[Army Dice Clay]

Just saw the news as I wake up this morning. I quite honestly don't know too much in depth stuff about his presidency. I obviously know alot of the high points and that many people look at him as one your "worst" presidents. Looking back on it, you are really looking at a man who was handed a huge pile of shit from Nixon with no real way to fix everything on his watch and has since been punished by it. As I read more and more about his presidency I tend to be more impressed. But that frequently happens when someone dies, I understand that but he really has gotten a bad rap.

[Deleted]

I actually thought he was dead, already. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[Outback Frito Pendejo]

He was the equivalent of a "transitional champion" - not really remembered for accomplishments but he did hold the country together during a terrible time. He also inspired Chevy Chase's pratfalls on SNL, but I never realized how good his college football career was.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

I thought he was eaten by wolves.

[williamssl]

Ford got the snot beat outta him at the time with the whole "pardon Nixon" thing, with that big orca piece of shit Ted Kennedy leading the way. But history has taken a much kinder (and more approrpriate) view of him and this act.

EDIT: a haiku I received today by e-mail

Gerald Ford is dead
Not elected president
Fell into hard work

[Ryan Who Loves Punk]

Haha he was in the Simpsons episode on yesterday.

"Hey Homer, do you like football?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you like nachos?"
"Yes, sir."
"How about you come over and we can watch football and eat nachos and have some beer after?"
"You know sir, I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

I don't understand the whole pardon nixon thing myself. Didn't Nixon basically resign, appoint Ford, and have Ford pardon him? Is there more to the story?

Anyways, R.I.P., from what you guys say he seemed like an OK president.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

williamssl said:

Gerald Ford is dead
Not elected president
Fell into hard work

I get the feeling someone's gonna use that when W dies.

[Loki]

If they're feeling charitable, sure, I can see that. ;D

[Batman]

Gerald Ford? Honestly, we're all talking about Gerald Ford? This man just died!



I was watching the national news a couple of days ago when he died and the two songs they deigned to mention were "I'm Black and I'm Proud" and "Living in America." Fucking "Living in America!" Fuckers.

[Deleted]

And without that, we never would've had Weird Al's "Living With A Hernia".

[The Jewish Cunthead]

sergeial said:

Fucking "Living in America!" Fuckers.

So you don't like Hooters or Rocky IV?

Of course you know this means war.

[Loki]

It can't mean war. You're spread too thin as it is. You'll have to either redeploy your existing troops, weakening those already in the quagmire you're previously engulfed them in, or settle for tough talk at the UN. Duh.

Oh, wait, we're not talking about politics? Never mind....

[Courtney]

therealryan said:

I don't understand the whole pardon nixon thing myself. Didn't Nixon basically resign, appoint Ford, and have Ford pardon him? Is there more to the story?

Um, I wasn't alive at the time, but if I remember my US History correctly, here's how it went down. Nixon resigns and Ford was his VP. A VP gets the presidency when the president resigns, dies, or is too ill to perform his duties. Then, Ford took pity on his friend Nixon and pardoned him to the great anger and bitterness of Libs everywhere.

Since this was brought up, let's all hope Bush never dies or resigns. Cheney as President would be a whole lot worse IMO.

[Outback Frito Pendejo]

What made it even more awkward was that Ford was not even elected VP. Agnew had to resign in disgrace due to earlier scandals, and Ford was chosen by Nixon as a replacement at a time when the Watergate scandal was percolating. Thus many people suspected that a promise of a pardon was part of the deal. Ford always maintained that he did it to spare the country the pain of a trial after the spectacle of the Watergate hearings.

[williamssl]

A decent retrospective/eulogy HERE.

Some excerpts:

re: The Pardon
Some suggested that the pardon was arranged before Nixon resigned, but Mr. Ford, in an unusual appearance before a congressional committee in October 1974, said, "There was no deal, period, under no circumstances." The committee dropped its investigation.

Mr. Ford's standing in the polls fell dramatically when he pardoned Nixon unconditionally. But an ABC News poll taken in 2002 in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in found that 6 in 10 said the pardon was the right thing to do.

The late Democrat Clark Clifford spoke for many when he wrote in his memoirs, "The nation would not have benefited from having a former chief executive in the dock for years after his departure from office. His disgrace was enough."

The decision to pardon Nixon won Mr. Ford a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2001, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, acknowledging that he had criticized Mr. Ford at the time, called the pardon "an extraordinary act of courage that historians recognize was truly in the national interest."


re: his selection as Vice President

When Agnew resigned in a bribery scandal in October 1973, Mr. Ford was one of four finalists to succeed him, along with Texan John Connally, New York's Nelson Rockefeller and California's Ronald Reagan.

"Personal factors enter into such a decision," Nixon told a biographer of Mr. Ford in 1991. "I knew all of the final four personally and had great respect for each one of then, but I had known Jerry Ford longer and better than any of the rest."

"We had served in Congress together. I had often campaigned for him in his district," Nixon said. But Mr. Ford had something the others didn't; he would be easily confirmed by Congress, something that would not have happened with Rockefeller, Reagan and Connally.

[Batman]

fsolomon75 said:

So you don't like Hooters or Rocky IV?

Of course you know this means war.

I've got nothing against Rocky IV. It was a highight of Dolph Lundgren's career. For Stallone, kind of a middle ground--not as great as Rocky or Demolition Man, but no Rambo II, either. But for James Brown--dancing around dressed as Uncle Sam, braying that horrible song, and generally treating probably the widest audience of his life to a pathetic caricature of his former greatness--it was definitely a low point of his career.

To me, the really sad thing is that, while everybody knows this Elvis...



...we all know about this Elvis, too:



Whereas, I think most people only remember this James Brown...



...and not this one:

[Krydor]

How does a thread about Gerry Ford turn into a thread about James Brown?

Besides, Ford was a true blue lefty! That's right, he was left handed. There you go, trivia buffs.

[GoVols]

This thread is a great eulogy for Ford. After a few posts he's totally forgotten. It's just like his political career.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

sergeial said:

But for James Brown--dancing around dressed as Uncle Sam

Not to nitpick but Apollo was dressed as Uncle Sam, not JB

Anyone who appreciates music should realize how important and influential James Brown was but it's too bad if their only point of reference is that mugshot.

As for Ford, I can't hear his name without thinking of Chevy falling down or answering a glass of water.

[Batman]

Damn straight. It's a lot like when John Ritter and Johnny Cash died in the same week. Sure its not fair to judge the value of a man's life based on the impact he had on his culture. No doubt Ritter's death was a blow to his friends and family. And in all fairness, he was a real funny guy when he (rarely) had good material. Take Bad Santa for example. But god damn it why are we talking about a fucking sit-com actor, when one of the great American voices has passed from this world?

Ford wasn't a sit-com actor, but, relative to the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, the Godfather of Soul, James fucking Brown, he may as well have been.

[mta: Really? James Brown wasn't wearing red, white, and blue? Man, I haven't seen that movie in a long time. So, Apollo Creed dressed as Uncle Sam and James Brown singing happen at the same time, though, right?]

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Brown was wearing a blue sequined suit while Apollo was wearing his red, white, and blue outfit from the first movie... and yes they were on screen together.

[Krydor]

And then Rocky won the Cold War!

[Deleted]

[The Jewish Cunthead]

[Batman]

The important thing wasn't that he won the match, it was that he got the commies chanting "rocKY! rocKY! rocKY!" by the end.