From a reader:

—To most of us not entirely engulfed in all this as those in the business like you, Fred Thompson is very much an outside the beltway figure and an outside the Establishment one as well—that is because he has not lived his life like politics and that track are the only thing (or close) that he has in life–that his self esteem and etc are tied to his political status or achievement. (And he’s had much more of a life than most single track, administratively oriented, etc etc pols–Mit R. falls more in this broader person league as well.) –And this factor/set of factors one of the reasons we like him and, more importantly, TRUST HIM. –You (and other analysts and commentators) should probably take this into account, imo.

Me: I think this is a fair point. But it has nothing to do one way or the other with George Will’s attack on him. Still it’s true: Fred does seem like a mensch and his friends say he is one. But he certainly has been an inside the beltway figure in terms of his resume, save for when he’s left town on acting gigs. Indeed, while Fred may indeed be the real deal, it seems worthwhile to have smidgen more skepticism when talking about an actor whose played pretty much only one role his entire life — that of a “real deal” sort of dude.