The Mercurial Mr. Thompson

From Mark Silva of your Chicago Tribune:

[I]t turns out that the newest candidate's name in the Republican race for president is, in fact, not Fred D. Thompson.

It's been a family secret for many, many years, uncovered only by the most diligent reporting. Few people know this. But Fred Thompson's actual first name isn't Fred.

It's really Freddie.

No, seriously.

Official marriage, birth and divorce records in Alabama and Tennessee show that the newest Republican presidential contender was born Freddie Dalton Thompson.

Rudy, Mitt, Huckabee, and now, Freddie...

And folks worried that Barack Obama had a funny name.