Sara Jane Moore, who tried to kill Gerald Ford, freed

[RamboLiberal]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Sara Jane Moore, whose 1975 assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford was foiled in San Francisco, was released today from a Dublin prison.
Moore, 77, had been scheduled for release on Tuesday, but she was instead freed a day early.

Moore pleaded guilty to attempted assassination and was sentenced to life in prison. She was released after 30 years because she had not broken prison rules, said Tom Hutchison, chief of staff for the U.S. Parole Commission.

The mother of four children, Moore fired a single pistol shot at Ford on Sept. 22, 1975, as the president stood in front of the St. Francis Hotel, near Union Square. She missed, mostly because a bystander knocked her arm away as she fired.

Her attempt came less than three weeks after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme pointed a loaded revolver at Ford in Sacramento. She was arrested before she could fire a shot.



Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7850790?nclick_check=1

[elehhhhna]

1. omg my tinfoil hat just imploded

[Faygo Kid]

2. Wow, talk about a blast from the past.

I remember it well; I was a senior in college. Absolutely whacky that two women tried to kill Gerald Ford in a three-week period.

Squeaky is going nowhere, I am sure.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. Squeaky is in for the long haul I would think

Sad, considering she was under the influence of Charles Manson, but true all the same.

[ChazII]

4. Good at 77

she isn't going to be hurting anyone.

[Tunkamerica]

12. ?

77 yr olds are just as capable of pulling triggers, right?

She might not win in a fist fight, but anyone with a gun can be dangerous.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Ford insisted the two attempts on his life shouldn't prevent him from having contact with...

the American people.

"If we can't have the opportunity of talking with one another, seeing one another, shaking hands with one another, something has gone wrong in our society. I think it's important that we as a people don't capitulate to the wrong element," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_on_re_us/assailant_released

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Ford had some personal virtues.

Too bad he was such an establishment hack, though. The Warren Commission, the pardon...

[Faygo Kid]

10. True, but Keith Olbermann summed him up well, I think.

From Keith's Dec. 27, 2006, show devoted to Ford after his death:

"And perhaps, despite all of the qualifiers, perhaps one of our most important presidents, the calm after the storm that was Richard Nixon and Watergate. The seasoned professional, matter-of-factly smoothly healing a nation‘s wounds, honored in fact, for having done just that in the inaugural address of the man who would succeed him and fondly remembered for his good humor about himself."

Gerald Ford couldn't be elected dogcatcher in today's fascist Republican Party. From his comments, I don't think he would want to.

[mitchum]

16. Nonsense; Ford would happily be the dogcatcher's errand boy...

since errand boy was a role in which he found himself quite comfortable.

[aquart]

20. He healed NOTHING.

But he did teach a generation that the higher up you go, the more you can get away with and never get punished, even if you get caught. And didn't Gonzales and Cheney and Libby learn that well.

The conventional wisdom myth about "healing" is right up there with Saddam has WMD.

[BlueManDude]

7. Has Ford's funeral ended yet?

[yorgatron]

9. i'm glad,that woman has been in jail far too long.

i mean c'mon,Ford? 5-10 tops.
they give the guy who tried for Reagan day passes for crying out loud.

[Kokonoe]

18. Yeah but,c'mon that guy was a pal of bush

[pocoloco]

26. Yeah, but look who sent him!

[mitchum]

17. Unfortunately, the rehabilitation of that motherfucker's reputation continues

[humbled_opinion]

8. Hmm I wonder what the nation would have become under

President Rockefeller... tin foil hat alert... :yoiks:

[Mz Pip]

11. Good call

It's not like she's going to get the chance to do it again.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[onenote]

30. so should sirhan sirhan and mark david chapman be let out of jail?

They won't have a chance to "do it again" either.

[slackmaster]

35. Every prisoner deserves fair parole hearings

Whether or not any specific individual is worthy of being released is not a question that can be addressed with such a broad-brush question.

[Paladin]

39. And Should Sara Jane Moore Be Allowed To Own Guns Now?

(Note to DU'ers up here in the Real World: Down in the Gungeon, there are individuals advocating that released felons be able to have firearms, with little or no consideration of the crimes of which they were convicted.)

What do you say, Slack? Too broad-brush for you?

[slackmaster]

40. My personal opinion is that she should not qualify for relief from disability

What do you say, Slack? Too broad-brush for you?

I think she's proved herself to be unstable enough that, if I had a say in it, I'd suggest that she remain restricted from owning a gun. Or voting. If I ran the zoo I probably wouldn't have approved letting her or any other proven violent felon out of prison, ever.

All I said in my previous post was that every prisoner deserves fair parole hearings. I'm sure you recall the flap last year when John Hinckley Jr. requested that he be granted unsupervised weekend visits with his parents. We have processes to determine the merit of requests like that. That works for me, as long as justice is given out uniformly and fairly.

But in reality your question is moot, Paladin. California presently has no process for a convicted felon to apply for relief from disability. She'd have to move to another state to have any chance at all.

...there are individuals advocating that released felons be able to have firearms, with little or no consideration of the crimes of which they were convicted....

You mean like Sarah Brady and Paul Helmke?

http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=953

There is a bill working its way through Congress that would obligate states to provide a path for a person to apply for relief. It's the same bill being pushed by the Brady Campaign to clarify states' responsibilities for making timely reports to the National Instant Check System of events that disqualify individuals (under federal law) from owning firearms, and provide for financial relief for states that encounter hardships in meeting those obligations.

As to whether no consideration is given to the crimes of which people were convicted, I haven't seen any reliable source of information to back up that statement. It does not pass the smell test IMO. Relief from disability was originally intended to provide a path to rehabilitation for non-violent people like tax felons.

[Paladin]

42. Believe Me On This One.....

....there are Gungeon denizens who have advocated exactly the sort of guns-for-felons policy I mentioned. Why don't you make their day and inform them that they're in bed with Brady and Helmke?

Full credit to you for being against Moore having guns....

[slackmaster]

47. I have pointed that out to them several times

The cognitive dissonance created by the Bradys and the NRA supporting the same bill is more than some people can handle. (I mean people on both extremes.)

[Mz Pip]

44. They succeeded

She didn't. It was a failed attempt and while I don't really have a problem with her staying in jail, I also don't see much point in keeping her in.

True, her intention was to knock off Ford, I do think there is a difference between intending to and succeeding at.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[onenote]

48. Federal law doesn't draw that distinction where the target is the president

or any other federal officer, for that matter. Under federal law, an attempted murder of a federal official is subject to the same penalties as a successful murder.

This actually isn't that unusual. Its fairly common, I believe, for states to treat the attempted murder of a police officer as subject to the same maximum penalty as a successful murder. And in other jurisdictions, the difference between the maximum penalty for attempted murder and murder is that the death penalty applies to the latter, but only life imprisonment to the former.

[LanternWaste]

56. All other things being equal...

"so should sirhan sirhan and mark david chapman be let out of jail"

All other things being equal, if we're applying the precise same standards and assuming the sentencing was exactly the same, AND they behaved appropriately in prison as did Pres. Ford's would-be assassins, then yes-- let them out too.

But since different situations done by different people for different reasons so rarely line up in precise and relevant parallels in intent, action and consequence, I'd imagine that Chapman and Sirhan still have time to serve...

[Olney Blue]

13. What a waste of a life.... it's sad.

[Bluzmann57]

14. So she tried to kill a President and did 30 years

while some drug dealers get mandatory life sentences? What is wrong with this picture? She should have spent the rest of her life in prison. She tried to kill a President and no matter what one thought of his policies, he was still the only one we had.

[mitchum]

15. An imitation assassin for an imitation president

[struggle4progress]

36. ... Moore was an on-again, off-again FBI informant .... Moore painted .. herself as

desperate for the approval of a radical counterculture that dismissed her as a possible security risk. In frustration, she said, she would call the FBI from time to time and feed agents insider tidbits ...

Would-be Ford assassin released from prison
By Steve Chawkins, Larry Gordon and Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
January 1, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-ford1jan01,1,2916191,full.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

[Mnemosyne]

19. How does she feel about * and the dick, I wonder?

:evilgrin:

[UTUSN]

21. Is she the one where the bystander was Gay and the media outed him to his family? n/t

[Skittles]

28. yes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Sipple

[AngryAmish]

32. That was awful

[slackmaster]

38. Yes, a gay disabled Marine

Very sad story.

[tomreedtoon]

22. So, is she going to see herself in "Assassins"?

She's one of the few living Presidential assassins who could see themselves on stage. John Hinckley Jr. is years away from any possible parole.

[noel adamson]

23. Perhaps they are just saving health care costs.

What greater punishment is there than to be old on the mean streets of America with no health care?

[hyphenate]

24. Mmmmmm.....

I was going to say something, but I'm afraid I would get a warning from a Mod if I said what I really wanted to say. Sometimes I wish we still lived in a land where you could say what is on your mind. Oh, and no--this isn't about the original poster, but about hopes and wishes better left unsaid.

:evilgrin:

[Savannah_H]

25. reply

30 years is a very long time....
Squeaky will never get out....

[Skittles]

27. the sad story of the guy who saved Ford's ass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Sipple

[demigoddess]

29. a sad story indeed, but you have to remember that many vets die an early death

from their wounds and from PTSD. That is the true tragedy, that we conveniently forget. I was reading about Audie Murphy and his battle with PTSD. Most of the men who fought in Desert Storm and in this Afghanistan and Iraq war will die young and unnecessarily sometime in the future and our country will be poorer because of their battle with PTSD. You may be wondering how I know all this. My father fought in WWII and Korea and died at the age of 51 and my dad who fought in Korea, died at the age of 64. My brother who just served in the service for a few years, no war, died at age 25. I love the military, but it is a hazard to the health of most of its members, especially when someone like * is in charge.

[AngryAmish]

33. Do you have statistics that back up the early death claims?

ie retired US servicemen have a lower life expectancy than non-servers?

[demigoddess]

50. i've just seen it up close and personal, many times. when I was young my dad

tab used to visit younger troops who were showing the signs of PTSD. I could see it even then. I also grew up as military and married military. The higher rate would fall mainly in the troops who are combat types not desk types. My brother died young because young troops sometimes settle their disagreements with physical force instead of negotiation. they are quick to whip out the fists.

[AngryAmish]

51. So the answer is no

While I understand you have a certain point of view based upon your particular family situation, your allegation is pure anecdote. You made an allegation, military types die young. So we can test it. We can examine the life expectancy of military types v. non-military types. I am sure it has been done. But without the data I don't see how you can reasonably expect anyone to believe you.

[LanternWaste]

57. leads me to believe her...

"But without the data I don't see how you can reasonably expect anyone to believe you."


Well, my anecdotal evidence in conjunction with her anecdotal evidence reasonably leads me to believe her...

Big deal. I don't apply the scientific method of statistics to each and every presumption I make. I'm sure there are people who do-- but I doubt they're much fun at parties...

"Man-- that's the best beer ever!"
"Oh really? Do you have peer-reviewed scientific studies to back that up?"
"No."
"Well, I can't reasonably believe you then..."
"Riiight. Have a nice evening..."


Sheesh.

[Skittles]

43. my dad retired from the military

then took his own life at age 50.

The military life is quite a stressful one - most people cannot understand what constant moving does to you - I know because I grew up as a GI brat and also served.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

54. Holy fucking shit.

"After discovering her son's secret, Sipple's mother reacted to the knowledge of her son's sexual orientation by cutting off contact with him."

This, after he goes off to fight a war, gets wounded, and saves the President's life. How does the mind of a mother who does that to his son work?

Mankind is rotten.

[MetaTrope]

31. So what I want to know is...where's the Bush family connection?

Is she celebrating by sharing a few cold ones with Neil?

[PaDem]

34. ah, now I get it..........

Ms. Moore will be on the first plane to Caracas I presume.

[slackmaster]

37. Moore "...regretted her actions, and was blinded by her radical political views at the time,"

"...convinced that convinced that the government had declared war on the left.

“I am very glad I did not succeed. I know now that I was wrong to try,” Moore said a year ago in an interview with KGO-TV.

Just 17 days before Moore's attempt, Ford had survived the first attempt on his life in Sacramento by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson.

“I was functioning, I think, purely on adrenalin and not thinking clearly,” Moore told KGO. “I have often said that I had put blinders on and I was only listening to what I wanted to hear.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20071231-1403-ca-ford-assassinationattempt.html

A slightly different version of this story by Paul Elias of the Associated Press appears in today's print edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

I found the timing amusing coming soon after a GD thread dealing with assassinations.

[David__77]

41. Moore was an FBI asset.

She was funneling information on the Bay Area radical left to the government. It's a case of her guilty conscience and derangement when she realized the radical left weren't the bad guys. They should be careful in who they recruit.

[onenote]

49. Link?

[MinM]

52. 2007 was a good year

for would-be-political-assassins ( Arthur Bremer and Sara Jane Moore )

Arthur Bremer and George Wallace - Déjà Vu all over again

"I have no evidence, but I think
my attempted assassination was part of a conspiracy."
— Governor George Wallace

Real History Blog: Happy New Year, Sara Jane Moore

[michaz]

45. If you attempt to kill anyone, no matter who they are, you belong in jail!

Period!

[Massachusetts]

46. Bingo!

There still has to be consequences for our action, Humans and their Societies haven't progressed that far.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

55. 32 years looks just about right to me.

It's not like she's a menace now.

[LanternWaste]

58. But for how long?

But for how long?

Seems to me as though, without further qualification on your part, she's already passed your litmus test.

[Felix Mala]

53. Why not? It's not like she can go after him now.