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Good-Bye, Gerald Ford

I think the following anecdote illustrates Gerald Ford’s legacy:

After former president George Bush has moved out of the house across the street from the Simpsons (due to a running feud he had with Homer and Bart), Homer learns that the house has been bought by former president Ford.  Homer doesn’t know how to feel about this turn of events until Mr. Ford approaches him with an offer.  It goes a little something like this:

Gerald Ford: Say, Homer, do you like football?
Homer: Do I ever!
Ford: Do you like nachos?
Homer: Yes, Mr. Ford.
Ford: Well, why don’t you come over and watch the game and we’ll have nachos, and then some beer.
(Homer and Ford cross the street together.)
Homer: Jerry, I think you and I are going to get along just—
(They both trip in Ford’s driveway)
Homer & Ford: D’oh!

That’s the Gerald Ford we will remember: the one played by Chevy Chase on SNL.  Anyway, he’s drinking beer and watching football in heaven now, possibly.

Posted by s.z. on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 at 2:14 am.

31 Responses to “Good-Bye, Gerald Ford”

Left by JF on December 27th, 2006

the last decent Republican in America. RIP

Left by merlallen on December 27th, 2006

I have the video of the Simpsons clip on my blog.

Left by actor212 on December 27th, 2006

Someone once pointed out that though he did trip down those stairs that one time, he got back up right afterwards, which is not something anyone could have done, especially at his age.

Left by Hysterical Woman on December 27th, 2006

Exactly. Now there’s a guy I would have liked to have a beer with, a real regular guy. Not like the prep school, Ivy league fake cowboy occupying the White House today.

Left by Gus on December 27th, 2006

That “real regular guy” was the guy who gave Rummy and Cheney their first chance to define and practice the policies of today’s Administration. He was duplicitous in pardoning Nixon, and his appointment choices contributed to the disaster that is GWB’s administration.

Left by Janefinch on December 27th, 2006

Ford graduated Yale law.

Left by Harry Cheddar on December 27th, 2006

He was duplicitous in pardoning Nixon

No kidding. All the talk I keep hearing today about how “decent” Ford was makes me want to puke. Gerald Ford was the spiritual father of today’s Republican party with their complete disregard for the law as well as for anyone who isn’t either on their side or one of their contributors. I can’t say I’m the least bit sorry to see him gone.

Left by Realist on December 27th, 2006

Just occurred to me that if Laura Bush talked today as freely as Betty Ford did back then, she’d be tarred and feathered. (Instead Laura is permanently sedated: I know that glassy stare.)

Good ol’ Betty brought breast cancer and rehab into the national lexicon. I don’t have a clip of Warren Zevon singing “Detox Mansion,” but this one’s for you, Betty!

Left by Mrs. Tarquin Biscuitbarrel on December 27th, 2006

If he was so duplicitous in pardoning Nixon (regardless of how you felt about that man), then why did he receive the JFK Profile in Courage award from Caroline and (more important) Teddy?

I didn’t like that he did it, either, but I believe that he saw a higher purpose in getting past Watergate and moving ahead. Nixon didn’t kill anyone, didn’t lie us into a war, hell, didn’t even lie about a blow job in the Oval Office.

He cheated in electioneering and got caught and had to resign for it. It may not have seemed like it at the time, but the Bushies have done one thing for sure, and that’s make Watergate look tame.

Left by actor212 on December 27th, 2006

For some reason fox decided that they needed to interrupt House in order to tell us about Mr. Ford’s death.

I mean, I guess it was a rerun, but still, how much information do we need right then? I mean, you can pretty much sum up the whole thing in four words, and I don’t see why people couldn’t just wait the forty minutes until the nightly news to find out whatever other details.

Incidentally, while summing up Mr. Ford’s life, the Fox guy said smething to the effect of “While criticised at the time, Ford’s decision to pardon Nixon was later seen as a successful effort to bring the nation past the emnities of the Nixon years.”

I was like, “Who? Who, exactly, is glad that Nixon was pardoned?”

I mean, I guess some pundit dickheads probably bring out that exact line, but in terms of ordinary citizens who lived throught the Nixon years, who thinks pardoning the guy was a good idea?

Yeesh.

Left by Christopher on December 27th, 2006

Oh, and actor212 feels that way, a little bit.

I didn’t mean to call you a dickhead; you hadn’t posted yet when I said that.

I will, however, say that whenever I hear talk about moving past things like Watergate, I always think of that line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, right after Lancelot has murdered most of a wedding party:

“This is supposed to be a happy occasion! Let’s not bicker and argue over who killed who!”

Left by Christopher on December 27th, 2006

Lots of folks (myself included)thought Ford was a bumbling idiot at the time. The present occupant of the White House makes Ford look pretty good, huh? If Dubya had taken over in ’74, he would have decreed a paid Federal holiday in honor of Nixon, pardoned GGLiddy and made him national security advisor, built US troops in Vietnam back up to Tet offensive levels, and sent the 82nd Airborne into Riyadh on the second day of the oil embargo just for kicks.

Left by trashfire on December 27th, 2006

All I know is, the guy who drew my blood today was really broken up about Ford. Wistfully quoting Ben Stein.

I’m a coward. I didn’t argue. But, you know, he had a needle sticking in me.

Left by D. Sidhe on December 27th, 2006

It’s not fair to blame Ford for the actions of Cheney and Rummy thirty years after they served in his administration.

Gerry became president under the worst circumstances, but managed to serve with honor. Hell, he’s the only honorable Republican president in my lifetime! Rest in peace President Ford.

Left by Pen Brynisa on December 27th, 2006

I think Ford’s pardoning of Nixon was an outrage, but I believe Ford’s intentions were honorable and I don’t think he could have foreseen the consequences. That people like Tom Delay, Karl Rove and GWB could end up in control of our government was, in those days, Orwellian (still is!). I think he was a good man who had to deal with more than he could handle. Like Mrs. TBB, I admired Betty Ford for her courage and her sponsorship of addiction services and breast cancer research.

Left by BeginningToWonder on December 27th, 2006

When Ford pardoned Nixon, I was off-the-wall furious. I was also a 24 year-old, politically active (and a conscientious objector still cleaning up a few legal problems). When I heard Ford’s rationale years later when he apparently had no agenda, I could still hope Nixon rotted in hell( assuming hell exists which I don’t),but it made sense. Reminded me of a few of my conservative uncles. Really decent guys, but, I think, wrong.

Pardoning Nixon was, in my view, not a good idea. It was, though, a necessary idea. I think it can be argued that the pardoning of Richard Nixon by Ford at least indirectly allowed for ( or at least made more palatable to the public ) Jimmy Carter’s amnesty of draft resisters. I’ll take a resister’s freedom over Nixon’s incarceration any day.

Left by tomg on December 27th, 2006

fwiw, the guy who lowered the flag to half-mast at the gas station across the street from my work tripped over a paint stripe in the parking lot on his way back inside

Left by preznit giv me turkee on December 27th, 2006

just started a book called 31 days by Barry Werth about the first (suprise) 31 days of Fords Presidency. Not enough into it yet to know if it’s any good but I loved the liner note ” The Crisis that gave us the government we have today”
I hope GRF rests in peace and my sympathies go out to his family.

Left by pidomon on December 27th, 2006

First of all, a big-ass AYYYY-MENNN!!!!!! to Janefinch & Realist — THANK YOU for blowing the smoke off of this circlejerking memorial bonfire a’la CBS, CNN, et al.

I cannot argue with Mrs. Biscuitbarrel (and so rarely find reason to do so), but this lionization of a pretty ineffectual human being (i.e., NOT Betty) seems pretty pointless, as in, another P.R. blowjob to prop-up the failing regime that is dragging us all (well, all of us who aren’t billionaires, anyway) into the worst Depression that this planet will have ever seen.

It’s not about Gerry. It’s about the P.R., kids. I won’t argue with the kind and utterly classy words of Jimmy Carter about Gerald Ford, but honestly, I think that S.Z.’s Homerian eulogy is probably the nicest thing that anybody could really say about a guy who was generally a puppet and who did what he was told, every day of his life, to the end of his “presidency.”

Y’know what I remember from election night, 1976? Aside from the whooping and hollering around the household to see a Southerner AND a Baptist (back when baptists were human beings, instead of the barely-veiled klansmen of today) WIN — I remember thinking, as a 6-year-old, how sorry I felt for the other guy, he looked so sad. I mean, he’d ALWAYS looked sad, but he just looked so… pitiful. That’s my permanent impression of Gerald Ford. Sad.

But to all of you who say, “How could Ford have foreseen the evils that Rummy, Cheney, et al, would perpetrate today” — Easy:

POPPY BUSH WAS SO FAR UP INTO FORD’S COLON THAT HE COULD READ BY THE LIGHT COMING IN THROUGH GERRY’S NOSTRILS.

All pretty well documented. They all suckled at the same Goldwater-tinged teat. Just like those old photos of Rummy with Sadaam… The trail is still there, and it smells like horseshit and money.

Left by Anntichrist S. Coulter on December 28th, 2006

is it just me, or are these state funerals becoming more and more ostentatious and overblown? Reagan’s was insanely so, and it’s looking like Ford’s is gonna be a “Rove special.” What kind of funeral doya think Carter or Clinton would merit should either of them, Cthulhu forbid, pass away? Not nearly so fancy, I’ll wager.
Here’s something I’m curious about: a number of weeks ago, Ford was getting very close to passing the record held by Ronnie Raygun as the ex-president who lived to the oldest age. Does anyone know if he succeeded in becoming the oldest living president (before he passed away)? I’m just hoping that Jerry beat Ronnie one last time (in ’76, I was a little Hitler Youth proto-Young Republican, but even I couldn’t understand why an actor was trying to unseat President Ford. As I hit puberty, and became more aware of my sexuality, it also became increasingly apparent the the GOP wasn’t a queer’s friend. Ironically, it was the late, unlamented Ronnie Raygun who started me on my path permanently away from the Republicans).

Left by Marq on December 28th, 2006

Does anyone know if he succeeded in becoming the oldest living president (before he passed away)?

yep, both lived to be 93, but Ford was older at his time of death

Left by preznit giv me turkee on December 28th, 2006

Christopher,

No sweat, I’ve been called worse. ;-)

Left by actor212 on December 28th, 2006

Presidential pop-quiz: Which U.S. President lived the longest after leaving office? (Not which one died at the oldest age)

Answer: Herbert Hoover. Left office in March 1933, died 31 years later in October 1964. Ford outlived his own administration by not-quite-30 years.

Left by The Sanity Inspector on December 28th, 2006

Marq, you are flat-out right about the Leninization of Republican presidential funerals. Reagan’s pre-deification at the National Cathedral hopelessly clogged traffic in and out of my neighborhood–and we’re already used to dozens of tour buses illegally parked there, belching fumes for hours on end.

And then, of course, the press went into sobbing, revisionist overdrive. What a mess. Reagan’s death also cleared the way for his neglected-since-birth son Michael to become a second-tier wingnut pundit, moving up from the horse latitudes he inhabited while Dad was still alive. See what we have to look forward to when Bush 41 snuffs it?

On the other hand, we can’t count on 41 to crump first. Perhaps a snack accident will end 43′s junta during the ample pretzel-related opportunities provided by all of the football bowl games: Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Orange, and Sugar bowls, PCS Championship Bowl, and then the NFL’s Super Bowl.*
_________________
*Bowl names provided by the eldest Biscuitbarrel lad, who’s watching the Independence Bowl while waiting for dinner to be ready. “What was Ford thinking with those ‘Whip Inflation Now’ buttons? They were so lame!” he comments, adding, “I can’t imagine what the blogosphere would say if W. came up with ‘Whip Gas Dependence Now’ buttons. Are you writing this down?? Make sure you refer to me as your ‘skeptical’ son, ‘kay?”

‘Kay.

Left by Mrs. Tarquin Biscuitbarrel on December 28th, 2006

I wholeheartedly agree with janefinch, Annti and the others here pointing out the less savory aspects of Ford’s public life. The concept of the imperial presidency was birthed during the Ford administration. It was Ford who fired Colby for being a little too forthcoming with the Church Commission about the activities of the CIA. It was he who appointed Bush, Sr. director, to re-establish the agency’s illegal traditions.

It was Ford who gave Indonesia the green light for their genocidal invasion of East Timor.

On another board someone quoted Ford’s statement about the re-establishment of the rule of law after Watergate “our long national nightmare is over”, and I thought, no that’s about when it got its second wind. It has yet to end. The Heritage Foundation and the other fascist think tanks, Bush, Sr.’s spook cabal, Team B, and the reconstituted Committee on the Present Danger, which later morphed into the PNAC, all had their start around that time. It wasn’t all Ford, by any means, but he was very much one of the bootblacks of the ruling elite.

Left by bidziliba on December 28th, 2006

bidziliba: It was Ford who fired Colby for being a little too forthcoming with the Church Commission about the activities of the CIA. It was he who appointed Bush, Sr. director, to re-establish the agency’s illegal traditions.

I always admired Betty, and her husband seemed to be a good, decent man in his personal life, but nonetheless he furthered the oligarchical agenda of the modern Repugnican party whenever he could. And his legacy appears to be Rumsfeld and Cheney.

Left by Tehanu on December 29th, 2006

Ford’s statement about the re-establishment of the rule of law after Watergate

‘We had to destroy the rule of law in order to save it.’

Left by Realist on December 29th, 2006

I’ve always heard Ford’s pardoning of Nixon helped the nation heal after Watergate, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone really explain why or how it helped the nation heal. Granted, I was but a mere dirty gleem in my old man’s eye when all that went down, so I don’t know how the national vibe really was, it just seems odd to me that the American people didn’t want Nixon hung by his toes and beaten like an old rug. Or, on the other hand, didn’t want to see the honorable man from San Clemente completely vindicated by the courts. Especially after the yowling for blood during the Clinton impeachment. Nixon broke the law of the land and decided the laws do not, repeat NOT, apply to the man charged to enforce them…and got away with it, more or less.

He didn’t get to be president anymore, but that’s about it. I have no strong feelings one way or another for Ford – and in this case, I can only see a loyal party man doing his duty for the party, regardless of supposed duties to others like the American people – but I honestly don’t see how the Nixon pardon is anything but a gross abuse of power to protect an even grosser abuse of power, an overall gaming of the system to favor only the men who make the rules.

Makes me wonder why, ya know?

Left by Matt T. on December 29th, 2006

The same rationale, that the country can’t handle a truthful inquiry and the subsequent legal ramifications, was used in the 30′s when congress was investigating the attempted coup against FDR; a little tidbit still largely absent from the history books. They identified the perpetrators, agents of the Morgan Bank and other financial and business interests, including more than likely the Brown Bros. Harriman Consortium, and Prescott Bush’s Union Bank, but no one was prosecuted nor held responsible. The fix was in, even then. The message was clear, if you’re sufficiently embedded with the elite, you can even get away with treason. Far from protecting the people and the country, this rigged system makes a mockery of our laws and traditions.

Had a few of these movers and shakers been tried, convicted and hanged, who knows what kind of salutary effect it may have had on subsequent US and world history. For one thing, the Third Reich would have lost some of its most staunch supporters overnight.

Left by bidziliba on December 30th, 2006

I thought then, and still do now, that pardoning Tricky Dick was a bad idea because (a) it meant Tricky got away with his misdeeds, and (b) we were then unable to lay bare all the dirty tricks of that administration. Having said that, I can at least understand the “let’s put it behind us” argument.

OTOH, there was and is no excuse or justification for this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/untergeek/17881729/

A few years and one Turd Blossom later and we have all this “red states good, blue states evil” crap, and all that comes with it.

Left by David in NYC on January 2nd, 2007

Something to say?