This is interesting:
Thompson agreed that he didn't share the views of Vice President Cheney when it comes to the supremacy of the executive branch.
"No, I think the constitution in times of war, especially, is very definitive about that," he said. "The president is the commander in chief, but the Congress has the power of the budget. The power of the purse. So everything has to go through that prism. So it’s divided power in the constitution. Our founding fathers divided that up. Divided it up at the federal level, the idea being that things like Watergate should be made very difficult to happen. So no one branch of the government can misuse power."
Thompson described checks and balances as "a constant tug and pull. Controversy and differences of opinion over legitimate national security concerns is not a bad thing. Every branch needs to stand up for itself. And I saw that as, in effect, an attorney for the executive branch, and then as a legislator."
And this is what a humble Christian sounds like:
"I think that when a man has been through the heights and depths of life, and when he's had the tragedies and the blessings of life, as I have, I think you develop an even greater sense of what's important and what's not. A person has to realize at some point in his life it's not about him. It's about higher things, and the need to be right with God. And to be right with those who love you. And if you've got that, none of the rest of it matters."
I have to say: he's growing on me.