pres. gerald ford
I've been half-watching and listening to the commentary concerning the legacy of Gerald Ford, in between football games. Let me say right up front that, in my opinion, Pres. Ford was a good and decent man. History shoved him into a place that he never had any desire to occupy, but he conducted himself professionally and competently. I believe to this day that his pardon of Richard Nixon was the right thing to do. Nixon was a bad president who behaved shamefully while in office (kind of reminds you of Clinton, doesn't it?), but who finally did the right thing by resigning in shame. His resignation cemented his legacy, and left criminal prosecution not only unnecessary, but undesirable. Resigning might have been the only right thing Nixon did as president! If only Clinton had had the decency to do the same thing!
That's not what I came here to talk about, though. What caught my attention was the Niagra Falls of emotion that has been pouring out of liberals over the last week. The nation's liberal intelligentsia has been absolutely gooey in their praise of good old #48, the 3-time Michigan football letter winner. For anyone willing to pay attention, the drive-by media commentary about Pres. Ford's passing offers the classic illustration of the behavior patterns of the wacky liberal. Let's see if we can cut through all of the revisionist history we have been subjected to, shall we?
First of all, let's be honest about Mr. Ford's political record. As a long-time Congressman, Ford was a small-government conservative, a strong globalist in foreign affairs, and just a shade left-of-center on social issues. That's the record he brought with him into the presidency.
Ford's first major act as president was to issue the infamous pardon to Nixon. Those of you who remember those days, think back to what the liberal reaction was to the pardon. Why, the liberal outrage was off the chart on the Insane-O-Meter! A pardon was unthinkable! How would America's liberal class, "The Chosen Ones", ever get their pound of flesh? It simply wasn't enough for Nixon to leave the Oval Office in disgrace. The Loons of Liberalville needed the man drawn and quartered! Hanged in the public square! At the very least, Nixon needed to do hard time! Well, Pres. Ford disagreed. He rightly saw that the public spectacle of an American President on trial would greatly damage the country, so Ford did the right thing and pardoned the scoundrel. At that point in history, Ford was the most hated and reviled man in America, at least from the left side of the political spectrum.
Can you imagine what that must be like? What would it be like to wake up every day knowing that about 25% of the American population hates you with a white-hot rage usually reserved for the hatred we feel towards the most evil of despots? Granted, 25% of the population is nowhere close to being a majority (despite the fuzzy math normally employed by liberals) but that 25% did, in those days, completely control the media and entertainment industries. Do you think you could stand up to that withering, relentless firefight everyday and not have it change you?
Regardless of how you answered that question, the truth is that Pres. Ford was changed by liberal hate. He transformed himself into a liberal, right before our very eyes. In his 1975 State of the Union Address (http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeches/750028.htm) Ford called for tax cuts, especially for businesses. Pres. Ford wanted lower taxes, decreased federal spending, and smaller government. 1976 saw the emergence of Gerald "The Great Liberal" Ford, who proposed increased taxes. The man just couldn't bear the strain!
Here are some facts to chew on. FACT: Liberals hate conservatives. FACT: Liberals make up about 25% of the population, so conservatives shouldn't give a rat's a__ what liberals think. FACT: For some unexplained reason, many conservatives DO give a rat's a__ what liberals think, so they move to the left. FACT: Liberal dinner parties in D.C. sure must be spectacular for some conservatives to betray their principles in exchange for invites!
SUPER FACT: There are only 3 things a conservative can do to "earn" love and praise from liberals-- 1.) Die. 2.) Lose an election to a liberal. 3.) Quit being such an evil conservative and just bend over for liberals. The sad truth is that Gerald Ford did all three, and that's tragic.
In my ever-so-humble opinion, the pardoning of Nixon did not cost Ford the 1976 election. What cost Ford the 1976 election was his morphing into a liberal. Jimmy Carter actually campaigned as a Christian, Southern, Conservative (what a whopper that turned out to be!). America's voters cast their ballots for the man that they perceived as being the most conservative. After 4 years of proof that J.C. had lied, the voters promptly replaced him with Ronald Reagan. I believe that, if Ford had held fast to the principles of conservatism, and if he had governed from the right, he would have defeated Carter in 1976. ONE LAST FACT: Conservative defeats liberal every single time we the people get to choose! This is a lesson the GOP better learn in a hurry if they want to be successful in 2008!
That's not what I came here to talk about, though. What caught my attention was the Niagra Falls of emotion that has been pouring out of liberals over the last week. The nation's liberal intelligentsia has been absolutely gooey in their praise of good old #48, the 3-time Michigan football letter winner. For anyone willing to pay attention, the drive-by media commentary about Pres. Ford's passing offers the classic illustration of the behavior patterns of the wacky liberal. Let's see if we can cut through all of the revisionist history we have been subjected to, shall we?
First of all, let's be honest about Mr. Ford's political record. As a long-time Congressman, Ford was a small-government conservative, a strong globalist in foreign affairs, and just a shade left-of-center on social issues. That's the record he brought with him into the presidency.
Ford's first major act as president was to issue the infamous pardon to Nixon. Those of you who remember those days, think back to what the liberal reaction was to the pardon. Why, the liberal outrage was off the chart on the Insane-O-Meter! A pardon was unthinkable! How would America's liberal class, "The Chosen Ones", ever get their pound of flesh? It simply wasn't enough for Nixon to leave the Oval Office in disgrace. The Loons of Liberalville needed the man drawn and quartered! Hanged in the public square! At the very least, Nixon needed to do hard time! Well, Pres. Ford disagreed. He rightly saw that the public spectacle of an American President on trial would greatly damage the country, so Ford did the right thing and pardoned the scoundrel. At that point in history, Ford was the most hated and reviled man in America, at least from the left side of the political spectrum.
Can you imagine what that must be like? What would it be like to wake up every day knowing that about 25% of the American population hates you with a white-hot rage usually reserved for the hatred we feel towards the most evil of despots? Granted, 25% of the population is nowhere close to being a majority (despite the fuzzy math normally employed by liberals) but that 25% did, in those days, completely control the media and entertainment industries. Do you think you could stand up to that withering, relentless firefight everyday and not have it change you?
Regardless of how you answered that question, the truth is that Pres. Ford was changed by liberal hate. He transformed himself into a liberal, right before our very eyes. In his 1975 State of the Union Address (http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeches/750028.htm) Ford called for tax cuts, especially for businesses. Pres. Ford wanted lower taxes, decreased federal spending, and smaller government. 1976 saw the emergence of Gerald "The Great Liberal" Ford, who proposed increased taxes. The man just couldn't bear the strain!
Here are some facts to chew on. FACT: Liberals hate conservatives. FACT: Liberals make up about 25% of the population, so conservatives shouldn't give a rat's a__ what liberals think. FACT: For some unexplained reason, many conservatives DO give a rat's a__ what liberals think, so they move to the left. FACT: Liberal dinner parties in D.C. sure must be spectacular for some conservatives to betray their principles in exchange for invites!
SUPER FACT: There are only 3 things a conservative can do to "earn" love and praise from liberals-- 1.) Die. 2.) Lose an election to a liberal. 3.) Quit being such an evil conservative and just bend over for liberals. The sad truth is that Gerald Ford did all three, and that's tragic.
In my ever-so-humble opinion, the pardoning of Nixon did not cost Ford the 1976 election. What cost Ford the 1976 election was his morphing into a liberal. Jimmy Carter actually campaigned as a Christian, Southern, Conservative (what a whopper that turned out to be!). America's voters cast their ballots for the man that they perceived as being the most conservative. After 4 years of proof that J.C. had lied, the voters promptly replaced him with Ronald Reagan. I believe that, if Ford had held fast to the principles of conservatism, and if he had governed from the right, he would have defeated Carter in 1976. ONE LAST FACT: Conservative defeats liberal every single time we the people get to choose! This is a lesson the GOP better learn in a hurry if they want to be successful in 2008!
posted by hondo at 1:19 PM
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