Check out the latest from Fred himself in the Fred Thompson Report:

We’ve all heard by now about the plot by Muslim extremists to use jet fuel tanks and pipelines in a terror attack on JFK Airport and Queens, NY. One reason the incident is interesting is that the suspects have mostly Caribbean origins. The roots of the group arrested for plotting an attack on Fort Dix in April were European. This is obviously an international movement.

We’re still learning about the details of the JFK Airport plot, but it appears that an informant was crucial to preventing the scheme. Time and again, we’re seeing how important it is that we’re vigilant.

You remember the young electronics store clerk whose tip led the FBI to the six men plotting to murder American soldiers at Fort Dix. While copying a video tape onto DVD, he saw images of men firing guns and shouting Islamic slogans.

For a while after the story broke, he kept his head down. Now Brian Morgenstern has come forward — and his story is eye-popping.

Read the rest of Fred’s article here.

Here is Fred’s latest posting on ABC Radio’s Fred Thompson Report:

Well, he’s done it. Hugo Chavez was already systematically silencing criticism of his autocratic rule through threats and intimidation. Journalists have been threatened, beaten and even killed. Now he’s shut down the last opposition television networks in Venezuela and arrested nearly 200 protesters – mostly students. It’s a monumental tragedy and the Venezuelan people will pay the price for decades to come. Americans are also at risk as he funds anti-American candidates and radicals all over Latin America.

It’s equally tragic that the U.S. is in no position to provide the victims of this emerging dictator with the truth. There was a time, though, when Americans were on the front lines of pro-freedom movements all over the world. I’m talking about the “surrogate” broadcast network that included Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, often called “the Radios.”

Read the rest of Fred’s article here.

Check out Fred’s latest posting - read what he has to say about growing up in this great nation of ours….

I remember when I was a kid; one thing was clear to me. The more I learned about the rest of the world, the luckier I felt just having been born in America. The more I learned about America, the more I appreciated what those who came before us built; and how exceptional they were.

Not that there aren’t other great places to live, but America is unique. It’s not just that we are the freest and most prosperous county the world has ever seen. America has also freed more people than any other nation in history.

A lot of people have done their part to see that we are blessed with the advantages we enjoy — from hardworking pioneer mothers to the Framers of the Constitution. Memorial Day is coming up, though, and I’m thinking more about American soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice — those who died to protect our way of life and make the world safe for democracy.

Read the rest of Fred’s story here. 

Check out Fred’s latest posting about medical records on the Fred Thompson Report:

You may have heard me the other day defending the American medical system as the best in the world. That doesn’t mean, though, there aren’t problems we should fix.

One of these problems is that there’s no way for most of us to get to our medical records without jumping through hoops. Not only do we end up filling out the same medical forms over and over, we pay both in lives and money.

Some analysts say Americans pay more than 50 billion dollars unnecessarily every year due to problems getting medical records. One in five medical tests, its said, is ordered because results to a previous test have been lost. Others say that many of the 50,000 or so medical errors that result in death each year could be prevented if doctors had the patient information they need. Problems with drug interactions and allergies could also be avoided. And all these problems drive up insurance costs. 

Read the rest of Fred’s posting here.

Here’s the latest Fred Thompson Report - where Fred talks about how the United Nations may be tolerating human trafficking…..

I’m never particularly surprised when the United Nations seems to oppose human freedom rather than promote it. At least a third of its member nations aren’t democratic themselves. Many that claim to be, are only barely so.

An organization that treats democracies and dictators equally cannot be expected to be a pure force for good. When Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Il have as much say in U.N. matters as the entire populations of Poland and New Zealand, you’re going to have problems.

One was the Oil-for-Food scandal. We ought to remember that the U.N. let Saddam steal tens of billions of dollars — money meant to be spent on food and medicine for his own people. Much of that money was used to pay off U.N. officials and buy support for Saddam’s regime. 

Read the rest of Fred’s posting here. 

Fred continues to reel off the podcasts in The Fred Thompson Report on ABC Radio online.  Catch up on all of Fred’s latest podcasts here. 

Fred’s latest entry is on the immigration bill in Congress:

Most Americans know that we have an illegal immigration problem in this country, with perhaps as many as 20 million people residing here unlawfully. And I think most Americans have a pretty good idea about how to at least start solving the problem – secure our nation’s borders.   

But there’s an old saying in Washington that, in dealing with any tough issue, half the politicians hope that citizens don’t understand it while the other half fear that people actually do. This kind of thinking was apparent with the “comprehensive” immigration reform bill that the U.S. Senate and the White House negotiated yesterday.

I’d tell you what was in the legislation, but 24 hours after the politicians agreed the bill looked good, the Senate lawyers were still writing what may turn out to be a one thousand page document. In fact, a final version of the bill most likely will not be made available to the public until after the legislation is passed. That may come five days from now. That’s like trying to digest an eight-course meal on a fifteen-minute lunch break.

Read the rest of Fred’s article on the immigration bill here. 

Check out Fred’s latest posting on ABC Radio - an excerpt of his prepared remarks at tonight’s Lincoln Club dinner in Orange County, CA:

It’s clear with close numbers in the House and the Senate we need bipartisanship to have any chance at real reform in any of these areas. And there are many responsible people who are willing to try to make it happen. But the level of bipartisanship needed for real progress can only be achieved when politicians perceive that the American people are demanding it. That’s why leaders of reform and hopefully our next President, will have a mandate to go directly to the American people with truth and clarity.

These days in Washington, there’s an awful lot of talk about the need for conversation — that we should talk more to our nation’s enemies; that we should speak “truth to power.” However the speakers are usually turned in the wrong direction. Instead of talking to each other, leaders need to be speaking more to the American people.

The message would be simple: “My friends we have entered a new era. We are going to be tested in many ways, possibly under attack and for a long time. It’s time to take stock and be honest with ourselves. We’re going to have to do a lot of things better. Here’s what we need to do and here’s why. I know that, now that you’re being called upon, you will do whatever is necessary for the sake of our country and for future generations. You always have.”

Read the entire excerpt from Fred’s prepared remarks here.

Check out Fred’s words of wisdom on the criticism the United States receives from other countries: 

It bothers Americans when we’re told how unpopular we are with the rest of the world. For some of us, at least, it gets our back up — and our natural tendency is to tell the French, for example, that we’d rather not hear from them until the day when they need us to bail them out again.

But we cool off. We’re big boys and girls, after all, and we don’t really bruise that easily. We’re also hopeful that, eventually, our ostrich-headed allies will realize there’s a World War going on out there and they need to pick a side — the choice being between the forces of civilization and the forces of anarchy. Considering the fact that the latter team is growing stronger and bolder daily, while most of our European Union friends continue to dismantle their defenses, that day may not be too long in coming.

In the meantime, let’s be realistic about the world we live in. Mexican leaders apparently have an economic policy based on exporting their own citizens, while complaining about US immigration policies that are far less exclusionary than their own. The French jail perfectly nice people for politically incorrect comments, but scold us for holding terrorists at Guantanamo.

Read the rest of the article here.

Fred makes some great suggestions for those making decisions in this weekend’s NFL Draft…..

I’ve been a dedicated fan of professional football since I was a kid. I have the “premium” satellite football package and I’ve had seats for Tennessee Titans games since they first came to Nashville. So you can probably guess what I’ll be doing this weekend. Like a lot of other fans, I’ll be listening to draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr., as the NFL draft plays out in New York.

This year, though, the process of player selection has taken a decidedly political turn. You might even think it was taking place in Washington DC, with the league scolding teams for leaking personal information about prospective players, such as admissions of marijuana use. There have even been reports that top draft picks have been tailed for weeks by private detectives looking for signs of character flaws.

The backstory for this new focus on off-field behavior, of course, is the disastrous public relations season the NFL had last year. So let me turn my attention for a moment from more pleasant topics, like how great Vince Young will be with a year under his helmet, to ask the league brass a few questions.

Here’s one. Why do these teams keep drafting players with character defects you can see at 100 yards in the dark with your back turned?

Read the rest of Fred’s article here.

Fred himself posted an excellent response to recent criticism on some tort reform votes:

On April 20, Ramesh Ponnuru penned an article called “Thompson’s Tort Trouble.” While he referenced my conservative voting, record he took issue with two instances when I voted against “tort reform.” He noted my stand on federalist grounds but thinks I must have a mistaken view of Federalism and that conservatives may want to ask me a few hard questions.

This hardly constitutes the stuff of a major dispute, but I would submit that the problem is not so much my mistaken view of Federalism as much as it is his lack of commitment to the principle. This presents conservatives with an opportunity to have a much needed discussion….

Read the rest of Fred’s posting here.