"Sugar!
Ford's
pardoning
clos
book
: joedreesen
smiling grimiy
Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon on Sept. 15,
1974, came as an unexpected surprise to an already
Confused and" battered nation, floundering in the
morass of Watergate.
Ford had assured the country three separate times
before Sept. 15, that he would let the judicial process
run its course in regard to Richard Nixon, and only then
would he consider the question of a pardon.
"""SO Wiry miT'Poft laKysraheaSycTRSnln pardoning
MiXGO, resulting in a serious LoS of credibility and
popularity to his one-month old presidency?
'According to Ford, by pardoning5 Nixon he hoped to
'shut and seaMhe books" of Watergate and therefore,
hea! the nation's wounds. While he gave other reasons
for the pardon (Nixon's health, his inability to receive a
Tair trial) this, seemed to be his primary motive,
according to him. "
What Ford eally did was to pour acid on an already
festering wound. " -
Angry protests were raised nationwide, people
complained of a double standard of justice. According
to Sen. Howard Baker, Watergate was "once again an
issue." ;
Was Ford oblivious to the mood of the nation just
prior to the pardon announcement?
A nationwide public opinion poll then showed that 60
per cent of the American people thought Richard Nixon
should be brought to trial.
Certainly Ford .was aware of this poll. Unless he was
an utter fool, he would have realized "that, by pardoning
Nixon, he would alienate at least a majority of the
population.
So did Ford have other reasons for pardoning Nixon?
Was there a deal struck between the two back in the fall
of 1973, when they discussed the possibility of Ford
becoming vice-president?
The chance .'of ,vbeing yjce-presjder)t and i;even(
ultim aTelA(aaijdantisJanal iur i n a. sk ize l o r a h v o n'e.' At
tin, it t.n-,n . , r. 4 K . . 4 lU.i kll r. .I-J t fl
uiui inic, 11 woo nui myuyuii iui pHixun wuuia ue
impeached or forced to resign. Esreh i f Ford agreed to
pardon Nixon in return for' the vice-presidency, his
chances of having to do so were slim.
To insure that Ford would not renege on his promise,
one could surmise that Nixon taped the discussion of a
pardon. In the event that Ford did not go through with
the deal, Nixon might have turned this tape over to the
press. He had nothing to lose, Ford everything.
While the above is mainly conjecture, it is also
conjecture which allows us to believe Ford's stated
reasons for the pardon, which are in themselves vague
and unclear.
Ford was merely an appointee of a president who
practiced moral terpitude in excess. Could that in itself
be a reflection on Ford's character arid integrity? '
The answer to this question and others concerning"
Watergate will probably never be known. Gerald Ford
has indeed "shut and sealed the book" on Waterqate
but without writin'g the last chapter.
J
Ford learning to say recession
A top economic adviser slipped up
yesterday and told reporters that President
Jerry Ford's inauguration promise to,
"straight talk" to America is a hoax.
"It really stands for 'late talk," he said,
His comment referred to the White
House's sudden announcement earlier this
week: "By. golly, we're in a recession after
all:" '
The President seemed dismayed about the
mistake. "Well, there goes my open, honest1
administration image," he said. "It was nice
while it lasted.".": - "'
The President then admitted he and his ':
economic chief Alan Greenthumb have '
known for at !cast five months the nation was
in a recession, but purposely have been
denying ft. Sort of, ;'.
"it was such fun keeping you guessing!" ,
he said.
"Yes, but don't you think the American
public deserves to know the truth all' of ;
it as it surfaces?" J asked. ' . .......
"Really," he said, "any dimwit educated
American citizen can see we'have unerriplcy
ment, slow economic growth and "rising .
inflation. That's recession. Why should we '
have to come out on page one and laber it '
that? j "
'And anvwavf' I finura as Innrt ns tho
American people want to go on believing in
endless prosperity despite it all, spending
their wads of bills and buying tn credit, I
shouldn't spoil their party. They look so
happy in their ignorance."
The President told us the mastermind
organization is LAG, a top-secret cabinet
office run by the White House press
secretary. LAG processes all truth about the
state of the Union as it comes in, and then he
and his staff decide how long to wait to
release it to the public "for their own
good," he said.
nancy sbhs
second thou
qhts
"Without LAG I'd probably have
"''announced things left and right (that s a pun)
at all the wrong times," he said. "Like
pardoning Mr. Nixon. That was decided last
May, you know, right after the President
"-decided he was going to resign."
' "Oh? And what are you keeping from us
now?"
'.'Oh, there's a host of things about
Watergate you don't know yet," he grinned.
;'. daily nebraskan
"We're not releasing those until 1990, when,
objecffvely."". be judged morer
"Hoc thio t-i I : i i .. . '. . '. ' '
uno iiuiuiuy uacK or. intormat on
always gone on?" I asked
ak , ' f,srtamy. ai' the way. back to Honest
Abe. Let s see, I believe the Civil War was
actually declared five years before it broke t
release 'yet " Ureinat lsn't schuled for.'
Based on how far behind it" "is on current
ISS1961Sa,d PUb,ic is lly livin,
,J.ct,uaL,y' .LAG insures the public thev'li
f thiiv ! ineSe things st al1-" h said.
If they d just open up their eyes they could
see for themselves half of Whlv
ih, of .emerQency or announcing a world
food crisis to make thpmthini, J,r wuna.
. ' .asked him if that still wasn't hiti,,.;,;'
ottinn nnn m . .. -1 1 ' Mian t:
illusions? People live under harmful ;
And d'pesn'tvit take facing the facts io'
create solutions? . y 'cis,to
thl'hV st'PPpse- But the longer we delav
the better we ook a t IL, e ea'' .
possibly can to preven it Beiide It o iJSS
me a chance, to practice my rhetoric Do vo5 :
' we Vehnot!innay 25! lly
we renot m a recession, it just looks that
thursday, novemberl4 1974
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