December 27, 2006

Gerald Ford, dead at 93. Former president Gerald R. Ford, who told an uneasy nation that "our long national nightmare is over" after assuming the presidency from Richard Nixon in 1974, was the only politician who served as vice president and president but was never elected to either office. He will be missed as a source of both laughs and a bit of an inspiration for integrity. (Even if he did let Tricky Dick off the hook.) And on a totally crass note, Ford is number two in the celebrity trifecta, who will be the third?
posted by surlyboi 17 years ago
  • Saddam? Castro? Madames et Monsieurs, faites vos jeux....
  • RIP Gerry. He was delicious... I'd prefer no more celebrities kick off this year, I get nervous when a whole bunch of people die all at the same time. It makes me think that they know that things are gonna get real crappy real quick so it's time to check out. Seriously, this past month has been like the tree animation from Meaning of Life.
  • It always seem that people shuffle off this mortal coil with excessive alacrity around this time of year. Partly hanging on for Christmas, partly colds and flu?
  • Madames et Monsieurs Messyourdarms. Ever been in a casino? Less interesting than you might think.
  • This seems like a good time to mention my favorite Ford-related fact/rumor: Reagan considered having Ford be his VP in 1980 and the two were to have some sort of co-presidency. I would provide a citation, but I am far too lazy.
  • Apparently, this is what we Canadians consider front-page news. And my guess is Dick Clark. He's still alive, right?
  • Wasn't there a Saturday Night Live sketch a few years ago about this whole Gerald Ford death announcement?
  • The one with Dana Carvey as Tom Brokaw trying to record a bunch of possible news items so he could go on vacation...it was hilarious. Can't find a clip, though...
  • great sidebar title btw, surly
  • former president gerald ford = yin godfather of soul james brown = yang i think balance has been restored.
  • It comes in threes. There will be another.
  • When I think of Gerald Ford, WIN always comes to mind first.
  • This is the last one. Turkmenbashi was the first.
  • Holy shit. I just checked cnn.com, and it is reporting that former President Gerald Ford is still dead.
  • nunia, i had actually written this whole thing about how it usually happens in threes but the very funky james brown/not-funky-at-all gerald ford duality had overridden the threes rule. i even compared them to a binary star system. anyways, that's what i get for trying to just boil it down. Mr. Knickerbocker, Turkmenbashi is a perfect third and way better than my OTHER first reply which was Peter Boyle.
  • w-w-w-waaaait a minute. Gerald Ford, not-at-all-funky?!?!? Them might jist be fight'n words, speedsquare! Oh on second thought, yeah, maybe, Jerry was just a tiny little bit groove-deficient.
  • Let's hope the third isn't the Person of the Year. not that I have to worry about it- it's not me
  • Actually, isn't Ford the third? Peter Boyle - James Brown - Gerald Ford
  • He legitimized criminality in the highest office of the USA. He should have been impeached the minute he pardoned Tricky Dicky.
  • Naw, if Ford is the third, then the first must be Jack Palance.
  • .
  • Bite your tongue, Cap'n - Mr. Clark can't go this close to New Year's Eve.
  • Sure he can -- New Year's Rockin' Eve is safe in the hands of the Anointed One, Ryan Seacrest. Who else should the torch be passed to? Dunkleman? We've got it covered, Dick. You're good to go. 5... 4... 3...
  • Rumor has it around work that Saddam's for the chop (or drop, I guess) tomorrow, so they can get it done before Eid al-Adha. This is where we light the "don't die on MY watch" candle and start passing it around between the various shifts.
  • saddam for three.
  • Has anyone actually died on someone's watch? My brother-in-law received a watch with a huge face for Christmas. I called it a "Grandfather Watch." Nonetheless, I don't think that it was large enough for me to die on.
  • Somebody may have slipped and impaled themselves on a sundial...
  • What Gerald Ford saved us from was a nation where Richard Nixon went to jail or committed suicide, a nation where politicians would have to face real legal consequences for their actions, a nation where politicians are responsible for the people under them, and to the people who voted for them. What Gerald Goddamned Ford gave to America is the wave of cynicism that has dominated politics and ensured wave after wave of ever-worsening Republican presidents, preying on our basest fears.
  • No matter what you do, you're gonna piss off somebody.
  • Ralph, you just pissed me off.
  • I don't remember us being thankful for the pardon at the time, or thinking that Ford was a blessing. Hindsight ain't always better.
  • The first month of Gerald Goddamned Ford’s presidency, as detailed in Barry Werth’s recent book 31 Days, turned out to be one of the biggest disasters in American history. Ford failed the one mission that mattered: not pardoning Richard Nixon. Thanks H-dogg. I was waiting for someone to articulate that with any emotion whatsoever. All the news coverage was notable for its uniform blandness about the glaring elephant in the room.
  • Frankly, Ford wasn't too cool before that, either. Why do I say this? Gerald Ford served on the Warren Commission which was supposed to give a final and defining verdict on the Assassination of JFK. Personally, all by himself, and without consultation, Gerald Ford altered the site of a bullet's exit. This led to a great deal of subsequent doubt and public confusion that still continues. Sure, a tiny hole, but not a tiny deed: it not only contradicted the whole purpose for which the Warren Commission had been appointed, but was only revealed about a decade of so ago. Other nitwit/dissimulating/and-or screamingly dishonest deeds by Gerald Ford: (Niwit and probably screamingly dishonest category) A month after becoming president he pardoned Nixon. Ford later failed to be elected for a second term - for public feeling ran very high against Nixon's misdeeds and subsequent pardon. So, to put it as kindly as I can, it was a selfless Act of Cronyism on Ford's part. [= sarcasm] (Nitwit category:) The appointment of George H Bush as head of the CIA. Appointed his former Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld to be Secretary of Defense. Appointed Richard Cheney to be his new Chief of Staff. This is all very wonderful via hindsight - and even more wonderful is the way Kissinger was allowed to continue as Secretary of State. (dissimulating and in my opinion screamingly dishonest deed): The fact Ford gave an interview to Woodward stating he disapproved of the way the Iraq war unfolded doesn't surprise me: Ford was never a bold and honest thinker nor a forthright man. Must say I've felt sorry for the US in listening to the eulogies and statements of Ford's goodness. Ford was a man who more than reached his level of incompetence (Peter Principle). What is tragic to me is hearing so may USians say how great it is to to be able to believe again in the quintessential goodness of the US and blah-blah. Remembering what I do, I can't. I think the eulogizing and the lies about Ford in the US media may be intended to restore some slight measure of self-respect to Americans. It is a thousand pities that the truth is not being told - yet again - about Ford's repeated failures and shortcomings - so that later generations can make up their own minds as to his worth or worthlessness.
  • We'll think highly of a cronyist politician so long as they're reasonably competent at the basic functions of leadership it seems. Now.
  • I heard a great one the other day. Reagan, Nixon and Ford walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and goes "zOMG! zombie presidents!!!" and runs away in fright. The rest of the people in the bar soon follow. Finding a fully stocked bar, the three lose no time in filling big mugs full of O'Nelleyś and drinking themselves silly. Unfortunately, Reagan and Nixon have trouble holding their drinks, their tummies being in severe disrepair. "LOL, trickle down economics," quips Ford. Later, CDC agents arrive with shotguns and gasoline and give the ol' commanders in chief a hasty incineration.
  • That be O'Nelley's. Damn dead keys.
  • Impeaching, Prosecuting Nixon Could Have Elevated the Nation One of the high points of the U.S. media was the investigation into the Watergate scandal. Now, 30 years later, with President Ford's death, the media are contributing to the cover-up they once exposed. . . . For Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, Nixon's resignation was an opportunity: Ford made Rumsfeld his chief of staff, with Cheney as his assistant. When Rumsfeld moved over to secretary of defense, Cheney became chief of staff. George H.W. Bush was named director of Central Intelligence. Journalist Robert Parry describes the Ford administration as the "incubator" of the current Bush administration. If those emerging power brokers had witnessed a vigorous prosecution of Nixon and his co-conspirators, it could have elevated the country ... and changed history.
  • Was it schadenfreude that I knida hoped maybe one of the pallbearers might trip just a little?
  • Wow Bees! I would have never thought you could combine the words "Ford" "bold and honest thinker" and "forthright" in a sentence and make sense. Scary, innit, when we feel like this is one of the more recent better dead presidents? Or do I mean they would all be better off dead, since we can't seem to impeach them?