Dishonoring The Passing Of Gerald Ford
This morning, like millions of other Americans, I managed to tune into several of the television stations covering the funeral proceedings for former president, Gerald Ford.
As I wrote in a previous post, I personally thought of "Jerry" Ford as a better congressman than a president. I also thought his pardon of Richard Nixon as not only a mistake for his bid for election in a second term, but also a mistake for the nation. Additionally, I referenced the decision not to seek impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney by the new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, as the same type of mistake.
But setting all of that aside, the most striking thing about the coverage of this funeral is the dishonor being given to Ford's memory by some of the most atrocious leaders of our current government.
Dick Cheney actually spoke about the honorable nature of President Ford and the values that Ford modelled for the nation. As I watched the video coverage of Cheney's comments it struck me like a bolt of lightning that Cheney must have lost the capacity to learn from the example Gerald Ford offered us. Ford stood tall among the congress critters in Washington because he would not sacrifice his values for political expediency. Cheney, however, is a professional at obtaining immediate political gratification, as well as strong-arming friends and foes within the political infrastructure of our capital. Cheney dishonored President Ford's service to our nation as a naval officer, a member of congress, a leader of the GOP, as Vice President and as President.
Among the others that dishonored President Ford was Donald Rumsfeld: who upon leaving office as the Secretary of Defense let it slip that he disagreed with George W, Bush on the conduct of the Iraqi occupation. In so doing he demonstrated that he was a political coward, an opportunist and a slick politician that lacks the moral and ethical backbone that was the forte of Gerald Ford. How dare he stand up at this funeral! If I were him, I would have begged off attending the funeral out of shame in light of the honorable ideals that Ford represented.
Then, of course, the current holder of our highest office, offered the most extreme dishonor by attending and speaking. George W. Bush has reached the milestone of having sent 3,000 of our service members to their deaths over a trumped up and illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation that never posed a threat to our security or interests until we invaded. Bush is responsible for wounding and/or disabling thousands of other service members. As president, Bush has done something that President Ford never did to us... lie at every possible turn of events. The fact that Bush has the audacity to be present at the Ford funeral, in any capacity, speaks to his lack of conscience and honor.
President Ford deserves to be honored for his service to our nation. His family deserves to see us honor his service, dignity and integrity. But no one deserves the likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld or George W. showing up to claim some of the dignity of the proceedings for themselves.
As I wrote in a previous post, I personally thought of "Jerry" Ford as a better congressman than a president. I also thought his pardon of Richard Nixon as not only a mistake for his bid for election in a second term, but also a mistake for the nation. Additionally, I referenced the decision not to seek impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney by the new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, as the same type of mistake.
But setting all of that aside, the most striking thing about the coverage of this funeral is the dishonor being given to Ford's memory by some of the most atrocious leaders of our current government.
Dick Cheney actually spoke about the honorable nature of President Ford and the values that Ford modelled for the nation. As I watched the video coverage of Cheney's comments it struck me like a bolt of lightning that Cheney must have lost the capacity to learn from the example Gerald Ford offered us. Ford stood tall among the congress critters in Washington because he would not sacrifice his values for political expediency. Cheney, however, is a professional at obtaining immediate political gratification, as well as strong-arming friends and foes within the political infrastructure of our capital. Cheney dishonored President Ford's service to our nation as a naval officer, a member of congress, a leader of the GOP, as Vice President and as President.
Among the others that dishonored President Ford was Donald Rumsfeld: who upon leaving office as the Secretary of Defense let it slip that he disagreed with George W, Bush on the conduct of the Iraqi occupation. In so doing he demonstrated that he was a political coward, an opportunist and a slick politician that lacks the moral and ethical backbone that was the forte of Gerald Ford. How dare he stand up at this funeral! If I were him, I would have begged off attending the funeral out of shame in light of the honorable ideals that Ford represented.
Then, of course, the current holder of our highest office, offered the most extreme dishonor by attending and speaking. George W. Bush has reached the milestone of having sent 3,000 of our service members to their deaths over a trumped up and illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation that never posed a threat to our security or interests until we invaded. Bush is responsible for wounding and/or disabling thousands of other service members. As president, Bush has done something that President Ford never did to us... lie at every possible turn of events. The fact that Bush has the audacity to be present at the Ford funeral, in any capacity, speaks to his lack of conscience and honor.
President Ford deserves to be honored for his service to our nation. His family deserves to see us honor his service, dignity and integrity. But no one deserves the likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld or George W. showing up to claim some of the dignity of the proceedings for themselves.
posted by Jim Downey at 7:08 AM
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