What started as a relatively calm and informative presentation by Republican Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson suddenly turned calamitous and potentially deadly for many unwitting participants at his enclosed campaign headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.
Apparently some members of the press and general public were pressed forward towards the hulking Thompson by those participants further back and in what can only be characterized as a sickening panorama, became violently ill. At first many didn't know what was causing those people closest to Thompson to start vomiting and also foaming at the mouth. At one time 23 people were simultaneously sickened and the scene was indeed horrific.
It was discovered that it was Thompson's exhalations that were the toxic culprit of so much misery, and then only because as Thompson turned to those in back and starting shouting "What's wrong, what's wrong" that those unfortunate individuals also started falling to the ground retching and clutching their throats. It became exceedingly ugly when Thompson jumped off the stage, attempting to assist the stricken victims that his breath began to fell even more people who had rushed in to help.
Fireman with gas masks finally arrived at the carnage and Thompson's breath mitigated when two brave firemen stuffed thirty something altoids into the candidate's mouth and forced him to suck on them until they dissolved completely. One Tennessee resident who wished to remain anonymous said "I tell you what, that breath would gag a dog off a gut wagon; it smelled a lot worse than Huckabee's."
Thompson has apologized for the incident, but undaunted said "Incidents like these can sometimes breathe new life into a campaign." Thompson has pledged to give speeches only in well ventilated areas and will not go anywhere without copious quantities of what he termed "Industrial strength breath mints." And though he acknowledged his campaign "May have had the breath knocked out of it" also said "We will not let what is obviously a world class case of Halitosis derail this campaign."
