So I hope he'll, y'know, pardon me.
I'm a little tired of hearing about his personal life (compelling), his family life (warm, intimate, sincere), and his personality (benign). I grant all of these things.
But in all these fawning news stories about this historical figure, why do we hear none of his history? I realize there is a mourning period, and his friends and family are welcome to it. The rest of us who have to live with his legacy should freely debate it.
And his legacy is a disaster. It has led directly to the situation we are in right now.
Don't believe me? Look it up on a completely sympathetic site. Oh, I don't know, how about: http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
I don't mean this to be an exhaustive progressive history of the man, there are plenty of those.
But "what if?" "What if" he hadn't taken the easy "healing" route and pardoned his personal friend and political benefactor?
"What if" we had taken the messy route of prosecution? Who might have been forever stained by the resulting investigation?
Dick Cheney. Don Rumsfeld. We all know the names and the cabal that cut their teeth in those lawless days. This is basic law and order--unpunished crimes contribute to recidivism. These men, having been a part of Gerry's "healing," are now getting away with murder.
So why in the hell should we, us, anybody, outside of his immediate family and friends, bow our heads and act like this man's policies were anything but a disaster for our country? Didn't he just put a nice face on this gang of neer-do-wells? What the hell was Salon.com thinking?
So, say it loud: I don't like Gerald Ford, and I'm proud.
And the loss of James Brown is a national fucking tragedy.