Inane Question of the Week

In yesterday's LA Times:

So can "Law & Order" actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) become the first presidential candidate with this credit? Thompson played a white supremacist, spewing anti-Semitic comments and fondling an autographed copy of "Mein Kampf" on a television drama 19 years ago.

Shouldn't we all expect the "acting community" to come rushing to Thompson's defense? After all, what will become of the Republic if all the actors are confused with the characters they play? Doesn't that mean that we must consider Anthony Hopkins to be a serial killer? Meryl Streep to be a schizophrenic? Barbra Streisand to be a needy whiner with identity problems (oh, wait a minute) . . .

Amazing that so many on the left take umbrage at the prospect that the public might be annoyed about high-priced attorneys donating their time to represent terrorist detainees, yet, presumably, can credibly ask whether Fred Thompson parrotting lines as part of a film role raises questions about where his personal loyalties lie.

Is this piece for real, or some kind of parody? I'm not necessarily a huge Thompson partisan, but this is ridiculous.