The recent death of Gerald Ford has brought forth the usual set of commentaries from those who knew him. Not having had that experience, but having lived through the Watergate years, I can only rely on the comments of those who did know him. The one word that rund through almost every commentary, from Presidents (Carter, George H. W. Bush) to reporters (Charlie Gibson, Tom Brokaw) to his presidential photographer (David Hume Kennerly) was "decent".
Maybe that comes through a number of quotes attributed to Ford.
- I have had a lot of adversaries in my political life, but no enemies that I can remember.
- I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole alone.
- The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.
- Truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.
It appears to me that most of the traits that allowed him to serve his country are sorely lacking today, the administration of George W. Bush, the governance of the Green Party.
5 comments:
David Cobb is the Richard Nixon of the Green Party, and will lead us to the same disasterous defeat the Republicans suffered after Nixon's crimes came to light in 1974 -- oh wait, we already had a disasterous defeat in 2004, a 95% drop in our vote total. But of course that's ancient history, we can discuss Watergate but we are dissuaded from discussing that by the neoliberal gatekeepers of this site.
I based some of what I said about Ford on comments, remembrences from a man who served in Congress along with Ford. A picture emerges in which Ford, acting on his own, managed more often than not to do the right thing. Even his decision to pardon Nixon was not made by committee but came from is heart.
On the other hand, when he relied on the advice of those around him, Kissinger, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc., he made a number of decisions that, in retrospect, he would perhaps have liked to take back; e.g. East Timor takeover by the Indonesia.
In fact, at the root of most of the bad decisions that were made, you can find Kissinger's fingerprints.
Here is another view of the Ford Legacy.
Donald Rumsfeld, indefatigable antagonist of Sadaam Hussein and pratitioner of the Kissinger Realipolitik.
Anonymous said...
David Cobb is the Richard Nixon of the Green Party, and will lead us to the same disasterous defeat the Republicans suffered after Nixon's crimes came to light in 1974 -- oh wait, we already had a disasterous defeat in 2004, a 95% drop in our vote total. But of course that's ancient history, we can discuss Watergate but we are dissuaded from discussing that by the neoliberal gatekeepers of this site.
5:47 AM
Lemmings like Wes who want to bury their heads in the sand are not going to lead us anywhere with such a posture. If we want leadership for Greens in California we shall clearly have to go elsewhere.
Anonymous said...
David Cobb is the Richard Nixon of the Green Party, and will lead us to the same disasterous defeat the Republicans suffered after Nixon's crimes came to light in 1974 -- oh wait, we already had a disasterous defeat in 2004, a 95% drop in our vote total.
In that case, the more apt metaphor would be that Cobb is the Michael Dukakis of the Green Party. And nobody wants to discuss that.
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