Former President Gerald Ford Dead at 93 367
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."
Forgive and forget? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:2, Insightful)
Definitely agree. His excuse at the time was lame, and paved the way for future excesses.
Part of the responsibility of the highest office in the land is to make the tough calls, and he totally failed it on that one. No wonder people kept asking if he had played football without a helmet.
When a president who nobody voted for pardons his predecessor and former "boss" for criminal activities, it stinks. The "National Nightmare" was over when Nixon resigned - putting him on trial would have sent the message that there aren't 2 sets of rules - one for white-collar elites and one for the rest of us.
To paraphrase it - "Fuck someone over, go to jail - fuck the whole country over, retire and write a book. Fuck it!"
On a side note - how is Ford's death "News for Nerds?"
Funny thing about Ford... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I will never forgive him (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:This is here why? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:4, Insightful)
He didn't do it for Nixon, he did it for us. It isn't like Nixon was going to run for any other office, and if you are old enough to remember, with Vietnam, JFK, Bobby Kennedy, MLK, Kent State, and everything else that had happened over the last decade, we really didn't need another investigation to tell us what we already knew.
Everyone knew Nixon was guilty, and because he was ex-pres, he wasn't going to go to "pound you in the ass federal prison" regardless of the outcome. We did not need 5 years of court hearings at that time.
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:4, Insightful)
Part of the responsibility of the highest office in the land is to make the tough calls, and he totally failed it on that one.
Considering that every one of his advisors recommended against the pardon, and he still did it, I'd say that was a tough call.
The other thing that all the people that froth at the mouth about this (still) forget is that an article of impeachment |=criminal charges. In fact, Nixon hadn't been indicted in the legal system, when the pardon was issued. Now, whether he would have been, and whether he would have convicted is something that can be argued (and probably will be) for a long time.
Re:Let the SOB rot in hell (Score:1, Insightful)
Nixon: dishonest, dirty-trickster that he was - would not support GWB's imperialism. Nixon said: when the president does it it isn't against the law; W just does it and smirks. He knows we don't have enough votes to impeach him over the next two years.
And, yes, I agree with the poster that observed that we can thank Gerald Ford for the past 25 years of political connivance because Dick Nixon evaded justice. Impeaching a president and indicting him under the criminal statutes is a duty that every president undertakes when he takes the Oath of Office - too uphold, protect & defend the Constitution. Ford was selected because he would pardon Nixon and to hell with the Constitution.
GWB has certainly followed Ford's contempt for the Constitution - every day and in every way "W" finds new ways to destroy this nation - at home and abroad - and the direct line of responsibility runs right to Ford's pardon.
If I were a Christian, I'd agree that the SOB should rot in hell. As it stands, Ford lead the good life for nine decades because he was a pliable pol.
Backroom negotiated pardon? (Score:3, Insightful)
I always wondered if Nixon's resignation was a negotiated deal with other members of the Republican part, with the pardon being part of the deal.
Messiness in front, though (Score:2, Insightful)
Instead, we came to a near constitutional crisis because a President cheated on his wife. It gave a free pass to presidents for generations to come.
Face it, when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, the only Americans he was sparing were the pissant Republicans that were hanging on by their fingernails anyway back then, and the paranoid, drug-addled fuck that had vacated the White House months before (see, history repeats itself!). He was doing the sleazebag political version of "Paying it Forward".
Re:Cnn does it best (Score:5, Insightful)
How is this insightful? (Score:4, Insightful)
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!
Scary Times for the U.S. (Score:2, Insightful)
It doesn't give me a whole lot of hope for the near future. Every time we see something on slashdot it is hotly debated with no middle ground and no compromise. With that attitude, I find it unlikely that we will elect officials who are willing to walk the middle ground or compromise and that, to me, is scary.
President Ford, I was too young to know what was really happening during your term so I won't judge (I am also not a judge). You took the highest position in the world and I respect you for that accomplishment as I do every President regardless of party or policy. I remember feeling encouragement from you in the boy scout commercials and I thank you for that.
Rest in Peace.
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it wasn't. It has given idiots like Bush carte blanche to run amok with just about zero fear of being taken to task in a meaningful manner. Nixon should have gone to the fucking slammer.
My favorite part of the Wikipedia article on Watergate:
"The White House blamed this on Nixon's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, who said she had accidentally erased the tape by pushing the wrong foot pedal on her tape player while answering the phone. However, as photos splashed all over the press showed, for Woods to answer the phone and keep her foot on the pedal would have required a stretch that would have challenged a gymnast. She was then said to have held this position for the full 18½ minutes. Later forensic analysis determined that the gap had been erased several -- perhaps as many as eight -- times over, refuting the "accidental erasure" explanation."
This is third world level stuff... they should have tried and executed Nixon's ass right then. Just the fact that he tried to invoke executive privilege to cover it up is enough for me. Unfortunately, our leaders are not afraid of this, and so they'll continue to do their thing with the fear of serving a token sentence at most... all thanks to Ford's "greatest thing" in your words.
Yeah, funny how that works. If the powers that be were worried about having their nuts in a sling this wouldn't have happened. Tell me again how your vaunted pardon helped matters? Everybody is so concerned about "smoothing things over" and "moving on" instead of holding people accountable that it really removes the motivation to work within the law for a lot of these folks.
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:5, Insightful)
Shame? What shame? He's still defended as a hero by neocons. His people are still to be found in power in D.C.
The fact the Nixon didn't go to jail is what let Reagan and Bush II get away with their subversions of the Constitution.
Re:How is this insightful? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Messiness in front, though (Score:3, Insightful)
Really, and what "Lawlessness" is that, and how does it relate to what Nixon did? Are you acusing GW Bush of rigging the elections, and if so what happened this last time around? While some may question the "Domestic Surveillance" program, it is surely done for different reasons than Nixon's goons breaking and entering to try to get an upper hand in an election.
Instead, we came to a near constitutional crisis because a President cheated on his wife. It gave a free pass to presidents for generations to come.
Uhhh, no there wasn't anything near a 'constitutional crisis'. Also, Clinton wasn't impeached for "Cheating on his wife", it was for grand jury perjury, civil suit perjury, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power. All of these fall under 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors". While Clinton did obviously commit perjury, I personally am happy he wasn't impeached for it since it didn't really harm the country in any way.
Face it, when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, the only Americans he was sparing were the pissant Republicans that were hanging on by their fingernails anyway back then, and the paranoid, drug-addled fuck that had vacated the White House months before (see, history repeats itself!). He was doing the sleazebag political version of "Paying it Forward".
Or maybe he was just trying to do the right thing for the country? I do hope both parties get over the desire to impeach one anothers presidents for partisan discord.
Re:Bush involvement (Score:4, Insightful)
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?
Re:Messiness in front, though (Score:5, Insightful)
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 [cuyamaca.edu], which is a hallmark of those with Borderline Personality Disorder [aapel.org], 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.
Re:OK, I'm a cynic ... (Score:3, Insightful)
If Clinton had been conviceted for lying (essentially the charge)
Just a small correction -- the charge wasn't just "lying", the charge was the President of the United States, the protector of the constitution, lying under oath, in a court of law, a much more serious offense.
Re:Cnn does it best (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:3, Insightful)
How would it be better had justice not been served?
How is sticking our head in the sand as a nation "better for us"?
That justice was not done, set the stage for the future. The Iran-Contra traitors are all back on the job, instead of jail, where they belong. Karl Rove actually served on Nixon's campaign, and his poisonous brand of divisive politics or character assassination is still turning our nation's political discourse into something akin to pro-wrestling.
I think in the short term, yes, it would have harmed the country. But in the long run, we would have been much better off had we, as a nation, faced the corruption of our political system, drew a line in the sand and said "No more. There will be justice this time, and every time henceforth."
Re:Let the SOB rot in hell (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How is this insightful? (Score:2, Insightful)
Much as I detest the man, our current regime doesn't count as a imperial Presidency if the voters explicitly endorse it by putting him back in office, no matter how slim the margin was.
It's the will of the peepul, curse their stupid little souls. Sit down, wipe the foam off your mouth and get over it.
Re:He took JFK secrets to his grave (Score:3, Insightful)
One, I don't know you from a hill of beans, so your credibility is unknown.
Two, assuming he did change the words, it is at least as important to know *why* he did it as it is to know he did it in the first place.
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm really failing to see the logic in that. Would it have been okay to try Nixon if he'd been just kinda-sorta-somewhat guilty of lesser crimes instead?
Re:Turn the TV Off. (Score:3, Insightful)
And I'm allergic to bees, so my chances are pretty good. Especially since I'm 10 miles from Tijuana.
I don't watch Faux News... I read Das Interwebs...
http://www.drudgereport.com/ [drudgereport.com]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ [bbc.co.uk]
http://news.google.com/ [google.com]
http://www.haaretz.com/ [haaretz.com]
http://www.msnbc.com/ [msnbc.com]
http://thehill.com/ [thehill.com]
http://www.iht.com/ [iht.com]
http://my.yahoo.com/ [yahoo.com] - of course, customized for worldwide RSS.
Grow up and open your eyes to the world reality. Not just the one you see in your four walls. Try working with some people from different parts of the world. Especially men from the worker caste in India that don't know anything about how to work with Females. One peed all over the bathroom IN OUR OFFICE, because the young janitorial Mexican girl knocked on the door while he was taking a leak. He was offended, so he whizzed all over all of the porcelain. Oh, and he was Muslim too... he would accost any woman he saw wearing a crucifix... and since we have a lot of Filipinas here, it was awful. Needless to say, it STILL took us 2 months of protesting to get HR to do something about him. I particularly enjoyed bringing in bacon and egg muffin sammies and eating them right in front of him. Oh, did I mention that he was in the cube next to me.. this is how I know all this.
My favorite foreigners that I've ever worked were with practically brothers... we even shared an office. One was a Christian Iranian, the other a Sunni Iraqi, and they surfed (in the ocean) together daily. I miss them both so much... and they treated HUMANS with a dignity and respect I've never seen since. Sad. I learned a lot from them.
It's not the terrorism I worry about, it's the FORCED IMPOSITION of Sharia on societies that are too vulnerable to know better. Women are being beaten in the public square now in Banda Aceh, and no one cares... the UN let them take it over... and now, they are beaten to death for meeting with a man in public. FUCK THAT SHIT maynard. FUCK IT ALL... I will give MY rotten ass life to make sure that NO ONE must suffer under such injustice. *sigh* Even you. Especially you... too damned ignorant to know better.. either that, or you're blinded by decades of such imposition already.
Re:Forgive and forget? (Score:3, Insightful)
Uhm... (Score:2, Insightful)
But no man should be judged by only their worse moments. You must take ALL moments into account, and until you see everything a person did, you should not judge for yourself what they have done.
Clinton is still loved by many despite what he did. And I don't mean the scandel. I mean acts reguarding printing so much money that the penny is now worth less than 1 cent...