Daily archives: December 29th, 2006

Woodward reports Ford Opposed Iraq War

December 29, 2006
InternationalRepublicans
0 Comment

Gerald Ford SeatedThanks to Ron Chusid for drawing our attention to this story from Bob Woodward at The Washington Post:

Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. “I don’t think I would have gone to war,” he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford’s own administration.

Ford was definitive in his disagreement with the current administration. Ford stipulated that he would have pursued alternative courses of action, like sanctions, much more vigorously than Bush did.

“Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction,” Ford said. “And now, I’ve never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do.”

And he made it clear that war was not chosen as a last resort, nor did he believe for an instant the lines about spreading democracy or protecting our national security:

“Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people,” Ford said, referring to Bush’s assertion that the United States has a “duty to free people.” But the former president said he was skeptical “whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what’s in our national interest.” He added: “And I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.”

Our hope is that this just adds fuel to the fires already burning in the middle and the left, and that the right begins to fume as well. There must be more on the right besides Gerald Ford who disagree with the current policies.? Enough is enough.

The End is Near for Saddam

December 29, 2006
International
0 Comment

It’s going to happen any day now. The New York Times reports:

Iraq Prepares to Execute Hussein

By MARC SANTORA
Published: December 29, 2006
Iraqi officials prepared the last legal notice necessary before the execution of Saddam Hussein, a red card that will be presented to the former dictator to inform him that his end is near, Iraqi officials said.

The execution will likely take place tonight or tomorrow, according to the article.

Apparently the Iraqis have yet again surprised the Americans. The article continues:

The pace of events left some of the American legal advisors working on the case stunned, according to one Western official. For all the guidance the Americans provided, in the end the dictator’s demise did not go the way they expected, the officials said.

“It just goes to show that the Iraqis call the shots on something like this,” the official said.

My only hope is that this will not incite further violence. No doubt “W” is dancing behind closed doors right now. Fiddling, more likely, while Iraq burns. And First Twins Jenna and Barbara are most likely passed out in a bar someplace, losing a purse again. We’ll read about it all in the society pages.

While more lives are lost on both sides, and Iraq burns.

I miss Gerald Ford

December 29, 2006
ReligionRepublicans
0 Comment
President Gerald Ford

I miss Gerald Ford.

When Ford was president, the world was still largely black and white. I’m not engaging in whimsy, longing for those golden days of yesteryear. Nah. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

What I mean by black and white is that, literally, the world was reported in black and white. My newspapers were printed in black and white. And Gerald Ford appeared on my television in black and white. He did bring us to the precipice of the world of color, however. The day after he was sworn in as president, the Pittsburgh Press (Defunctus est, R.I.P.) printed his picture in color on page one. That’s the first color image I remember on the cover of a newspaper. Ever.

But, the next day, the world was back to black and white.

I know that pardoning Richard Nixon was controversial. I know I too felt betrayed that Nixon was let off so easy. But I don’t agree with these guys that Nixon’s pardon had some ill-effect on the possible impeachment of George W. Bush:

If we look at the remainder of the 1970’s it is certainly possible that the country was calmer than if faced with the trial and possible imprisonment of a former President. However it is not the 1970’s I am concerned about now but the present. The pardon established a terrible precedent that the President is above the law and should not be punished for crimes because it would be too hard on the country.

No, I disagree that that action had such an adverse effect on any possible action against W. If Congress can go after a man for lying about a blowjob and some quick cigar foreplay (who thinks of these things?), then Congress can go after a man for lying about a war.

I disagree with the presumption of some that because we’re on the left, we’re supposed to attack those on the other side of the aisle at all costs. Ford had some redeeming qualities. At the very least, he was great for Chevy Chase. I’ll never forget Chase decorating that Christmas tree on SNL, and falling headfirst into it.

“Live! From New York!…”

But what I most admire Gerald Ford for is his ability to change. I admire his ability to speak out when his party was drifting so radically to the right in recent years. Consider this story published yesterday in eNews Park Forest:

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Mourns Death of Gerald R. Ford

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27–(ENEWSPF)– The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force mourns the death of former President Gerald R. Ford, who died Tuesday at the age of 93.

Statement by Matt Foreman,
Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

“We mourn the death of former President Gerald R. Ford, a good, decent and principled leader. Because he espoused true conservative values, he consistently advocated for the rights of individuals and condemned those who sought to impose conformity of thought and behavior. These beliefs led him to support women’s rights and to publicly support federal legislation to prohibit anti-gay discrimination in employment. When, in 2001, he said, ‘I think they [same-sex couples] should be treated equally. Period,’ he became the highest-ranking Republican ever to publicly support equal treatment for our families.

“In recent years, he decried the growing coarseness of American politics and called for bipartisan solutions to our nation’s problems, something he always sought while in office.

“We express our condolences to Mrs. Ford, his children and other members of his family and to all who knew and loved him.”

That took chutzpah. That took spunk.

Hell, that took balls. “W” stuffed his crotch and declared victory in Iraq. Phony message. Phony balls. Congress needs ’em some now.

I miss Gerald Ford.