The Nixon Pardon

Regarding the Nixon pardon by Gerald Ford, it's difficult to reach any definite conclusion about the validity of the reasoning. right or wrong. And, the question persists: Would Ford have pardoned Nixon if he had known for sure that it would cost him any chance to win an elected term as President?

That there was a quid pro quo, spoken or unspoken, I have no doubt. This is how the game is played. However, I believe that Nixon should have been forced to admit his complicity and responsibility in the crimes of Watergate and other activities before the pardon was granted.

I'm afraid that a precedent may have been set. From now on, any President can "get away with murder" if he is certain that the person who succeeds him in office will grant a pardon, no matter what the circumstances.

This is not good.

 

 

Saddam is gone,------------

---------but bin Laden is still free.

Did we get the wrong guy? Why is this? Was it the oil? If so, where is the oil?

A triumph of idiocy.

Gerald R. Ford, gentleman politician

Gerald R. Ford was no doubt a gentleman and a person of integrity. However, he was a professional politician, and in that world, "Quid pro Quo" is the title of the handbook.

Nixon's vice-president was the corrupt Spiro Agnew. When Agnew was forced to resign because of tax evasion problems, Nixon needed a vice-president that was acceptable to the public and congress, and could be trusted.

When Ford's appointed term was up and he ran for the Presidency against Jimmy Carter, the Nixon pardon may be the cause of Ford losing the election.

At that time, it was very difficult for people, including this writer, to believe that the Nixon pardon wasn't a quid pro quo to gain the vice-presidency for Ford. Nixon had to know that trouble was coming and he needed a successor that was dependable.

Maybe, considering the times, it was the right thing to do. However, it left a very bad taste in the mouths of many, many people, and tarnished Ford's legacy.

 

 

Former President Ford dies

Gerald Ford worked to restore honor and integrity to the office of President of the United States after the morass of the Nixon administration.

Who will we find to restore the office of President after the disaster of Bush?

Hercules accepted the task of cleaning the Augean stables. Do we have a potential "Hercules" who is willing and able to muck out the Oval Office? Can the befoulment be banished and honor restored?

Stay tuned. The answer is far from certain.

A "Christmas Carol" for Bush

Ebenezer Scrooge was haunted by the "Ghosts of Christmas Past".

My Christmas wish is that Bush will be haunted by the ghosts of soldiers passed.

 

 

 

Don't sweat Iraq, go shopping!

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping

December 21, 2006 8:45 AM

By DOUG THOMPSON

President George W. Bush has an instant remedy for anything that ails this nation or his failed administration.

Go shopping.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2006/12/lets_go_shoppin.html

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Bush, in his most recent press conference said not to worry so much about the war, but instead, "go shopping".

This sounds to me like, "Nero fiddles while Rome burns"

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Shakespeare wrote in MACBETH:

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

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Nero fiddles, Baghdad burns, the Idiot speaks, our sons and daughters die.

Jeb Bush? No Way!

"I have no future" -- Jeb Bush tells reporters

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-12-21T115653Z_01_N20428647_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-JEB.xml&WTmodLoc=PolNewsHome_C1_%5BFeed%5D-5

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Concerning Jeb Bush, I have this to say:

  We fought the War of the Revolution to escape the tyranny of dynastic kings and their claim that they ruled by divine right.

  We have had Bush  1 and 2, and it's damn well enough. As it is now, Bush 2 thinks he talks to God,and probably believes he has some kind of "divine right" to do as he pleases, even if the destruction of nations is the result. Bush 3 would constitute a dynasty, and who knows where it would proceed from there.

  My great-great -grandfather at the age of 15 years was a member of George Washington's Army of the Revolution. To succumb to the rule of familial dynasty would be a great dishonor to him, and to all his brethren who suffered and died so we could be free.

NO MORE BUSH FAMILY!