Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show includes a consideration of the little-discussed presidency of Gerald Ford, who, if you recall, was brutally lampooned by Saturday Night Live. This was back when SNL was funny, although Jerry Ford might not always have been laughing along. My view is that Ford did the right thing in pardoning Richard Nixon, and he was, despite what the media would have you believe, neither a klutz nor a nincompoop. The country would have been far better off had Jerry pulled out a win in 1976, and he very nearly did.
Brian and I don't only discuss the 1970s. We also cover the politics of gambling and sin taxes, the past, present, and future of Mitch McConnell, why DeSantis is struggling and whether he can right the ship, Trump's looming battle to preserve his right to free speech, whether any minds have been changed about January 6th (since January 6th), the significance of a mano-a-mano debate between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis, the salience of third party candidates in 2024, and the all-important politics of impeachment.
Whew! What a menu of tasty analytical treats. I say: dig in!
RAY TO NICK
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely about Gerald Ford. Yes, even about pardoning Nixon. Too bad Nixon attempted to cover up for those scoundrels on Watergate, since he (Nixon) should have thrown them to the wolves. Still don't agree about Nixon's stance on the PRC, but I hold Kissinger responsible for that.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Well, Ford was an All American center, which proves he was neither clumsy or doofusly. I heard Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski declare with special emphasis that Nixon could never have gotten a fair trial. This was at his talk at U. B. which I attended. I think Ford would have been less patient with Iran than pore 'ol Jimmy. Centers are leaders. JFK: "Camelot"was a frivolous fashionable and nonsensical image prompted by the popularity of the show about mythical King Arthur. The closest thing to an Arthur wouldn't have known a knight from a nightcap because he would have predated feudalism by approx. 500 years. JFK proved himself a hell of a man in WWII but I think he almost got us vaporized when his juvenile personal conduct , no doubt known to Soviet spies,helped persuade the earthy Khrushchev that he was just a silly swell.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Populist equals fascist. The left wants to enshrine this definition in its glossary of handy unchallengable terms of summary dismissal. Yeah, marxists talk populism of a kind and rule fascist . DJT did take the Dept of Veterans Services to the woodshed so I think it probable he intends to help homeless vets. DeSantis is a law school grad , which Gov. Hirsute of Kalifornia is not. That means DeSantis has had to demonstrate an ability to reason and express himself clearly. I'd expect Gavin to rely entirely on ad hominem emotion. Perhaps DeSantis is not yet an good campaigner but he continues to prove himself unintimidated by the antiamerican left as he repeatedly galls it in Florida.
ReplyDeleteRay, when I think of Gerald Ford, I think of that old saying, "Nice guys finish last..." Maybe Ford was too decent to be (a Republican) president. Heck, maybe Trump was too decent (much as it may shock some of you to hear me say that). What I mean is that, ultimately, Nixon, Ford, and Trump all obeyed the rules of the game as those rules were explained to them by the establishment itself. They may not always have been prompt or gracious in their obedience, but they obeyed, all the same. (Trump packed up and left the White House, didn't he?) What we need, arguably, is a leader who is a law unto himself, or who prizes the legal order enshrined in the Constitution over the one that's been foisted on us by the Deep State.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about Jaworski, Jack. If Nixon couldn't have gotten a fair trial (probably true), then what chance does Trump have???
Jack, as someone who never watches the news, I've never seen Newsom or DeSantis hold forth. I would greatly value the opportunity to do so, if it arises.