NOW THIS FORD STUFF IS STARTING TO GET A LITTLE INTERESTING

When it was announced that Ford died I can't say it had much (any) impact on me. I don't hate him; I never admired him. He just was. Then I got pissed. It was all over the TV news... blah, blah, blah... as though it was as important as the passing of James Brown or someone who really did have an impact on people. "Gee, I don't want to write about this," I thought. And when I powered up DWT Ken had already done a superb job. End of story? It should have been; but I couldn't leave well enough alone and I had to butt in on what I was basically thinking of a fake non-story. It was Bush's hollow, canned praise for Ford that put me over the top; Bush has that effect on me.

But finally, today, there actually is a story beyond some unelected president who pardoned his crooked predecessor getting real old and dying: Ford did an embargoed interview with Bob Woodward denouncing the Bush's Regime's invasion and occupation of Iraq. He had agreed to the interview if Woodward agreed not to publish it until he was dead. The body's not even in the ground yet and it's all over the boob tube.

The interview was done in late July, 2004. CNN ran an audio tape this morning of this comment by Ford: "Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people. Whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's in our national interests, there comes a point where they conflict. And I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security." Other quotes: "I don't think if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly, I don't think I would have ordered the Iraqi war. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer... I think Rumsfeld, Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction... And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

Maybe Ken knew what he was talking about when he was less rough on Ford than many in the blogosphere. Woodward's piece in today's Washington Post makes Ford look pretty decent-- especially when you compare him to what we have now came after him. Too bad Ford was too scared of the Bush Hate Machine to allow his thoughts to be known when they could have done some good though.


UPDATE: BILL BENNETT KICKS FORD'S CORPSE AROUND FOR THE RIGHT WING NUTCASES


The face of right wing hypocrisy in America, blowhard Bill Bennett, was a lot harsher on Ford for not making his criticisms known before he died than I was. Basically, he called him an indecent coward this morning. (See, that's what I meant about the fear many feel in regard to the Rove-managed Bush Hate Machine of which Bennett is a small, but thoroughly repulsive, cog.) Your man Bill Bennett: "The effect of what Ford did is to protect himself, ensuring he can't be asked by others about his critiques, ensuring that there can be no dialogue. The way Ford does it with Woodward, he doesn't have to defend himself...he simply drops it into Bob Woodward's tape recorder and let's the bomb go off when fully out of range, himself. This is not courage, this is not decent."


ONE LAST UPDATE: A PERTINENT MR. FISH CARTOON VIA MAGS:

click on Bush's nose if you want to be able to read his stupid remarks