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Former President Gerald Ford Dead at 93
Rancid Altoid was one of a large number of readers to tell us that "Former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who was swept into office after the Watergate scandal and later pardoned Richard Nixon, died at age 93, his widow said on Tuesday."
He should never have pardoned Nixon.
Obligatory wiki quote.
"Diplomacy is something you do until you find a rock." --Richard Pound
He was delicious.
Completely inappropriate
A lot of people, especially younger ones, weren't aware that Ford was the only US president who was never elected to office. When Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned over charges of tax evasion, Nixon chose Senator Ford to replace him. Then when Nixon resigned over Watergate, Ford took the top job. I think most people these days only know of Ford through accident-prone appearances on shows like the Simpsons and impersonations by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live reruns. Some people believe that his unremarkable term of office was just what this country needed after the previous administraitons focus on Viet Nam, Watergate, etc.
So.
Farewell then, Gerald Ford.
Many said you were not the sharpest tool in the box.
How wrong they are, now.
(Age 17 1/2)
Not to be a grammar nazi, but it should read "from the too-many-submissions-to-ignore dept"
In all likelihood, given the political climate of the time, you still wouldn't have gotten to the bottom of everything Nixon did, and only put up with months of political grandstanding and butt-covering. On the other hand, Nixon's henchmen were publicly tried, their crimes exposed, and most of them did time. Unfortunately, being shameless (*cough* G. Gordon Liddy *cough*), they didn't quietly disappear as would have been appropriate. (that includes you, Henry K.) Exiling Nixon to Fairbanks, rather than California, would have been appropriate as well, but as the Stones put it, "you can't always get what you want". Having seen what drips out over the years about Nixon's time in office, you can only imagine what would have been vomited up at the time if it all came out at once. Ford seems to have done close to the right thing.
So don't complain. Personally, I wanted to see Ronbo, G. H. W. Bush, and Co. brought to task over Iran Contra, but with those last minute pardons for the perpetrators as the investigators finally got near GHWB, my generation got diddly/squat. You at least got something, even if it wasn't RMN in San Quentin.
the more accurate the calculations became, the more the concepts tended to vanish into thin air. R. S. Mulliken
President. No Wiki quote, look it up yourself. But he joined 6 of the 12 men who walked on the moon with that distinction. (Why do you think Apollo 11's lunar module was called "The Eagle"?)
as Tom Brokaw immediately came to mind when I heard the news. There are audio bits on Dana Carvey's website, and occasionally someone will upload the entire skit to YouTube (before it's inevitably taken down by the copyright police).
...
Tom Brokaw: Gerald Ford dead today at the age of 83.
Producer: Good, now one for next year.
Tom Brokaw: Gerald Ford dead today at age 84.
Producer: Now one for if he's shot.
Tom Brokaw: Gerald Ford shot dead today at age 83.
Producer: Add the word senseless.
Tom Brokaw: Okay, Gerald Ford shot dead at the senseless age of 83.
Tom Brokaw: Alright, we got it?
Producer: No. We've got "eaten by wolves".
Tom Brokaw: What? Now, come on!
Producer: Just read it!
Tom Brokaw: Gerald Ford isn't gonna be eaten by wolves!
Producer: Taft was.
Tom Brokaw: Really? Taft?
Producer: Uh... yeah.
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Voice of Producer: What? That'd be a huge story - Ford dying, and you coming out!
Tom Brokaw: But I'm not gay!
Voice of Producer: Today you're not gay, you know.. but then one day you wake up, you like men, and Gerald Ford dies, and we're screwed. Everyone's hearing about it from Dan Rather!
---- "XML is like violence. If it doesn't fix the problem, you aren't using enough."
It is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly.
Well it did succeed and over 200,000 East Timorese died during the invasion and subsequent occupation. It's strange that neither Ford nor Kissinger mentioned they gave the green light for the East Timor invasion in their memoirs. It must have slipped their minds. Fortunately details of their meetings with Suharto are now available (released by the National Security Archive in 2001). Yes Ford will be sorely missed by the people of East Timor.
When I was 17, I received an Eagle Scout award. Our local Scout council was holding a benefit dinner, and President Ford (by that time, former president) was the guest of honor, who was a former Scout himself. I was asked if I wanted to be in the color guard, and I readily accepted. I also had the honor of sitting next to him at the head table for dinner. He was a very gracious man, and was happy to talk with us about him and Scouting. Being young, I was quite nervous, but he interacted with us in a comfortable, casual, yet respected manner.
One thing that I'll never forget is that for dessert, we were served a "grasshopper pie", which was a mint ice cream and chocolate pie. Interestingly, they served him a bowl of three simple scoops of vanilla ice cream. When I asked him about it, he said that he loved vanilla ice cream, and didn't like the other fancy stuff.
Anyway, it was a pleasure to have had the honor of spending a short time with him.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
Bias? I'm not sure where you are seeing bias in CNN's coverage. They portrayed him as a kind and honest man who did what he thought was best for the country, as opposed to what was best for himself or the Republican party. Which, to be accurate, was pretty much how Ford said he wanted to be remembered.
For those too young to know better; the Watergate scandal is NOT about the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters! Watergate is about everything that happened AFTER!
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
You think they came in handy?
I know /. skews young, so it's possible you may not remember Reagan getting shot.
That's the thing: unlike Ford, he actually got shot, as did Brady and a Secret Service guy, Tim McCarthy. Missed killing Reagan by about an inch. We had to wait in suspense to see if he would survive or not. So, yeah, that stands out in people's memories. (I was 11 when it happened.)
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You cannot wash away blood with blood
We still don't have a motive for the crime -- Nixon was leading in the polls at the time of the break-in. Some suggest the motive might have been to steal the evidence that Nixon and George H.W. Bush were involved in the JFK assassination.
So the democrats had this, and just didn't release it...and they never mentioned it publically afterwords? Please, those kinds of theories are put forward just by authors looking to sell books to marks. They broke in to place wiretaps to see what the democrats were up to. Sure Nixon was leading in the polls, but does a thief stop stealing just because he has money?
But then again, why should the OP allow facts to get in the way of what he/she wishes to believe?
The logical fallacy of Blank and White Thinking, which is a hallmark of those with Borderline Personality Disorder, seems to affect most of us when dealing with political figures.
Maybe GWB and/or Bill Clinton are saints, sent from God himself; maybe they're full-on sociopaths. However, the most likely scenario is that they're the usual mixture of good and evil, altruism and selfishness, who through various turns-of-events became President despite their flaws.
Likewise, their policies could be completely evil or completely good, but more likely the result of mixed motives and the general imperfection of the human intellect and psychology.
Please take my respects with you. From all that I know of him, Gerald Ford was a good and honest man who did the best he could even in a tough situation, and always had his countrymen's best interests at heart. I am saddened by his passing, but glad that we had him in life.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Bias? I'm not sure where you are seeing bias in CNN's coverage. They portrayed him as a kind and honest man who did what he thought was best for the country, as opposed to what was best for himself or the Republican party.
There's your bias right there. Honest? That's completely laughable. Best for the country? Pah-lease.
Ford is a man who let a crook go free for the benefit of the Republican party. Just imagine Nixon, a dirty Republican, and 4-5 years of a trial where everyone knew he had broken the law. Reagan would have never made it into office in a political climate like that. And all of Nixon's cronies such as Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush Sr, would have had their careers ruined.
No, Ford's actions were for the benefit of the only person who elected him to the position of President of the United States: Richard Nixon.
He was also aware in advance of the plan by Indonesia to massacre the East Timorese with U.S.-provided weaponry (~200,00 killed). Now, I'm not certain that we really needed to act militarily, but if the Indosesians wanted to kill a third East Timor's population I fail to see why we got to provide the weapons.
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http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_c
http://redstateson.blogspot.com/2006/12/gaw-in-ac
Shaw's Principle: Build a system even a fool could use, and only a fool would want to use it.