If there is one thing I've learned in the last few years, it is that pardons do not heal the country

[Justpat]

Pardons sweep the ugly truth under the rug and leave it for the
next person to deal with. I was enraged to listen to Cheney
speak at Ford's funeral and hammer home the point that Ford had
helped heal the nation with his pardon of Nixon. There are some
of us who beg to differ. We are being set up to let these criminals
off the hook.

Pardoning criminal behavior by elected leaders leads to the
conclusion that our laws only apply to us little people.

We have been encouraged to act as if we were subjects in GWB's
kingdom, not citizens of a participatory democracy. I say we
refuse any pardon for this pack of fools and hold them accountable
for the crimes they have committed against the constitution they
swore to uphold.

[unblock]

1. yeah, where were the cries to pardon oj before and during his trial?

the nation really WAS divided on that one. would a pardon have healed anything?

hardly.

[nuxvomica]

2. Agreed

I'll grant that Ford may have believed he was healing the country but he was actually saving the Republican Party, which should have gone dark for years afterward. Instead it continued beating the drum for the privileged classes by cultivating a worldview of bigotry and fear. It was like bailing out a drunk after his third DWI. The party needs to hit rockbottom and work hard before it can even try to aspire to a position of authority on the American political scene again.

[Justpat]

7. Well said. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

3. Your assessment is wrong.

I voted for Nixon when I was young and foolish, but I never pretended that Nixon was not guilty of many crimes. I never forgave him, and I never felt the pardon somehow justified his actions. Nor did I ever feel cheated -- Nixon's career and legacy were totally destroyed.

Ford's pardon of Nixon allowed him and Congress to address crucial issues of the day that would have been ignored otherwise. I agree that the amount of "healing" was minimal, but the pardon was necessary and justified.

[stray cat]

4. Trying to impeach Clinton didn't seem to bring much healing either

[Justpat]

8. Clinton was not impeached as much for lying as he was for his

presence in the White House at a time when the neocons had set
their agenda and wanted him out of the way to complete it.

To the neocons, Clinton's time in the White House was time lost
expanding their dreams of empire. Now their dream has crashed
around their heads and they are preemptively dealing with the
issue of impeachment and pardons because their crimes can actually be
considered treason while Clinton was guilty of personal failings
that did not endanger the country.

I found the PNAC to be enlightening reading along with the
old web site of Clinton's former personal FBI agent. On the site
this person claims to be following his conscience and aiding Clinton's
removal from office on the grounds that Clinton was morally unfit to
hold office. The right wing religious nuts in partnership with the
neocons, set impeachment as their goal.

I'll look for the site of the former white house fbi agent. I believe
it was called patrickhenry.com or org. I'll check my old computer. It was
a truly scary place where the person whose sworn job it was to protect
the president decided that he had a sworn allegiance to the goals of the
right wing instead. I'll look for it.

[flashlighter]

5. well, we can't know that

because we have no idea what would have happened if Ford hadn't pardoned Nixon.

What Nixon did was not even close to on par with what Bush has done. It's not apples and oranges, it's apples and doorknobs.

[two gun sid]

6. I agree with you....

Ford did nothing for this country by pardoning Nixon. He did it to ensure the viability of the GOP in future elections. Healing had not a damn thing to do with it. The people of this country were pissed when Ford gave Dick his pardon. The only good that came of it was no longer have to watch nightly news video of Tricky Dick forlornly walking along the beach at San Clemente, tears drooling from his eyes, and a voice over saying, "Hasn't he suffered enough?".

We weren't healed. We were just made more cynical about government.

We needed to see that rat bastard in the dock answering for his crimes. And don't forget his crimes were not just about the bugging of the DNC at the Watergate and the cover up. It was about him riding roughshod over the constitution and creating his own private Gestapo (the Plumbers), illegal break-ins of private citizens doctors offices to gain information to discredit an Administration critic, using the government to "screw" people on his Enemies List, ITT, funds for building his home in San Clemente and the list could go on and on.

We as a people were hurt by that pardon. We still feel the effects of Nixon's statement, "If the President does it, it can't be illegal", today. Let's not make the same mistake and let this punk fratboy off the hook. Impeach that bastard for his crimes. Not only can this country handle the pain of impeachment we must do it if we plan on governing by democratic principles.