Burnie Thompson
Burnie Thompson (born July 29, 1967, in Placerville, Ca.) is a libertarian-minded American radio talk-show host in Bay County, Fl. The Burnie Thompson Show airs weekday mornings from 6-9AM on Talk Radio 101, Northwest Florida’s FM Talk Station, which is owned by Magic Broadcasting, LLC. The show aims to be local, interactive and entertaining. It can be heard throughout the world via live streaming audio or archived podcasts at www.talkradio101.com.
Thompson also teaches English Composition at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fl.
Biography
Burnie Thompson was born in Placerville, Ca., on July 29, 1967. Thompson graduated from Corona High School in Corona, Ca. in 1985. In 2000, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University, Fullerton. Two years later he graduated from the University of Southern California with a master’s degree in print journalism and commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.
Thompson served as a Public Affairs Officer at the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah. He was selected to teach English at the U.S. Air Force Academy and earned a master’s degree in English from Penn State University in 2006. Burnie was a regular guest on Radio Free Penn State on The LION 90.7fm (WKPS) before hosting The Wake-Up Call, which covered local and national political affairs. He separated as a Captain from the Air Force as part of its 2006 Force-shaping Program.
Early Life
Burnie Thompson’s father, Vernon Thompson, served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a Master Sergeant. His mother, Janet Sadler, and his sister, Lynne Hooper, traveled the globe as an Air Force family from 1967-1980; they lived in Sacramento, Ca.; The Philippines; Mountain Home, Idaho; Iraklion, Crete; Tacoma, Wa.; Wiesbaden, Germany; and Corona, Ca.
As a child, Thompson collected comic books and sports cards, admiring the courage and heroism of his favorite characters and athletes. He played basketball at Corona High School.
Politics
Though Thompson is libertarian-minded, he is not part of the Libertarian Party. He claims to champion personal freedom and responsibility, standing on the foundation of Natural Law. He argues that people are born with the rights to life, liberty and property, and government should exist to prevent encroachments against these individual rights.
In Thompson’s view, politics has turned into a contemptible system whereby too many people and groups seek to benefit at the expense of others. Furthermore, he insists, People can pursue their interests and take care of each other without the dictates of a Nanny State.
Thompson has written opinion columns for The Orange County Register, The Washington Times, The Odgen Standard-Examiner, and The Panama City News Herald. He was a political commentator in 2001 on The University of Southern California’s student-run TV news program “IMPACT,” which airs in Los Angeles.
Thompson credits Ronald Reagan and Los Angeles radio talk-show host Dennis Prager for initially influencing his political philosophy. The writings of Nobel laureate economists F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman contributed to Thompson’s later libertarian commitment to the virtues of limited government and personal responsibility.