Farewell to Gerald Ford: the only national Republican I ever voted for.

[patrice]

One of the last honest Conservatives; someone we could understand. Sober. Practical. Real.

I haven't said it on this board yet, but this Midwestern lady, who was jeered at for voting for McGovern, voted for Ford, inspite of CorporateBot Dole, because I knew I could understand and trust the man, to some recognizable extent, because he lived in the same real world the rest of us did.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

1. Amen. Now will somebody bury the poor guy?

[lonestarnot]

64. Haven't they drug his dead ass around the country, displayed,

held up traffic, cost us enough yet? Shit. Sick of his dead ass.

[GreenTea]

2. A fucking Republican is a fucking Republican - "Oatmeal Man" Ford: A lifelong fucking Republican...

completely embraced republican ideology....and we know republican ideology is fucked. It's government helping with subsidies, (corporate welfare) tax breaks and deregulation for corporate interest over helping the people, the workers and the environment...I can proudly say I NEVER voted for any republican ever...I voted for Democratic Carter, who created not a single war, had an excellent alternative energy program and cared about the poor and the middle class workers.

It's disgusting when people vote the personality they see on TV & newspapers and not the man's ideology...because that ideology is indeed the man. It's what the man has base his entire life on, and when push comes to shove, one always votes their party's ideology. Ford was a fucking republican and republican ideology is a selfish, elitist, greedy and fucked ideology...And Ford was a bumbling, do nothing, republican pig...Oatmeal Man!!!

Just more republican media spin, telling everyone bullshit about Ford...so people will believe there are good republicans to vote for...Ford always backed Nixon, Reagan, Bush, even Jr. (and said nothing when he knew Iraq was a major fuck up, because he was a loyal republican) as well as the sick republican agenda when in retirement, just as when he was in Congress and president....Ford was a fucking republican, and promoted republican ideology through and through his whole career...

The same media that constantly trashes democrats FDR, Kennedy, Carter and Clinton.

[Kahuna]

35. Yep. He was pretty much like Poppy bush. Nice but still a partisan,

sneaky and a liar. All republican presidents during my 52 years have held these traits.

[Greyhound]

3. While I have no doubt that he was as honest and forthright as everyone

claims, he did have a remarkably undistinguished career, and his success seems to have come from having no strong opinions or of taking a stand on anything and simply failing to piss anybody off.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. I disagree. About all of that.

He did distinguish himself with his Warren Commission coverup and his pardon of Nixon, which set the precedent that the president is above the law. Also, his tacit support of the genocide in Indonesia. These suggest that he was not so honest and forthright, but instead was very good at flying under the radar. He was the epitome of the backroom deal maker, and many of the problems we've endured over the past 30 years can be traced directly back to his refusal to see justice done with Nixon and Nixon's crowd, of which he was one.

[GreenTea]

5. Excellent and true...

Ford's republican loyalty and ideology should have been spotted easily by voters, with his go-along with the republicans Warren Commission cover-up...(republicans Ford, Allen Dulles, Arlen Specter, etc. even Earl Warren was a republican). Oatmeal Man Ford, ALWAYS went along with the republican agenda, quietly, and never a peep.

[PSPS]

8. You're right about that

Many people say the beginnings of the nightmare we're living in today were in the Reagan administration. But I think it is more accurate to lay the blame at Ford's feet.

If Ford hadn't obstructed justice with his pardons (which cost him an election as president,) Reagan's cabal wouldn't have gotten away with their crimes. And today's batch of criminal thugs, retreads from the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, would still be rotting in jail where they belong instead of gleefully killing our citizens and looting our treasury.

[Greyhound]

24. Excellent points. I stand corrected, except that I'm in the "no great loss"

camp already. The pardons were absolutely toxic to this nation and I'm glad you've reminded me.

[Pastiche423]

6. He pardoned Nixon

and allowed the neocon agenda to flourish. We would not be in the neocon mess we are today if he had not. Nixon needed to be brought to trial. Our country did not heal. It's been festering ever since.

Thank you for your vote. :eyes:

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Thank you, also, for helping to it to repeat.

[ronnykmarshall]

7. Why don't you just kick her?

[Pastiche423]

9. I can't. My legs are paralyzed

[ronnykmarshall]

12. Sorry ....

I need to tone down my smart assness today.

[KingFlorez]

10. Nonsense

[GreenTea]

11. ????

[Pastiche423]

19. What nonsense?

Everything I said is true.

[KingFlorez]

38. He wasn't responsible for the rise of neoconservativism

You can't blame him for Bush or any other nonconservative being elected

[Pastiche423]

41. I can blame him and I will

Ever hear the names, dick cheney and don rumsfeld?

[k_jerome]

18. he voted for civil rights legislation...

i would be a lot worse off without it. some voted against it that are revered in our party now. should i hate them?

civil rights trumps neocon idiots.

[novalib]

20. He ALSO was on the WARREN COMMISSION!!!

He tried to KEEP THE TRUTH about JFK's Assassination from the American PEOPLE!!!!

[k_jerome]

23. like i said...

civil rights are important to me and many others.

he voted for civil rights legislations, he was pro-gay marriage and vocal about it, he was pro-affirmative action and was vocal about it.

would i have voted for him over Carter? probably not. but the crap i see here to vilify a dead man is disgusting.

[Pastiche423]

29. How are our civil right doing today?

Civil rights do not trump the horror he perpetuated.

[k_jerome]

31. for me they do...

genocide is perpetrated upon minorities in this country to this day. so civil rights trump the horror in Iraq for me. and many other non-white Americans as well.

[Pastiche423]

34. I repeat

How are our civil rights today?

[k_jerome]

37. a little better than 100 years ago....

the lynchings have stopped. they toss the young men in prison now...

the ghettos still exist and flourish...in blue states with equal vigor as red.

the incomes are not in line...the education is not in line...the opportunities are not in line...as it ever was.

ask the gays how their civil rights are going...they may be having some problems as well.

[Pastiche423]

44. You're proving my point

[k_jerome]

48. actually i'm proving mine...

Ford attempted to correct these things and supported doing SOMETHING, when the majority of white Americans would rather do nothing. that trumps neocons...for me and many non-white Americans. he was certainly a small voice in his party, but his voice was bigger than MANY in my own party and that counts for something. maybe not to caucasians, most of whom cannot appreciate what it means when you do SOMETHING to alleviate the situation. when you show a small amount of EFFORT rather than a large amount of lip service.

your reasons for hating him are your own. i have my reasons for not doing so. Happy New Year.

[Pastiche423]

50. You are so wrong

Btw, do not put words in my mouth. I never said I hated him.

I have no patience for the willfully ignorant.

Good bye.

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. I agree with you 100%

He also spoke out about the war in Iraq but asked that his comments not be publicized until after he died. I think that makes me madder than his pardon of Nixon. Proves what a coward he was. And partisan to the end.

This weekend, on one of the Sunday shows, they were playing some taped phone conversations he had with Nixon. Talk about a party soldier! He told Nixon he was willing to do whatever he needed him to do.

[uppityperson]

13. You voted for Ford over Carter? Or do I have my years wrong

[novalib]

17. The ONLY Time Ford Ran for President.....

1976 was the ONLY year the "unelected bumbler" ran for President.

He ran against Jimmy Carter, one of the MOST DECENT, MOST HONEST, MOST HONORABLE men ever to live in the White House.

If someone voted for Ford in 1976, then s/he did NOT for for Carter!!!!!!

[uppityperson]

36. That is my take also, trying to figure out if I was wrong.

well, tells me something, not sure what, but something. Thanks for the confirmation.

[Zhade]

62. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean the OP voted for Ford AFTER he pardoned Nixon?

I couldn't do that kind of thing and sleep at night. Voting for a man who let a criminal, whose actions killed so many people and ripped the country asunder, walk?

[ribrepin]

14. I voted for him too

I just liked the guy. Unfortunately, I continued my repub voting streak to vote for Reagan the first time. One term of Reagan convinced me to vote straight Democrat from that day forward.

I'm a moderate and if the repubs would have continued with guys like Ford, I'd probably be republican today. But the policies of the modern republicans have made me a yellow dog democrat.

Interesting fact--Washington state went for Ford in 1976.

P.S. I cast my first vote for McGovern.

[undeterred]

15. In my first vote ever I voted for Gerald Ford.

I remember going back to my college dorm after voting, and some people were talking about what a great guy Jimmy Carter was. I felt bad, and I was sorry when Carter lost in 1980. Still, based on the time Ford was already in office, in my pre-political days I thought he was doing a decent job as president. I don't really regret voting for him, just not being better informed for my first election.

[novalib]

16. Ford Was A NASTY LYING BASTARD!

Ford was NOT honest!!!

He was a NASTY LYING BASTARD who PARDONED one of the WORST Presidents in HISTORY!!!

He was PARTISAN (all the current talk about how "bi-partisan" he was is JUST BULLSHIT!!!!)

He was a bumbling, stumbling BOOB of a President!

[ronnykmarshall]

21. Should I go off on my mom?

She voted for Ford in '76.

Should I throw a bit fucking fit how "she's responsible" for creating GWB??

Please advise.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kahuna]

33. I don't remember many policy specifics, but I do remember feeling

the same ill feeling that I feel with all republican presidents. That he lied and misled. As a matter of fact, I liked Nixon better because I felt that Nixon as more open about his policies. Not open, per se, but more open than all of his republican successors. My feeling about Ford was formed during real time before I became a rabid partisan.

[kestrel91316]

22. Ditto. The only Republican I have ever voted for in a nationwide election.

Not sure if maybe there were one or two in local elections a long time ago. Been a good Dem for decades now.

[GreenTea]

30. And now your repenting?

Just teasing...

You realized you voted for a lying republican over a very good & decent man, and a Democrat in Carter...A republican is a republican with republican ideology...You know what the republicans ideology is...of course you do!

[kestrel91316]

39. Not repenting - I LIKED Gerry Ford (not sure why - naivete?). My

GREAT shame is in not voting for Carter in 1980. I voted Libertarian (it was a phase of my youth......).

[ronnykmarshall]

46. I voted for Anderson in 1980.

And Ted Kennedy in the primary.

[kestrel91316]

43. You know one big reason I didn't vote for Carter in 1976?? I thought

because he was a Southern Baptist that he just HAD to be some sort of closet religious nut.

I know. I was dead wrong.

[A Brand New World]

26. Well add me to the list. I voted for Ford too in my first time

voting. This was long before I was aware of politics and I thought he had done an OK job. He was my last Repub vote in a national election.

[bobthedrummer]

27. Honest? Nope.

"Tyranny's healer, democracy's assassin: The true legacy of Gerald Ford" by Larry Chin 1-1-07
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1587.shtml

[B Calm]

28. Proud to say I voted for Carter!

[novalib]

32. McGovern in 1972, THEN

I first voted in 1972.

For GEORGE McGOVERN!!

Then, in 1972, I PROUDLY voted for JIMMY CARTER and Fritz Mondale!!! EDITED: IN 1976, I voted for CARTER and Mondale!!!

I just CANNOT imagine voting for Ford -- the dishonest DOLT that pardoned NIXON!!!

Now, please resume your normal activities.

[Blue_In_AK]

42. I assume you meant 1976 you voted for Carter.

[ronnykmarshall]

45. Shhhhh.

Be very careful.

[uppityperson]

47. SNORT!!!!!!!!

[novalib]

49. Instead of SNORTING, Do THIS:

Instead of snorting, do this:

BREATHE. Just BREATHE!!!!!!!

[uppityperson]

51. actually I'd rather laugh

at someone poking fun at another's penchant for over CAPPING!!! Thanks anyways.

[novalib]

52. WHERE??!!

Where is someone poking fun at another's penchant for CAPPING??!!

Where is that happening??

Can I join in on the fun, too?

[uppityperson]

53. post #64 eom

[novalib]

54. BUT, BUT.....

But post #64 is a post that YOU posted.

Which means that You laugh at your own posts.

Your posts make me laugh sometimes, too.

[uppityperson]

56. I am glad you read it. eom

[Blue_In_AK]

40. Don't feel bad, I voted for him, too...

And, yes, I voted for McGovern just like you did. I think I was a little squeamish about Carter at the time because he was so ... Baptist. I did, however, vote for Carter in 1980 after I was assured that he was one of the "good" Baptists. :)

[Gormy Cuss]

55. I didn't vote for him. Carter was a much better alternative than another Repub after the Nixon years

However, I found this interesting.

Ted Kennedy wrote a heartfelt message in the condolence book at the JFK library in Boston.
For Ted to choose these words in his brother's library says a lot to me.
?x=231&y=345&sig=PBw9DLaeceiEEN1uZBWlhg--

The text reads "We loved you Gerry, Democrats and Republicans alike. You are truly a Profile in Courage"

[Catchawave]

58. Thanks for sharing that.....

and to Patrice's courage for the OP.

Some are comparing Edwards to Carter now.....the need for a healing President after the Bush years.

[lynch03]

57. Ford was a republican first and an american second

What a coward, not wanting to disclose his sentiments about the iraq war until after his death

[NoPasaran]

59. Well, I didn't vote for Ford, but I can understand your feelings

In my first presidential election in 1976 I voted for Eugene McCarthy because that whole "born again" thing of Carter's gave me the creeps.

[Blue_In_AK]

61. Exactly ... see my post #50.

I would have preferred McCarthy, too.

[Zhade]

63. Unless I'm very much mistaken, doesn't this mean you voted for Ford after he pardoned Nixon?

If, say, Pelosi became president and pardoned b*s*, would you vote for Pelosi?

Did you just not mind that Ford let a criminal walk?

[uppityperson]

65. Instead of Carter.

"because I knew I could understand and trust the man, to some recognizable extent, because he lived in the same real world the rest of us did."