What Never Can Be

The death of Fred Thompson as noted in Morning Edition Monday political punditry—

ROBERTS: Well, of course everybody thought that his popularity on TV and in the movies would propel him into the presidency. And he declared for president, as we've just heard, in 2008. But it fizzled pretty quickly. And, you know, Renee, that happens every cycle. There's somebody who everyone thinks is the natural - think John Glenn for instance. And then they fizzle out. This year is a different year. His TV appearances seem to be - still be helping Donald Trump. We'll see what happens in the long run.

"Everyone thought...": the wisdom of Cokie can always be relied upon. Since there's nothing like a fake homespun ham actor to inspire a pundit crush or to be a ready fit for what The Heartland is supposed to buy.

On the other hand, here's a great catch of a reality check from Steve M—

You probably lost track of Thompson after his 2008 presidential run, but he kept himself active on social media nearly to the end -- and he was really kind of a jerk until the end. His specialty was the wingnut one-liner ...

...this, about Richard Branson, was his final tweet:

Branson wants "world powered by sun, powered by wind." Ohhh...like in the Dark Ages when everyone used sailing ships and clotheslines...

...

They say that a near-death experience can give a person a perspective on what really matters in life, that coming face-to-face with one's own mortality can make certain squabbles in one's life seem small and petty. Thompson got a cancer diagnosis in 2004. I don't know when he became aware of the recurrence that killed him. But it seems as if none of this ever made him think, "Y'know, I want to do more with my remaining days than script an ideological social-media Hee-Haw." He did this almost until the end.