President Ford Dies

[turk2di]

Former President Gerald Ford has died. He was the right man at the right time in American History.

[TheToons]

A very honorable man. I'm sure he will be very missed by his family. Prayers to them!

[AteUp]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15990372/#061227b

A better nation because of Gerald Ford
By Joe Scarborough
Bad weather made a recent trip to New York’s LaGuardia Airport longer than usual. That extra time stuck in traffic gave my cab driver a chance to deliver an angry lecture on U.S. foreign policy to a face he recognized. After ranting for 30 minutes about America’s evils, he stopped long enough to answer a question.

"If America is so terrible," I asked with a smile on my face, "why the hell do you live here?"

The Middle Eastern immigrant let out a loud laugh but quickly grew serious.

"Because in America, no matter how bad things get, good guys always win in the end. There is justice here."

That insight was worth having to endure additional lectures on Iraq, oil, Watergate and Donald Trump. I also learned that my cab driver left his home and family for an America he learned about in Hollywood movies.

An America where the good guys usually won.

"It’s uglier in real life but result is same," he told me in clipped English.

That truth may explain why countless governments across the globe are sustained by tanks and assault weapons, but America’s government runs solely on the good faith of its people. Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence teaches our leaders early on that their right to govern comes from the people, who are given their rights from God. So long as Americans keep faith in their leaders, America’s radical experiment with freedom will continue unbroken.

Gerald R. Ford understood that above all else. Maybe that’s why historians will judge his presidency a success despite the fact he passed little legislation of note, was never elected president or vice president before entering the White House, and left after holding the presidency for less than a thousand days.

The man who beat Ford at the polls in 1976 praised Gerald Ford for "healing our land." He did so not only by pardoning Richard Nixon, but by also showing Americans that after an era of LBJs, Nixons, Agnews, Erlichmans and Haldermans, there were still decent hearted men who led with decency instead of deception.

Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon may have healed the land, but it cost him reelection. That sting was felt acutely by the 38th president until the day in 2001 when the Kennedys awarded him a Profile in Courage for making the unpopular decision to end America’s long national nightmare.

Thirty two years later, we are a better nation because of Ford’s courage and because a decent man proved once again that in America, the good guys usually do win in the end.

[eddiejohn4]

May he rest in peace. Thanks Gerald Ford for serving our nation in one of the most thankless jobs.