Gerald Ford, 1913-2006
President Ford has paased away at the age of 93. He was one of those men of character, sadly rare these days on the other side of the aisle, who could command the respect and even the affaection of Americans without regard to party.
His unelected successor will likely not be so lucky; here is an excerpt of Dubya's remarks on the President's passing:
President Ford was a great man who devoted the best years of his life in serving the United States. He was a true gentleman who reflected the best in America's character. Before the world knew his name he served with distinction in the United States Navy and in the United States Congress. As a congressman from Michigan and then as vice president, he commanded the respect and earned the good will of all who had the privilege of knowing him. On Aug. 9, 1974, he stepped into the presidency without ever having sought the office. He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil. For a nation that needed healing, and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we need him most.
During his time in office, the American people came to know President Ford as a man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts. Americans will always admire Gerald Ford's unflinching performance of duty and the honorable conduct of his administration and the great rectitude of the man himself. We mourn the loss of such a leader. And our 38th president will always have a special place in our nation's memory. President Ford lived 93 years and his life was a blessing for America. And now this fine man will be taken to his rest by a family that will love him always and by a nation that will be grateful to him forever. May God bless Gerald Ford.
This country would be well served if we had leadership of the sort provided by President Ford; but we have what we have, and it is what it is.
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Obituary
Disagree
Submitted by Bouldin on 28 December 2006 - 7:56pm.
George Bush lost the 2000 election and had it handed to him in a partisan judicial coup. That means he shouldn't even have been allowed to run in 2004 - high treason and all that - and in consequence, as far as I am concerned, has never been elected.
QED.
Not so...
Submitted by mole333 on 28 December 2006 - 8:54pm.
Sorry, Bush has never allowed the 2000 and 2004 elections to be properly recounted and analyzed to ever know whether he won. The majority of ways considered to recount the 2000 election would have given Florida to Gore. If memory serves, 9 out of 12 methods would have given it to Gore. The remaining methods would have given it to Bush. But for me the key was that the Republicans did everything they could to block ANY method...why? If he won, why block recounts? Given the fact that a recount was likely to show he did NOT win, it seems like their refusal to count every vote was partisan BS that effectively stole the election. And FL-13 looks like a repeat performance.
In 2004 once again irregularlities marred the election...and Republicans prevented recounts. Once again, because of this we do not know if Bush was elected. The refusal of the Republicans to allow fair and independent recounts means Bush remains open to the accusation of not having been elected and always will be open to such accusation. If you act suspiciously don't be surprised when people are suspicious of you. The fact that people no longer trust Republicans represents layers of suspicions from Watergate to Iran-Contra to dubious elections one after the other to lies to get us into a war with no clear purpose and no exit strategy.
As for Ford and the other Republicans you mention, if you read my piece on Ford's death you will see I basically respect those people even if I disagree with them on most issues. But those folks no longer represent the Republican Party anymore. Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Randy Cunningham, Karl Rove, George Bush and their crew are the Republican Party. THat strikes me as a huge problem!
right man for the right time
Submitted by David Hernandez (not verified) on 28 December 2006 - 1:58pm.
The first political campaign I ever volunteered for was for President Ford. I was a young 17 year old liberal republican in those days. Reagan killed the party for me. Gerald Ford's presidency will now get due recognition for his acomplishments. The pardon was a gusty call which was necessary then. However I would not say the same for dubya and his cronies. We should send them all to the gullitine.
Ford
Submitted by mole333 on 28 December 2006 - 8:59pm.
Well, if you read my earlier piece on Ford, you will see I am mostly sympathetic to him. But...I would not call it gutsy in any way that he pardoned Nixon. It was payment, pure and simple. The price of admission to the White House. He took the job and had to pay the finder's fee. Simple as that. He probably HAD to do that, but it wasn't gutsy.
Not really
Submitted by Bouldin on 28 December 2006 - 9:19pm.
As I understand it, Ford pardoned Nixon - who is looking better and better these days, as you rightly pointed out - because he wanted to provide closure; as he said, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over".
That was arguably the wrong choice, not least because it empowered future criminals in office like Reagan and Bush, but I think he did it for honorable reasons.
I agree
Submitted by sidnora on 29 December 2006 - 10:32am.
though I sure didn't at the time - that Ford believed he was acting honorably and in the best interests of the country. However, I consider it to have been a huge mistake, which seems to be the opposite of the current prevailing opinion. He shouldn't have done it, no matter how much pain it would have inflicted on the country at the time. We're paying the price for his lack of will today, and in spades.
It could also be argued that Ford was simply naive; did he understand what he was unleashing on the world by his promotions of Rumsfeld, Cheney and G.H.W. Bush?
It could...
Submitted by Antid Oto on 29 December 2006 - 3:05pm.
It could further also be argued (and LBJ famously argued it) that Ford was simply dumb.
Ford made me a Republican.
Gerald Ford was an honorable man, and he made me a Republican. I never liked Jimmy Carter (and think even less of him today). Ted Kennedy was no better.
It was men like Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits, Ben Gilman (Congressman from Rockland County) and my father who made my registration as a Republican an easy and logical one.
NOTE TO BOULDIN: "His unelected successor will likely not be so lucky"?? Bush was elected twice. Stop writing stuff like this! If you want stories about stealing elections, there's one about LBJ's Texas races in today's Austin American-Statesman that's pretty good.