2007: PARDON ME
George W. Bush declared tomorrow a national day of mourning for Gerald Ford, leaving millions of Americans scratching their heads trying to figure out what the hell he meant. Is there school? What will be closed? Exactly how many of our nation's citizens will spend Tuesday in mourning? Anyone besides Ford's immediate family? Ford seemed like a decent enough man to me, but a national day of mourning?
Pardon me, but I, for one, have never really pardoned the pardoner. A presidency paid for by a pardon rather than an election, never gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. Chevy Chase played the president more days than Gerald Ford, yet I doubt we'd consider closing the schools for the comedian. Something smells fishy here.
Indeed, is this really about Ford, or more about George W. Bush worrying that his own death will be a day of national celebration? As the only other unelected president, Mr. Bush obviously feels a kinship with Mr. Ford. Are we being shown the blueprint for how we are to act when 43 is called home by the Lord?
Saddam Hussein's well-deserved death was certainly rejoiced by millions, though there was something disquieting about the illegal conqueror, Commander Bush, presiding over his capture, imprisonment, trial and execution. The one damn time Hussein ever told the truth, (that, in fact, he had no WMD), was the provocation for his being deposed -- and subsequently executed -- while the man who lied was able to play the executioner.
Hussein was certainly a vicious dictator, but he was our vicious dictator and ally in killing Iranians. How betrayed Saddam must have felt. Here is a man I would have killed with my bare hands for his heinous crimes, yet I'm forced to feel a touch of sympathy for him. Saddam deserved a thousand hangings, yet we deserved the justice that springs from truth. George denied humanity that.
Bush, of course, was chosen by God to invade Iraq, and his role as chief executioner was honed over his gubernatorial years in the execution capital of the United States, Texas. Now 3000 Americans have died and countless Iraqis have been slaughtered in the anarchy following our mistaken invasion. And 2007 will see Bush increasing troop levels in Iraq in defiance of the recent elections.
All this makes you wonder if President Dick Cheney will pardon George Bush if impeachment comes a knock, knock, knocking at the door? And will we then have a national day of mourning when ex-President Cheney has his 49th heart attack and ascends the stairway to heaven?
I don't know the answer to this, but I do know that when it happens, Americans will be scrambling, trying to figure out whether they need to arrange for childcare because of scattered school closings.
George W. Bush declared tomorrow a national day of mourning for Gerald Ford, leaving millions of Americans scratching their heads trying to figure out what the hell he meant. Is there school? What will be closed? Exactly how many of our nation's citizens will spend Tuesday in mourning? Anyone besides Ford's immediate family? Ford seemed like a decent enough man to me, but a national day of mourning?
Pardon me, but I, for one, have never really pardoned the pardoner. A presidency paid for by a pardon rather than an election, never gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. Chevy Chase played the president more days than Gerald Ford, yet I doubt we'd consider closing the schools for the comedian. Something smells fishy here.
Indeed, is this really about Ford, or more about George W. Bush worrying that his own death will be a day of national celebration? As the only other unelected president, Mr. Bush obviously feels a kinship with Mr. Ford. Are we being shown the blueprint for how we are to act when 43 is called home by the Lord?
Saddam Hussein's well-deserved death was certainly rejoiced by millions, though there was something disquieting about the illegal conqueror, Commander Bush, presiding over his capture, imprisonment, trial and execution. The one damn time Hussein ever told the truth, (that, in fact, he had no WMD), was the provocation for his being deposed -- and subsequently executed -- while the man who lied was able to play the executioner.
Hussein was certainly a vicious dictator, but he was our vicious dictator and ally in killing Iranians. How betrayed Saddam must have felt. Here is a man I would have killed with my bare hands for his heinous crimes, yet I'm forced to feel a touch of sympathy for him. Saddam deserved a thousand hangings, yet we deserved the justice that springs from truth. George denied humanity that.
Bush, of course, was chosen by God to invade Iraq, and his role as chief executioner was honed over his gubernatorial years in the execution capital of the United States, Texas. Now 3000 Americans have died and countless Iraqis have been slaughtered in the anarchy following our mistaken invasion. And 2007 will see Bush increasing troop levels in Iraq in defiance of the recent elections.
All this makes you wonder if President Dick Cheney will pardon George Bush if impeachment comes a knock, knock, knocking at the door? And will we then have a national day of mourning when ex-President Cheney has his 49th heart attack and ascends the stairway to heaven?
I don't know the answer to this, but I do know that when it happens, Americans will be scrambling, trying to figure out whether they need to arrange for childcare because of scattered school closings.
posted by R. Reynolds at 12:41 PM
11 Comments:
Great new perspective. Love Bush's transparent move to leave a blueprint for how we're to treat him. He is saying, "respect the office, if not the man."
Happy New Years PNN. I have felt uneasy since Hussein's death and have been unable to articulate it. Thanks for cutting to the quick.
Saddam won't become a viscous dictator for at least a few more months.
as usual, pnn peels back the layers of the onion, leaving my eyes watery. thanks.
you are sick reynolds. wasn't it bad enough that god tripped gerald every chance he got? this is either unnecessary roughness, or piling on, to put it in fordball parlance.
Justice is merely an excuse for vengeance. In pardoning Richard, President Ford eased an ailing nation back to health. At the time I was furious! Now I see that there was work to be done and a government that needed to get back to governing. I see great parallels here for this next congress there is much governing that needs to be done. --USCE
Dear USCE: You must have accidently wandered off the "Nice Blog." PNN is about the real motivations behind events.
Dear Anonymous, Pardon me. --USCE
Dear two anons ago: I think there is room for niceness at PNN. Not a lot, but some. USCE's idealism may seem out of place on this wretched blog, but a little sunlight helps ripen the cheese.
Dear anonymous,
Wretched? How dare you?
Wilfully ignorant, yes. Parochial, yes. Solipsistic, definitely.
But wretched???...
Come to think of it...
Dear Mr. Martini:
I'm thinking "wicked."
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