Former President Ford dies at 93

He was also pro-choice

Ford was also a staunch pro-choice advocate as well as gay rights supporter.  Where are the Republicans with integrity these days?  Oh yeah, they've all been driven underground by fear of the religious right extremists in the party!  Too bad.

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by: helloams @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 05:13:28 AM CST

Sara Jane Moore's Attempt on Nixon

Andy Towle has an interesting side note up about Moore's attempt on Nixon's life. A former Marine named Oliver Simple lunged at Moore, causing her to miss Nixon. Harvey Milk, in an attempt to show not all Gays and Lesbians are deviants or perverts made it public that Simple was a gay man. Unfortunately the media made his life hell.

http://www.towleroad...

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by: Anton1969 @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 06:54:12 AM CST

Sara Jane Moore's attempt

was on Ford, not Nixon.  18 days after "Squeaky" Fromme's.

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by: Peg @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 21:02:08 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Pres. Ford

I was young when Ford was President, so I don't remember too much about him.  It is refreshing to hear from Republicans from the past, like Ford and Barry Goldwater to be supportive of gay rights.  It would be nice if today's Republicans and some Democrats could also see the light as well. 

And I may be one of a very small minority that actually buys the Warren Commission's conclusion of the "magic bullet" and only one assassin of John F. Kennedy.

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by: Pat @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 07:29:18 AM CST

Minority

Well you are correct about being in the minority regarding the "magic bullet" theory.

Mr. Ford was found to be working behind the scenes with the FBI and the CIA during the investigation to make sure that all their stories matched up. 

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by: txrad @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 09:51:17 AM CST

[ Parent ]

"Magic Bullet"

I just watched a 3 hour documentary behind the magic bullet where they actually "rebuilt" the torso's of Kennedy, and the Texas Governor, then using the science they had and the autopsy of the President and the entrance/exit wounds of the governor, plus video to place them in the exact positions they were in when they were shot.  They shot the mock torsos from the same height, distance, and angle, and with the same model gun and bullet from Lee Harvey Oswald, and the path of the "magic bullet" was exactly the same as the commission found.  it hit all the same bones, refracted through the organs and tissue of the mock torsos the same.  So I for one am a beleiver in the "magic bullet" theory.

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 10:07:38 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Documentary

Do you know the name of the documentary or maybe who produced it?

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by: txrad @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 10:12:31 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I think it was...

this 2003 ABC Documentary with the late Peter Jennings, I saw it on the History Channel about 4 months ago.  Pretty good ballistics evidence. (in my mind)

http://www.amazon.co...


"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 11:37:05 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Daimeon,

I saw the same show and I too am convinced that a bullet can turn every which way.

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by: Holly Capote @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 11:59:54 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Holly,

this damnable typing doesn't convey emotion very well.  Was that sarcasm?

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:18:43 PM CST

[ Parent ]

No, Hun.

I don't do sarcasm.  Truly.

And I truly did see the same show and they demonstrated that a bullet ricochets in tissue every which way.

In the future, never consider sarcasm from me.  I don't go there.

xoxo,

Holly C.

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by: Holly Capote @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:39:17 PM CST

[ Parent ]

:) Thanks Holly,

I just wasn't sure.

Always with love,
Daimeon

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:41:21 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Let me discuss this with...

"Alvy Singer"...  I not 100% convinced.

:-)

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by: konagod @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:45:04 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I Had to..

look that one up.  LOL

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 15:08:16 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I've also seen a documentary

either on PBS or CBS (for I think it was narrated by Cronkite) that used then state of the art computer simluations for this explanation, and it also demonstrated that the one man theory is plausible.  When I watched it became no mystery to me at all that the bullet appeared to traverse up.  The impact of the bullet hitting the back forced the body forward, so as the bullet moved through the body the body itself was falling forwards.

I also am not skeptical, although I realize we will never know for certain.

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by: oddjob @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 22:10:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Ford on gay rights

Thanks for bringing up all this info.  I didn't even realize his position on gay rights.  I remember not being particularly fond of him as president -- and now, after 6 years of Bush, Ford seems rather refreshing.

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by: konagod @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 08:55:38 AM CST

Well.... almost..

except for the comment that txrad just made.  And JollyRoger posted this comment over at my blog:

He did what he thought was right. Unfortunately what he thought was right led directly to the high ranking positions of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in the Federal Government. Indirectly, Gerald Ford shares some of the blame for the nightmare we're in today.

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by: konagod @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 09:55:41 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Pardon my cynicism but...

...it's nice to see that Ford eventually came around to expressing support for equal rights for gay people, but it should be recognized that he did so only long after he had been out of office--and, hence--out of a position in which he might have been able to do something for equal rights for gay people.

Regarding Ford's administration, it should be remembered that he in no small measure helped to facilitate Donald Rumsfeld's and Dick Cheney's careers.  Of course, it might be hasty to hold Ford himself responsible for what Rummy and Cheney eventually became, but it would be remiss if any obituary of Ford ignored that aspect of his presidency.

Regarding Ford and the Republican Unity Coalition--and anyone else associated with the RUC, for that matter--I'm sorry, but I never have viewed the RUC as actually being intended to be a force for equal rights for gay people within the Republican party.  To my mind, the RUC was intended by Republican party apparatchiks as being a subterfuge--in many ways similar to labor unions in the old Soviet Union.  Organized by the party powers-that-be to give the patina of caring about equal rights for gay people--while not really giving a tinker's damn about the subject--as public relations to persuade the Soccer Moms (remember that term?) that the Republican party was not as anti-gay as their rhetoric suggested. 

The RUC was organized by the party apparatchiks.  If the RUCers really had been interested in furthering equal rights for gay people, it seems to me that they would have gotten involved with established gay organizations within the Republican party--gay organizations such as the Log Cabineers, which was established by gay people.  The fact that the RUCers studiously avoided the LCRs more than suggests that they were not so much interested in furthering equal rights for gay people, as they were interested in hoodwinking sympathetic straight people into believing that they were interested in furthing equal rights for gay people.

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by: raj @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 10:00:50 AM CST

cynicism noted

Given the fundamentalist, virulently anti-gay crowd that terrorizes today's GOP with action alerts, you're right -- there's no Republican who's running for office willing to stick in their neck out on this.

I didn't say RUC was a effective force on gay rights issues. The fact that most people haven't heard of it says a lot about  the marginalization of the Republican moderate in today's politics. The RUC is window dressing for gay Republicans to say "see -- they don't all hate us."

That said, even retired from politics, Ford didn't have to make any statement at all on the issue, but he did. Imagine any of the current crop of pols bounced from office in this year's election making a statement in support of equality.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 10:06:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Point noted...

I didn't say RUC was a effective force on gay rights issues.

What I commented on regarding the RUC was nothing more than my characterization of the RUC, and was not intended to reflect on your posting on the matter.

I'd be interested in knowing whether anyone else has a contrary impression of the RUC.

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by: raj @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 10:21:15 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Typhoon

How could Ford have foreseen over 30 years ago the futures of Cheney & Rumsfeld? They were just younger, ambitious party insiders who worked for the president. There is always generational continuity of power in this nation. Perhaps the most interesting story about Gerald Ford is how he was nearly washed overboard in a terrible typhoon during WWII.

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by: Wesley Lake @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 19:13:10 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Pam, how early...

do you get up?  According to the post you posted this at 4am this morning.  I'm still in Dreamland at that point.

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 11:48:03 AM CST

I'm really ill

I couldn't sleep -- I was up hacking and wheezing at 3AM.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:25:48 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I'm so terribly sorry.

Hopefully you're not at work...And from the bottom of my heart, I hope you feel better.

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: Daimeon @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:39:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

thanks

I feel like I'm about to cough up a lung. I think I'll pop some Tylenol PM and see if I can knock myself out for a while.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 12:52:12 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Stay away from airports...

at least for awhile Pam.  Geez. I'm hurting just thinking about it.

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by: konagod @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 14:42:07 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Interesting aside - Assassination Attempts, Oliver Sipple, & Harvey Milk

Bob Mould (I loved Husker Du and Sugar, appropriate to nothing about this comment) highlights the "outing" of ex-Marine Oliver Sipple after he may have saved Gerald Ford's life.  I'd forgotten about that controversy, and it makes for interesting reading/thought.

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by: greymatters @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 14:19:43 PM CST

Other "forgotton" Ford History

From today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Washington -- But for some quick action, Gerald R. Ford's presidency, and his life, could have ended amid gunshots outside San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel on the afternoon of Sept. 22, 1975.

As Ford emerged from the historic Union Square hotel's Post Street entrance at 3:30 p.m. after addressing a World Affairs Council audience, he paused before getting into his limousine to wave to the crowd across the street.

In a flash, two shots rang out. The first narrowly missed the 38th president of the United States and the second was deflected by a bystander who grabbed at the arm of the shooter, a 45-year-old middle class housewife, dabbler in extremist politics and FBI informant named Sara Jane Moore.

...For San Francisco Police Capt. Timothy Hettrich, the first law enforcement officer to reach Moore, the attempted shooting outside the St. Francis prompted an instant reaction.

"I grabbed the gun immediately,'' he said, "just two or three seconds after she fired it.''

Moore's gun hand had initially been deflected by another person in the crowd, Marine Vietnam veteran Oliver "Bill'' Sipple, who had come out to see Ford.

--and further into the article--

For Sipple, his moment of heroism was also his undoing. On Sept. 24, 1975, The Chronicle ran a story saying that one reason the White House had yet to thank Sipple for his potentially lifesaving gesture was that he was a gay man.

It turned out that Sipple's family didn't know he was gay, and the disclosure resulted in him being alienated from his relatives. Sipple sued The Chronicle for damages, but his case was eventually dismissed.

He slid into alcoholism and died in 1989 in his Van Ness Avenue apartment, age 47. Among his prized possessions was the letter of thanks he eventually got from the White House.

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~~Autumn~~

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.
--Henry David Thoreau

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by: Autumn Sandeen @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 15:01:47 PM CST

Speaking Ill of the Dead

Pam, he was not a particularly effective president or even much of an ex-president.  Nixon was practically beatified after his death in the media, but Ford doesn't have that much to overcome.  Still, I have to agree with a lot of what Rude Pundit says about him today:

12/27/2006
Dead President:
The nicest thing that can be said about the dead man is that Gerald Ford wasn't bugfuck insane, and these days that is not faint praise. He was a selfish pragmatist who gave one of the nation's great criminals a pass (and thus set up our politicians' queasiness at putting George W. Bush away). Yeah, he gave us Justice Stevens, but he tried to impeach William O. Douglas while in Congress He got us the fuck out of Vietnam, finally, at last, and he offered clemency to draft dodgers, but he helped wreck the environment, told New York City to go fuck itself (as an example of an administration bereft of anything resembling urban policy), and was a fairly worthless ex-President.

And while you may hear about his pro-choice street cred as a sign of his moderation, here's Ford, perhaps pandering for votes, in a letter to the Archbishop of Cincinnati in September 1976: "Since 1973 I have viewed as the most practical means of rectifying the situation created by the Court's action a Constitutional amendment that would restore to each State the authority to enact abortion statutes which fit the concerns and views of its own citizens."

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 20:43:21 PM CST

I graduated from college during the Ford administration.

Unemployment in the county I lived in was about 33%.  Somehow, during the '80 campaign, the Repubs blamed the poor economy on Jimmy Carter.

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by: Peg @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 21:06:58 PM CST

Because by then it was little better.

I graduated in '81.

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by: oddjob @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 22:14:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Although truth be told

Carter did the one thing that made the later prosperity possible.  He made Paul Volker the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.  Volker beat the inflation out of the economy that neither Ford nor Carter were able to resolve.

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by: oddjob @ Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 22:15:31 PM CST

[ Parent ]