To Lobbying For Abortion Rights

I seem to recall a lot of Republican apologists claiming that the LA Times had a vendetta against Fred Thompson and their story about his past as an abortion rights lobbyist was bunk. And I remember Thompson's first reaction to the story, in which he 100% denied it and claimed he did no such lobbying.

That statement has, shall we say, evolved:

Fred Thompson has effectively admitted in an interview with Sean Hannity that he did lobby in behalf of a pro-abortion rights group.

Hannity served up a chest-high, 25 mph softball:

"They have attacked you, they have attacked your family, and now, they come out in the Los Angeles Times with a piece that says you lobbied for abortion rights. You say that's absolutely not true." [...]

All Thompson had to do was say to Hannity, "You're damned right." Instead, he answered as follows:

"You need to separate a lawyer who is advocating a position from the position itself." Hmm. Then: "They will probably come at me, in 35 years of law practice, with some people, I represented criminal defendants. I was a prosecutor. I had a general practice. So that in and of itself doesn't mean anything anyway."

The story has changed because Thompson must surely know that this abortion rights group has primary evidence linking him to their cause. And so now it's gone from "I didn't do that" to "who cares, lawyers represent lots of people." So now we know about Thompson's character; when questioned, he'll deny, and when presented with the evidence, he'll justify and dodge. And I don't think that answer, one based in moral relativism entirely, will be good enough for the antiabortion right.

Mitt Romney is the front-runner for the Republican nomination right now, in my mind. Excuse me while I burst out laughing.