With the 2012 primary elections in full swing, this week brought with it some unfinished business from 2008, as Mike Huckabee opened up a can of worms by suggesting that Sen. John McCain encouraged Fred Thompson to stay in the Republican primary to dilute the Huckabee vote. Sen. McCain denied it, while Thompson essentially called Huckabee a liar, and on Fox & Friends this morning, Huckabee noted that he meant no offense, and was a bit confused as why he had to “apologize for thinking they were smart.”

He kinda did, yeah. On Friday morning’s Fox and Friends, the gang confronted former Sen. Fred Thompson with video of Mike Huckabee‘s accusation that Thompson had remained in the 2008 primary race in South Carolina at Sen. John McCain‘s urging, to take votes away from Huckabee. Thompson denied the accusation, and went a step further, saying he “doubted” Huckabee’s assertion that several McCain aides confirmed the story to him.

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but ’tis also the season to fill dead news space. Luckily, you’re also probably looking for something to do after you sleep off the eggnog, glance nervously at your now-bone-dry tree, and try to remember if you really just paid twelve bucks to see Little Fockers. Whether you celebrate [...]

Well, this is awkward. Sean Hannity tried to wish many happy returns to his guest, Fred Thompson, at the end of a segment. Thompson makes it a point to note that he is spending the night of his birthday with Hannity, to which Hannity quips, “I’d spend it with your wife.” Oops! Happy birthday, Fred Thompson!

Former actor/casual presidential candidate Fred Thompson has now become collateral damage in the ideological battle for domain names. First Tucker Carlson bought KeithOlbermann.com and made it redirect to his Daily Caller website. Then Salon‘s War Room bought TuckerCarlson.net. Now Rachel Maddow has bought a domain name to express how inherently funny she finds Fred Thompson: FredThompsonIsInherentlyFunny.com.

Today’s Hannity was a bit of a last-minute affair, since the scheduled special Tea Party rally edition was shut down by angry Fox News administrators who were not told Sean Hannity‘s appearance there was for-profit. This resulted in two excruciating segments with 2008 presidential candidate Fred Thompson and on-call guests like Reaganite celebrity military man Lt. Col. Oliver North. At least North delivered a good soundbite.

The last piece of the Eric Massa puzzle – disgraced former governor of Illinois and news cycle hero Rod Blagojevich, has decided to enter the fray in an interview with Fred Thompson, the former actor who sleepily made a run for the Republican nomination to the presidency in 2008 and apparently has a radio show now. And he knows exactly what Massa is talking about when he says Rahm Emanuel harassed him nude in the showers of the Congressional gym.

Who: Dick Wolf, Rene Balcer, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston (Law & Order), moderated by Pat Mitchell What: The Inside Media series’ “Law & Order: Twenty Years and Counting” Where: The Paley Center for Media When: November 16, 2009 Thumbs: Up