Watergate

[Jeeperrr]

I always thought that Ford was okay. I really believed that he pardoned Nixon for the good of the country, but it seems it was more of a personal favor to Nixon:

"I had no hesitancy about granting the pardon, because I felt that we had this relationship and that I didn't want to see my real friend have the stigma," Mr. Ford said in the interview.

I almost wish I hadn't read that - now I will get steamed every time I hear the GOP say how Ford's motivation was the good of the nation, and what a hero he was to sacrifice his political future for the American people - when it was really to protect Tricky Dick.

[funkycamper]

I remember that pardon well and how disgusted I was by it. I never understood the concept they were trying to push on us....that we, as a country, will heal better if we don't have justice. What the heck? Every other crime that is committed, the claim is always that we prosecute people in order to obtain justice and that justice will help the victims heal. It is akin to saying that 9/11 was a nightmare for our country and now we have to heal so we're going to pardon Osama bin Laden.

Oh, wait...maybe Bush has already done this but just hasn't shared that tidbit with us yet...at least from the way they have virtually abandoned their efforts to get him, anyway. Bah! Back to the topic...

I don't share your surprise. I always thought it was a lie. It just never made sense to me at all. Remember, Ford had Cheney as his chief-of-staff and Rumseld as his Secretary of Defense. Good grief! With advisors like that....'nuff said.

[Maureen in Italy]

This was posted at Crooks and Liars shortly after Ford died and I thought that it brought up some interesting points.

Gerald Ford did not replace Henry Kissinger as his Secretary of State. There are allegations that Kissinger and Ford were complicit in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Timorese at the hands of General Suharto. And it was Gerald Ford who appointed George H.W. Bush to be Director of the FBI CIA, Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense, and Dick Cheney as his Chief of Staff. I expect there will be some discussion of these acts in the next few days.

This might be a good time to re-evaluate the pardon of Nixon, because pardons of another former president and vice president may become a big issue in the next administration. In my life I've gone from being furious to thinking it was best for the nation and then changing my mind again. We need to look carefully at the long-term results of the pardon. How much of that terrible era went unexamined because of Nixon's pardon? And did it matter?

But Gerald Ford was not, I think, a man who put schemes and party politics ahead of his country. He and his family were were a soothing balm of honesty and wholesomeness at a time the nation desperately needed honesty and wholesomeness. On Inauguration Day 1977, President Carter began his speech: "For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."

And that's what I choose to remember now.

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<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 03, 2007 04:08 PM: Message edited by: Maureen in Italy ]</font>

[senorina]

I agree that it was a terrible idea to pardon Tricky Dick.

I was horrified when Kennedy gave him a profile in courage award for the pardon, what was up with that?

It WASN'T courageous, it was cowardly.

[funkycamper]

Oh, heck...I guess I'm wrong. Ford was right to pardon Nixon because Nixon really didn't do anything wrong after all.

Read about it here [img]eek.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 05, 2007 08:37 PM: Message edited by: funkycamper ]</font>

[onelove]

Ann Coulter...does she really believe the stuff she spouts. She is an idiot. I can read a lot of conservative commentary and feel informed and challenged. When I read her drivel I just feel seek to my stomach and dirty.

[funkycamper]

And I'm horrified to hear that Kennedy gave him such an award! Wow...when did this happen?

[Jeeperrr]

Originally posted by Maureen in Italy:
This was posted at Crooks and Liars shortly after Ford died and I thought that it brought up some interesting points.


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In my life I've gone from being furious to thinking it was best for the nation and then changing my mind again. We need to look carefully at the long-term results of the pardon. How much of that terrible era went unexamined because of Nixon's pardon?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ January 03, 2007 04:08 PM: Message edited by: Maureen in Italy ]</font></font>[/b]</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is pretty much the journey I've taken with this, too.

[Jeeperrr]

Originally posted by funkycamper:
Remember, Ford had Cheney as his chief-of-staff and Rumseld as his Secretary of Defense. Good grief! With advisors like that....'nuff said.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And those two were first employed in the Nixon administration. Birds of a feather.........

[funkycamper]

I just wish Rumsfeld and Cheney had been convicted in the Watergate invesgiations. Knowing what we know about them now, I can't hardly believe they weren't involved somehow. If we had gotten rid of them then, we wouldn't have had to deal with them now.