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With the death of Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States, an odd chapter of American war and politics closes. Many will remember Ford as the man who pardoned Nixon, and who vowed to move the Executive branch away from an Imperial President to that of simply the Executive branch, 33% of the partnership that is allegedly the American political system. His work has been to a great extent undone by Reagan and Bush and Bush, not only because that triad of Malthusian totalitarianism resurrected the very architects of the Vietnam War, but also because they have handed over control of Social Services to private interests. No one is working for the People anymore.
In an interview with Bob Woodward, which Ford asked to have published only after he died, the former President disagreed with Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, an autonomous nation with little to defend itself.
Ford should be remembered for that, but also for the fact that to date he is the only President to date who has ever had the balls to stand up before the American people during the State of the Union Address and admit that the nation was in crisis, that the state of the union was not good. And all these truths from the one man who was not elected by the People. He cared more than all the others for the very People he served. Ironic.
James Brown, the Godfather of Soul and the progenitor of Funk, died to the surprise and sadness of many music lovers worldwide. Aside from the praise that most reports gave him for his musical contributions to world culture, there were also those little digs that the media so loves to take at public figures, those reports of his entanglements with the law and law enforcement.
Brown also stands for something that is rarely signified these days: the reality of the life on the underbelly of Capitalism. He never shied away from speaking the truth about what he saw and how he felt. He did not kowtow. He sometimes paid the price for expressing his anger at being relegated to the position of Second Class Citizen. He also inspired many people, young and old, black and white, nationals and foreigners, to advocate for equality. Periodically, he scared the pants off of the Establishment. That must have felt good.
The common ground between these two men is that they both acted on their beliefs, and not on what their publicists and polltakers told them was their better interest.
Both will be missed.
Tags:
Boib Woodward, Death of a President, Death of Gerald FOrd, Death of James Brown, death of truth, Gerald Ford, James Brown
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Posted on 12/28/2006
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