Unfortunately, There Was A Ford In Our Future.

I usually try to avoid to avoid politics around these here parts, but with the fortieth anniversary of Watergate, and all the attending publicity in media surrounding it, I find myself hearing the same nice and kind things said about Gerald Ford, because he gave Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for acts that would have sent any other individual who wasn't President of the United States directly to the slammer.
Do not pass Go.
Do not collect $200.
Go to Jail.
It was done in what I assume was an honest effort to "heal the nation".
Just as his serving on the Warren Commision was his attempt to heal the nation.
In both instances, I don't think much, if any actual healing took place.
Very few people believe the Warren Commission Report to this day.
I am pretty well convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed involved in the JFK assassination, but I'm far from convinced that he acted alone.
So, no healing for me there.
A lot of people protested at the time, when Ford pardoned Nixon.
I was one of them.
Not so much because I hated Nixon, which I did.
But because I believed that it set a terrible precedent.
That single act told America that what you heard about "No man is above the law" is complete bullshit.
And it probably cost Ford the upcoming election.
And he probably knew it was going to.
So he probably thought what he did was an act of nobility.
But if Ford hadn't pardoned Nixon, and Nixon had ended up in the Greybar Hotel, does anyone honestly think that Ronald Reagan would have been given a free pass for Iran-Contra?
Would Reagan even attempt it?
There is no thought of holding Bush and Cheney accountable for falsely getting thousands of people killed by creating a war in Iraq.
They knew that they would never be held criminally accountable.
As they should be.
But won't be.
And there seems to be no discussion about sending any of those crooks who supplied all those bad bank loans to those unsuspecting customers, to the clink.
All because of that nice, kind "healer", Gerald Ford.
Yes, I know that if there was no pardon, and Nixon faced an ongoing prosecution, and ended up wearing striped garments, the country would have twisted in the wind over it.
Perhaps for a long time.
But I think we would have gotten over it, and we'd certainly end up better than we are now.
In retrospect, that one act of Ford's is probably worse than anything Richard Nixon ever did.
Which is saying something.
I must go now, and continue to lick my wounds.

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My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
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The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
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I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube, and my 4-hour interview at the Television Academy's Emmy TV Legends Website.
Here's the link:  www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/mark-rothman

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