If there is a hell, I hope Gerald Ford is barbecuing like a pig on a spit.

Does that seem cruel of me? Consider what Ford's pardon of that scumbag Richard Nixon did. It allowed Nixon and fellow travelers a way around the final justice that they deserved. It sent a message to all future scumbags, like Dick Cheney and George Bush (both of them) that no matter what shitty crimes you pull, if you've got a friend in the Oval Office, you can be pardoned.

The law means nothing; connections mean everything. With the help of people like Gerald Ford, we've now got a government brimming with corrupt scumbags, while the nation falls into decay and looming disasters like global warming are completely neglected. That's what Gerald Ford did for America. Burn in hell, asshole.

"Death before being dishonored any more." - Col. Ted Westhusing

I'd like to ask a 'favour' if I may

No doubt individuals have many a varied view about the man & his Presidency. Nevertheless he WAS President & has just died. Would it be too much to ask that for 24 hours or so, we declare a moratorium on any critiques, etc?

There will surely be plenty of time for that in the days ahead

It would be nice if such an attitude could also be shown here out of respect. G_7

while in office, but he definitely proved his humanity after he left the Presidency. He picked up hammers and helped people build affordable housing and he has monitored the fairness of elections around the world.

I consider him a 'Great American.' History will be kind to Gerald Ford.

with Jimmy Carter, but none the less, he did broker peace agreements around the world: "the participation of President Gerald R. Ford in the Helsinki summit and his trips elsewhere; the Group of Seven (G-7, but effectively G-8 since 1991) economic summits held annually since 1975; President James E. Carter's 1977 visit to London, the Sadat-Carter and Begin-Carter discussions in Washington, the Camp David Summit (1978), Carter's March 1978 trip to Egypt and Israel, and his Vienna meeting with Leonid Brezhnev to sign the SALT II Agreement;"

He and Jimmy Carter did a lot of work with Habitat for Humanity A proud moment in his life. Perhaps not as great a humanitarian as Jimmy Carter, but for this century, he will rank highly as a humanitarian.

I suppose one the reasons that he pardoned Nixon was the turmoil had gone on for a very long time in American politics and he believed by pardoning him that it would lay the beast to rest. Many were not that forgiving. Nixon was a tragic character.

why? because Nixon essentially got away with, legally his behavior that harmed all Americans, and to pardon him in the name of all Americans was BS. Let Ford pardon him in his own mind, but not in my name. he paid for his crimes, I would agree, SORT OF, yet he did not get what he deserved, LEGALLY and the rule of law was essentially circumvented....

and that folks, IMHO is how WE HAVE what we have today: a bunch of true, dyed in the wool criminals in the WH.

no redress, acting with impunity, and NO FEAR OF REPRISAL.

SICKENING.

a truly wise and forgiving thing to do, IMHO was Sadat signing the peace with Israel, for which he paid with his life. Mandela calling for a truth and reconciliation commission. these in a very major way are different than that. if some cannot see this, then i can't help them.

addendum: if Nixon had admitted his crimes in public, had said he was wrong and asked forgiveness, publically of all Americans, then MY VOTE would be to forgive.
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If this were 1700, they'd be saying: "Since civilization began, slavery has existed. It's human nature." I would have believed it. If 1800: "Women will never vote. They are not born rational". I would have believed it.
2006: Make war irrelevant

Ford Arranged His Funeral to Reflect Himself and Drew in a Former Adversary

NYT, WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 — As he helped in recent years arrange the details of his own funeral, Gerald R. Ford reached out to an old adversary: Jimmy Carter, who defeated him for the presidency in 1976.

Mr. Ford asked whether his successor might consider speaking at his funeral and offered, lightheartedly, to do the same for Mr. Carter, depending on who died first.

The invitation was decades in the making, associates of Mr. Ford’s said. And, they said, it was typical for Mr. Ford, who came to his own funeral-planning sessions adamant that his coffin not be carried to the Capitol in an elaborate horse-drawn caisson but a motorcade instead.

During services for Mr. Ford, the 38th president, over the next few days, the simplicity he sought will be on display in Washington and, later, in Michigan, where he will be interred. His coffin is expected to be carried into the Capitol through the House of Representatives, where he served for 25 years, rather than up the sweeping front staircase. A band will play a somber version of the University of Michigan fight song, a Ford favorite from his undergraduate alma mater, and a song he preferred to “Hail to the Chief” while he was president.

New York Times, By Chevy Chase, Jan 6

In recent days, I’ve been bombarded by requests to comment on my relationship with President Gerald Ford. Until now, I’ve tried to say nothing — any remarks from me during the Ford family’s private time of grief would have been inappropriate.

The requests were understandable, I guess. You see, I made a reputation for myself 30 years ago on “Saturday Night Live” in part because of a number of sketches and “Weekend Updates” that I wrote or appeared in ridiculing Mr. Ford for his apparent “stumble-bumbling” (though he was perhaps the best athlete to have been president) and making fun of his presidency.

Luckily for me, Mr. Ford had a sense of humor.

I’ve often thought how odd it was that we became linked together. It’s not like we had a lot in common. After all, Mr. Ford had never been helped for any problems with “self-medication” in a facility that has helped so many throughout these past decades. And he had never been castigated by the press for such atrocities as “Oh! Heavenly Dog” or “Cops and Robbersons,” among other slightly awful films I had made in Hollywood.