Dick Morris blistered Fred Thompson in his column today, calling the great GOP hope from Tennessee "ill-informed, inarticulate, badly briefed and downright lazy."

Not quite sure what Morris really thinks of Thompson? Consider this line: "Thompson seems to lack the interest, energy, will, ability and stamina to compete at this level."

I am always ambivalent about, and skeptical of, Dick Morris. He is unquestionably a brilliant political operator. However, it strikes me that Morris is often right about today but wrong about tomorrow. That is, no one is better at sensing and explaining the politics of the moment, but he is often way off in terms of long-term strategy and future predictions (and by long term I mean next week, next month or next year).

My other reservation concerning Morris is his petulance and vindictiveness. Although he was an insider, I am reluctant to accept much of his analysis or history of the Clintons, as it is filtered through his palpable hatred for Bill and Hill. Whenever I read scathing analysis from him like this, I always wonder if the target of the essay might have insulted Morris at some point and this is payback.

Having said all that, much of what Morris asserts rings true to me, especially this graph:

"Hillary is probably the next president anyway. But there is only one way to defeat her -- to nominate a candidate whose anti-terrorism credentials are so deep that if Americans return to their senses and grasp the nature of the dire and continuing threat we face, he can prevail in November. There are two candidates who fill that bill: Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. Neither Thompson nor Romney approach it."

Read in full here via RCP.

I remain open-minded and cautiously optimistic about Fred; nevertheless, clearly, he needs to kick things into gear over there at "Thompson 2008."