I always have a large assortment of emotions when I hear the news of someone's death... like former President Gerald R. Ford. You felt in coming some day... he was 93, and had been having health issues. I still remember his announcement of pardoning Richard Nixon... and the feelings that went along with that (should he have done it?) I love the phrase that he was tagged with - The Accidental President. He's the only guy this has happened to... appointed Vice President when the former one resigns in disgrace... and then assumes the office of President... when the former one resigns in disgrace. He was never elected into the White House - as Vice President or President.

But, I really liked this guy. He healed a nation, in a way... something, that "The Uniter" or "The Decider"... or whatever the hell Bush is calling himself... the only tag that seems so appropriate for that idiot is "The Divider". The nation is so friggin' polarized... I wish we had a guy like Ford to heal it again...

Update: I knew I liked this guy... Ford was interviewed by Bob Woodward in 2004, his comments embargoed until his death. (I always liked that press term - "embargo".) It turns out, that in that interview he said "[Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld and [Vice President Dick] Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq." "They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction. And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

Here's another tidbit: Cheney was Ford's chief of staff, and Rumsfeld also was defense secretary in the Ford administration.

"I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."