General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSheltieLover
(57,073 posts)The only way to stop bullies is by meeting their affronts with extraordinary force, physical or legal, as the case may be.
PatSeg
(47,239 posts)what they would do to lawbreakers. Nixon was quite a "Law and Order" politician and he wouldn't be nearly so lenient.
That said, he at least should have been tried and judged in a court of law. Even if he didn't go to prison if found guilty, history would forever know him as a criminal, a felon. That pardon was too easy and his crimes deserved far more attention. Meanwhile, I don't think the man ever thought he did anything wrong. Pompous and arrogant to the end.
wryter2000
(46,023 posts)It's true, of course, but a lot easier to see now.
TheRickles
(2,042 posts)wryter2000
(46,023 posts)When Ford pardoned Nixon, I just felt relief that it was over. I'm sure there were people who saw the error, but most of us felt that the punishment of having to resign in disgrace would be a deterrent for the future.
It might have worked if the Republican party hadn't become so corrupted. The Republican party of the early 1970's would have convicted Trump and thrown him out on his ass.
I know it was an mistake, but it would have been very difficult to predict Trump and the current Republican party.
Cadfael
(1,296 posts)It read : Add another name to the cover-up list
My mom and dad (and I) watched every hearing that we could. She was really pissed by that pardon.
Dave says
(4,615 posts)my parents felt the same way. They were pissed.
moondust
(19,956 posts)~
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals
Upthevibe
(8,006 posts)And, of course, the right worship Reagan....He did so much harm...
calimary
(81,085 posts)cilla4progress
(24,713 posts)my first demonstration. I was a college student in Vermont at the time!
KPN
(15,635 posts)a bit south of you in western MA at the same time -- but still working my summer job around then.
Fullduplexxx
(7,840 posts)OMGWTF
(3,939 posts)Nixon, Reagan, GHW Bush, Cheney the Dick and GeeDumbya, and now Traitor Tot -- should all have been sent to prison.
Captain Zero
(6,779 posts)Eisenhower really stood up to generals who wanted to nuke everything in the 50s. Whenever they suggested it, I read that Ike's reply always was, "THEN, WHAT?"
electric_blue68
(14,807 posts)on. (I was 7 in 1960)
A decent President.
And what a great, chilling retort!
calimary
(81,085 posts)we could actually respect, if not agree with.
Eisenhower. What was it? Some seven DECADES ago?
electric_blue68
(14,807 posts)central scrutinizer
(11,635 posts)Pro-union, reasonable and a stark contrast to now. They have no platform except investigating Hunter Bidens laptop
Upthevibe
(8,006 posts)I completely agree...
Hekate
(90,529 posts)MurrayDelph
(5,291 posts)It's why I thought Obama's "looking forward, not backward" reaction to Guantanamo torture was weak tea. We might not have a DeSantis at this point if he'd followed up.
Sky Jewels
(7,006 posts)but it was frustrating to see him capitulate too much on too many issues.
not fooled
(5,801 posts)stopdiggin
(11,236 posts)The pardon may have been ill considered (from a rule of law point of view) over the long run. But - the power of the presidency (and the expansion of that envelope) can hardly be attributed wholly, or even primarily, to that one (purported) misstep.
The fear of later indictment ... Not that big a factor.
Raven123
(4,781 posts)Also, President Ford never imagined the current state of American politics
DENVERPOPS
(8,787 posts)didn't just "imagine" it, they were each instrumental in making a small piece of the current state of politics happen.............
stopdiggin
(11,236 posts)that each of of us is 'instrumental' (in a small way) for the creation of global warming. But that sort of glosses over the impact of some of the major players. Fossil fuels, chemical industry, deforestation might be slightly bigger actors? I don't think I'll ever be able to put Gerald Ford, or Bob Dole - on the same level or playing field with Newt Gingrich, Limbaugh, Cheney, Murdock, FOX, or more recently, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Taylor-Greene, or Trump.
And, yes - I do think that Dole and Ford would find the current state of the GOP (and the actions and positions taken post election) - almost beyond belief. Not the same animal at all.
DENVERPOPS
(8,787 posts)Cosmocat
(14,558 posts)This line of thinking MASSIVELY underestimates the moral and ethical corruption of the republican party.
erronis
(15,170 posts)Shipwack
(2,157 posts)"Had President Ford not granted Nixon an almost immediate "full, free and absolute" pardon in 1974, later Presidents might not have felt so licensed to break the law." -Michael Beschloss
erronis
(15,170 posts)True Blue American
(17,981 posts)This is the end of a long national nightmare! When in truth it was the beginning! Now we have a bought Congress, corrupt Supreme Court and Judges!
Ligyron
(7,615 posts)Rebl2
(13,447 posts)True!
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)on the day of the pardon.
electric_blue68
(14,807 posts)later ramifications!
momta
(4,078 posts)Callalily
(14,885 posts)but with a personality as Trump has, who totally thinks he's above the law, I don't think in his case it would matter.
KPN
(15,635 posts)our society's justice system relative to white collar crime generally, and it seems they have only gotten worse with time. There is no question that weak response to corrupt, immoral and even illegal acts only encourages more of the same by those who feel entitled to act in those manners.
Kennah
(14,234 posts)Upthevibe
(8,006 posts)Thanks for posting.....
I love Michael Beschloss....
Cheezoholic
(2,004 posts)and protect the office of the executive than anybody in the 20th/21st century.
soldierant
(6,785 posts)is that in theory it is to protect the state. But when actually applied, it does just the opposite. By protecting a criminal office holder, it destroys the integrity of the office it is supposed to protect. One might call that a paradox.
FakeNoose
(32,556 posts)We would have had 2.5 awful years of trying to get Nixon to leave the White House by any means possible.
dhol82
(9,351 posts)That would certainly help democracy.
FakeNoose
(32,556 posts)However I DO remember why Nixon selected Gerald Ford as his VP after the criminal Spiro Agnew resigned. Nixon's motive was to nominate someone that Congress would approve quickly without much fuss. Nixon also saw Ford as someone who was unlikely to be seen as his replacement, if indeed Nixon were to be impeached. He wanted Ford simply because everyone thought he was "unpresidential," and not very ambitious.
True Blue American
(17,981 posts)But instead set up what we see today.
UpInArms
(51,279 posts)Ford was a stupid weak monster
evolves
(5,399 posts)We have reaped the bitter harvest of that mistake for 50 years and counting.
irisblue
(32,916 posts)The article was published during the first impeachment of the apricothellbeast, so it speaks to that point.
source-https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/04/democrats-impeach-trump-accountability-watergate-gerald-ford-richard-nixon-column/2762361002/
title-Watergate's lesson? If Democrats want to heal America, Trump must be held accountable
snip-"Accountability is essential to the long-term health of our democracy, more important than even healing the nations partisan divisions."
snip-"The United States learned this lesson 45 years ago. In August 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned from office in disgrace as soon as it became clear that the House would vote to impeach him for obstructing justice in the Watergate scandal and, moreover, that the Senate would likely vote to remove him from office. In a flash, Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the presidency."
snip-" On Sept. 8, 1974, Ford announced to the nation on television that he was issuing a free, full and absolute pardon to Nixon for any crimes he might have committed as president. Further legal investigations and prosecutions would paralyze the nation, Ford warned, as ugly passions would again be roused, our people would again be polarized in their opinions, and the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.
snip-"The nation has continued to pay for its failure to hold Nixon accountable. The divisions that Ford had hoped to paper over with his pardon have only continued to widen. Moreover, the general trend toward a vague sense of healing instead of holding specific wrongdoers accountable has only continued to erode the publics faith in government over the ensuing decades. High-level officials in the Reagan administration clearly subverted the law in the Iran-Contra scandal but escaped any real punishment thanks to pardons from President George H.W. Bush. War crimes committed during the George W. Bush administration, meanwhile, were swept under the rug when the Obama White House refused to insist on accountability there."
more there, worth the time to read IMO
temporary311
(955 posts)or the Business Plot conspirators, or the Confederate traitors, all contributed to that. Hopefully Trump and the other Jan. 6th plotters don't get added to the list of right wing evil that our country gives a pass to.
Poiuyt
(18,112 posts)Donald Trump is a sociopath. He doesn't know right from wrong like a normal human.
JI7
(89,239 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,102 posts)might not have felt so licensed to break the law. There haven't been any Democrats to take this license.
True Blue American
(17,981 posts)LittleGirl
(8,277 posts)And I was furious about Ford pardoning Nixon.
He was a crook!
And then came the biggest crook in the world! 45
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)relayerbob
(6,536 posts)jaxexpat
(6,795 posts)chowmama
(409 posts)I have always blamed Ford for all of this. And if Trump gets off, the next one will go all the way and we can kiss democracy goodbye.
Ford said in later life that the pardon was not only 'to spare the country', but also for 'friendship's sake'. He only found as time went on that Nixon didn't have any friends, including Ford. Nixon was incapable of friendship.
So it really was all for nothing.
NNadir
(33,457 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(144,884 posts)Ford was stupid to issue this pardon and paid the price
rurallib
(62,373 posts)have been saying ever since that the lesson Repugs learned was not that doing illegal stuff was bad, no - the lesson they learned was that you can get away with it.
BigmanPigman
(51,560 posts)That was a different time....before The Christian Right, before Fux Ruse and before social media influences.
tclambert
(11,084 posts)They stopped teaching that after Ford pardoned Nixon. And when I mentioned it to a current teacher, he just laughed and laughed.
DownriverDem
(6,226 posts)because of the Nixon pardon.
cab67
(2,990 posts)A number of people said I was dead wrong to put any of the blame on Ford, but I stand by it.
Fords intent may have been different from those of Limbaugh, Gingrich, or Murdoch, but the effect was the same.