Apparently, none of the bright guys on our side saw this coming:

Gerald Ford's miraculous power to "heal" "a divided nation" is now merging seamlessly with the The Wise Men's fetish for Moderate voices. What a surprise. (And does anyone else get the feeling that The Wise Men are laying down a marker for the kind of narrative they want when Bush is forced from office?)

This morning, from the LA Times (in a news story, God save the mark:

History forgives pardon that overshadowed Ford

Oh? Oh yes, "history" as written by ruling class shills in the Beltway 500:

Gerald R. Ford left office a defeated incumbent vilified for his pardon of President Nixon. But in hindsight, his short, tough presidency has been viewed kindly by historians.

Right. Citizens wanted Nixon held accountable. But then, citizens aren't able to serve up cocktail wienies for historians.

And the pardon is now seen by many [but not all] as a wise decision that helped the nation move beyond Watergate.

Ah, yes. "Move beyond". Just like we were told to "move beyond" after Bush stole Florida 2000. Translation of "move on": Stay deferential, and never hold anyone in our ruling class accountable. That way, the wienies keep coming!

And speaking of wienies, here comes the big one:

Long overlooked as a lightweight, Ford and his brand of moderate, consensus-oriented Republicanism — out of vogue in today's GOP — have earned high marks from presidential scholars in the three decades since he left office.

Moderate? What a hoot. Like every Moderate, Ford enabled the thirty-year effort Republican effort to replace the Constitution with authoritarian rule. Once again, the LA Times:

"I've talked to people over and over again, and if there is such a thing as a Republican national security apparatus in personnel, they're all Gerald Ford's people," said Scowcroft, who replaced Henry Kissinger as national security advisor in the Ford years. "That's pretty remarkable."

Right. And this "apparatus" brought us Iraq! Cheney, Rummmy, Poppy (and his evil spawn)--all brought to you by the Ford administration. Bork and Scalia, too.

Well, that was the LA Times morning. This afternoon, Broderella and George Will, sounding remarkably, or not, alike:

The standard of Civility and good will Ford set for himself is an example that endures.

[Ford] had a remarkably cohesive, competent group [Rummy, Cheney, Poppy...]. The overall tone of the Ford Cabinet and White House reflected the Moderate conservatism of Ford's own Grand Rapids, Mich., background...

and

[Ford became President] at a moment when the nation Beltway 500 was putting aside an unhappy, tormented president, and was aching for serenity in high places.

[Henry Kissinger, who continued as secretary of state through the Ford years,] noted a "curious paradox of contemporary democracy," that as political leaders become more abject in trying to conform to the public's preferences, respect for the political class plummets. Ford was different: He "was immune to the modern politician's chameleon-like search for ever-new identities, and to the emotional roller coaster this search creates."

Who cares which is which? Broder and Will says there are two things about Ford that are important: (1) Against the people's will, he decided not to hold Nixon accountable, and (2) Ford enabled the Republican assault on Constitutional governent, through the national security apparatus, by peopling it with his creatures.

Ford was probably a nice guy; certainly Betty Ford was a nice person.

But "by their fruits shall ye know them."(Matthew 7:16) And Ford put Bad Men in charge, and then, and to this day, they're doing Bad Things.

And the guys writing the Ford hagiography are the very same guys who are Wrong About Everything.

So, if we can't believe them about Iraq, the greatest strategic disaster in American history, why in the name of The God(s) of Your Choice, If Any, should we believe them about Ford?

Eesh. I don't feel any better finishing this post than I did when I started it. I still wanna hurl.