Phil O'Keefe Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 History and fate should have been kinder to one of the most honest and straightforward people to serve in public office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 Geesh. RIP. I wonder who's next? They say they go in threes. -~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 Originally posted by cooterbrown History and fate should have been kinder to one of the most honest and straightforward people to serve in public office. I don't know much about what he did, but he did seem like that, didn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 27, 2006 Author Share Posted December 27, 2006 Originally posted by the stranger Geesh. RIP. I wonder who's next? They say they go in threes. -~ That thought crossed my mind too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 Do you two really feel that celebrity deaths come in threes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 Originally posted by UstadKhanAli Do you two really feel that celebrity deaths come in threes? Death, period. They used to say it when I worked in the nursing home. And it seemed to have a bit of merit, at least novelty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 Okay, just deaths. What constitutes this exactly? What I mean is that you can easily find three deaths anywhere, but obviously, there's something more to it, some sort of a coincidence or common denominator, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 27, 2006 Author Share Posted December 27, 2006 Originally posted by UstadKhanAli Do you two really feel that celebrity deaths come in threes? No, I don't personally believe that Ken. There's enough famous people in the world that the probability of three of them dying in reasonable close proximity (in terms of dates) is statistically not exceptional or rare. Sometimes it's only two (and it usually takes the passing of at least two people of relative prominence to bring up that theory), sometimes three, sometimes several. But it's always discussed as "groups of threes", and it seems that people "look for the third" or ask who will be next. A bit macabre in a way, but we all deal with the passing of cultural icons in different ways I suppose. But what are the specific parameters that define the supposed pattern? Who determines who is "famous", and what is considered "close proximity"? Is it within the same week? The same day? Well, three US Presidents died on the 4th of July - two of them, Jefferson and Adams, on the same date in 1826. That seems coincidental, but I think that if you look hard enough, random coincidence can be easily seen all over the place. That may be significant insofar as chaos theory, but I don't feel that there is some sort of grand design or force or whatever that decides to take people out in groups of threes just because they were famous. I think it is because they were famous we take note of their passing and view patterns where none really exist. There were a lot of people who passed away yesterday and today.... We take note of James Brown and Gerald Ford because so many of us knew who they were. But they were but two of the many. I don't see any reasonable reason to believe that such events happen in "groups of three". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fred zappelin Posted December 27, 2006 Members Share Posted December 27, 2006 I have a 98 yr old Geat Aunt still sharp as a tack and living alone (with some assistance but damn!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted December 29, 2006 Members Share Posted December 29, 2006 Ford did less damage than most U.S.A. presidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted December 29, 2006 Members Share Posted December 29, 2006 Originally posted by Hard Truth Ford did less damage than most U.S.A. presidents. Well, forgetting the fact that he only served for two years, at first you could say that. He tried to be as moderate as possible...selecting Nelson Rockafeller was a promising start. But he let his White House become overrun with the same right-wing conservatives that were in Nixon's administration (if not the same people, at least the same idealogies), and they unwittingly foreshadowed both Bush administrations, and to a smaller extent, Reagan's admin. Take a look at Ford's cabinet and agency heads, then compare it to Dubya's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZED Posted December 30, 2006 Members Share Posted December 30, 2006 RIP From Michigan football, to the Warren Comission to Speaker of the House, VP, to President to pardoning Nixon and beyond, an interesting life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted December 30, 2006 Members Share Posted December 30, 2006 Originally posted by ZED RIPFrom Michigan football, to the Warren Comission to Speaker of the House, VP, to President to pardoning Nixon and beyond, an interesting life. He was the minority leader of the House, but not speaker. White House bio Carl Albert was speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2006 Members Share Posted December 30, 2006 I forgive him for pardoning Nixon. Now. He always seemed like a decent guy. I think Carter's eulogizing of him really puts a point on that. I was pleased (in a sense) but not surprised to see that he strongly disagreed with the current president's war against Iraq. But that's for another forum, I think. Rest in peace, Mr Ford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted December 30, 2006 Members Share Posted December 30, 2006 If I can add to the list of good things - he also built a swimming pool to replace the one that Nixon made into a bowling alley and made the White House safe again for lap swimmers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted December 31, 2006 Members Share Posted December 31, 2006 Originally posted by spokenward If I can add to the list of good things - he also built a swimming pool to replace the one that Nixon made into a bowling alley and made the White House safe again for lap swimmers. After watching the Big Lebowski 35,732 times, I would have prefered that they left the bowling alley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted December 31, 2006 Members Share Posted December 31, 2006 Originally posted by the stranger After watching the Big Lebowski 35,732 times, I would have prefered that they left the bowling alley. Actually, they did leave the bowling alley. The new pool was built on the grounds. IIRC the bowling alley is now part of the press room renovation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted December 31, 2006 Members Share Posted December 31, 2006 Originally posted by the stranger Geesh. RIP. I wonder who's next? They say they go in threes. -~ I was wondering that too, then they gave Sadam that necktie party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 31, 2006 Author Share Posted December 31, 2006 A couple more comments... I thought it was a nice tribute that they set the coffin in front of the open House chamber door. President Ford wanted no higher office than House Speaker, and instead was called to duty from Minority Leader to Vice President and eventually President, but he never wanted those jobs. I thought the House and Statuary Hall honors were very fitting. I've seen a lot of comments in the press about how brave (politically) Ford was for deciding to issue Nixon a pardon. Having been a teenager at the time, I remember that it was definitely NOT a popular decision then, and most political historians and analysts believe it cost him the election in 1976. But he felt the country had been divided enough and gone through enough turmoil that a trial would have just drawn things out and made it even worse. I've also read and heard a lot of commentary about the basic goodness, decency and honesty of the man, and I've wondered, since he served on the Warren Commission, how that sits with the Kennedy assassination / coverup conspiracy theorists... but that's probably a topic best left to the Poli Forum. Let's face it - Ford was selected by Nixon because Congress wasn't going to approve just any Republican - and Ford was well liked and respected on both sides of the aisle. Once he took office, he did what he thought was best for the country, regardless of what was politically popular or in his own best interests. Historians can argue the wisdom of that decision, but I have to respect the reasons he made it and the concern that prompted it, and the guts it took to make it. Goodbye President Ford - and thank you for your service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted December 31, 2006 Moderators Share Posted December 31, 2006 Ford was a loyal soldier. He was a company man who stuck to the mission statement. I always admired him for that. He was a close freind of Nixon as well, not just a polital bedfellow. As Nixon's Wategate cover went south, it put Ford in a very tough spot. Considering how delicate it must have been, I've always felt he really handled things very well. I got a ride home from his son once from an after party. Jack I think is his name. Nice guy, if not a little wild, just like I was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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