Thursday, December 28, 2006
Poignant Last words
I.
The 38th President died yesterday, and now he is being remembered. President Ford, the only US president never elected to national office. He is remembered as the one who pardoned Nixon to help the country get on passed Watergate. He is being remembered as a man of integrity. Unfortunately, he might have been seen that way during his time in the White House, but he did not take advantage of his stature of former President; he had withheld an interview made in 2004 until after his death. In this interview, he criticizes the invasion and war in Iraq. This is poignant because Rumsfeld and Cheney both served as his chief of staff during his presidency.
He continued by criticizing the concept that the US should spread democracy by engaging in war:
Integrity and Courage? In the best interests of of country? [I beleive we should have a Council of Presidents, the former presidents can advise the current one--they would have nothing at stake but the best interest of the country regardless of their political party.]
II.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking.''
Saddam Hussien wrote this in a letter written Nov. 5,2006 after he was sentenced to death (translated from the Arabic, AP 12/28/06). He has had time to reflect on his past actions. He is writing to help form his legacy as a martyr. Whatever, these words are striking in their simplicity and poignancy.
The 38th President died yesterday, and now he is being remembered. President Ford, the only US president never elected to national office. He is remembered as the one who pardoned Nixon to help the country get on passed Watergate. He is being remembered as a man of integrity. Unfortunately, he might have been seen that way during his time in the White House, but he did not take advantage of his stature of former President; he had withheld an interview made in 2004 until after his death. In this interview, he criticizes the invasion and war in Iraq. This is poignant because Rumsfeld and Cheney both served as his chief of staff during his presidency.
Rumsfeld and 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.
He continued by criticizing the concept that the US should spread democracy by engaging in war:
Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people...[I am
unsure]whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's
in our national interest...And 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.
Integrity and Courage? In the best interests of of country? [I beleive we should have a Council of Presidents, the former presidents can advise the current one--they would have nothing at stake but the best interest of the country regardless of their political party.]
II.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking.''
Saddam Hussien wrote this in a letter written Nov. 5,2006 after he was sentenced to death (translated from the Arabic, AP 12/28/06). He has had time to reflect on his past actions. He is writing to help form his legacy as a martyr. Whatever, these words are striking in their simplicity and poignancy.
