Ford, RIP

I guess I have to make some comment about President Ford's passing. Many pundits are talking about how unpopular his decision to pardon Nixon was at the time and saying that as time has past the decision looks more and more acceptable. I guess that shows how out-of-touch I am, since it works exactly in reverse for me.

At the time Ford made that decision, I wasn't happy about it, but I did sort of buy in to the "it's the best way to heal the wounds and save the nation" argument. Because Ford was the kind of man he was, I was convinced that at least that was the reason behind his decision (in other words, there was no pre-planned deal with Nixon), and I was willing to forgive him (Ford, not Nixon) for making a bad decision for good reasons.

As time has passed, I am have grown more and more distressed by Ford's decision even though I still think his motives were pure. Why? Because it set a precedent that we should never try a former president for crimes committed while in office. This creates two problems. First, it encourages sitting presidents to walk close to and sometimes over the edge of illegality. Indeed, I think Bush's actions can be traced directly to Ford's decision. Second, it means we can never use the justice system to get the facts out. The current system simply sweeps the dirt under the carpet, hiding it from the view of the public. It's the dirt that the public needs to know about so they can hold someone responsible for it.

So, I now think Ford's decision was less forgiveable than I once thought it was. Nonetheless, I still think of him as a fundamentally good person who, perhaps, got into water that was a bit over his head. May he rest in peace.