Posted on 04/21/2006 3:04:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Former President Ford said Friday he is troubled by the efforts of retired generals to force the ouster of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Ford, who appointed Rumsfeld as his White House chief of staff and then chose him to be defense secretary during his administration, said in a statement that President Bush was right to keep Rumsfeld in his post.
The statement was released by spokeswoman Penny Circle as Bush arrived in California for the weekend.
Ford, 92, said the decision on keeping Rumsfeld is the president's alone.
"Allowing retired generals to dictate our country's policies and its leadership would be a dangerous precedent that would severely undermine our country's long tradition of civilian control of the military," Ford said.
"It would discourage civilian leaders at the (Defense) Department from having frank and candid exchanges with military officers. And, today, at a time of war, such an effort sends exactly the wrong message both to our troops deployed abroad and to our enemies who are watching for any signs of weakness or self-doubt."
Ford suggested that the issue stemmed from Bush's efforts to change the military.
"He knew that Don, who had been in the job before, was extremely well-suited to take on this challenge and contend with a bureaucracy that has a built-in resistance to change. The president knew that successfully carrying out these missions, against stiff resistance, takes someone with a certain amount of steel," Ford said.
Ford and his wife, Betty, have lived in Rancho Mirage since leaving the White House in 1977.
This is the first intelligent utterence I've heard from former President Ford in years.
Being that former President Ford knows Secretary Rumsfeld as he does, this is a strong endorsement for him.
I'm expecting an outraged "Former presidents should stay out of current political discussions!" reply from the libs in 3, 2, 1...
I had no idea Gerald Ford was still alive.
Imagine the precident it would set if we allowed our General's whims to become a driving force in our nation.
While I respect some of these general's service, if they have some policy issues they think need addressed, they need to run for office and serve at the will of the people.
In their current incarnation, their comments are no more important than the average citizens. They vote. I vote. We are equals, and that is as it should be.
Either one of us can run for office.
LOL ... like Clinton? He destroyed that tradition completely. After that, Carter got back into the game which was stupid.
Ford then returned to his golf game, and was seen tripping over his own clubs...
And thank you, President Ford. Thank you. President Ford is exactly right. When I look back on the liberal take-over of the San Francisco Bay Area, it happened the same way -- not-in-the-action "educrats" assuming an air of "speaking policy".
Certainly, if Reagan had only gotten a relative handful more delegates in '76 we would have been spared the Carter Administration - which might also have spared us the trouble we have had with Iran ever since.On topic, this is an entirely unexceptionable statement IMHO.
I haven't heard very much from him since he moved to Springfield.
"I had no idea Gerald Ford was still alive.
So is Bette Ford...and Ladybird Johnson."
So's Nixon. He's on that secret Greek island with Kennedy and Elvis.
LOL - I was stunned to read it as well!
Seeing as how Ford RARELY speaks out, this is actually worth LISTENING to.
The former generals should just shut up and write a book.
OR
The former generals ought to preface EVERY one of their comments with:
I USED to be a general and I USED to be in the loop and I USED to have access to all the intel and this is what I USED to do, say and think when I USED to be in charge.
Let's chill on that one; accusing Ford of clumsiness is just another "Republican presidents are stupid, Democratic presidential candidates are geniuses" con.Unless you think it's more unusual for a skiier to fall than for a mature president to ski at all. Ford was an All-America selection as a college football player. Yes as a lineman, but . . .
Ford bumped his head on the door of AF One; it's easy to do that sort of thing if you are unusually tall like Mr. Ford.
I'm just joshing. Ford attended U of Michigan (not a slouch school) and was an exceptional athlete.
My beef with Ford was his "The Soviets don't dominate Poland" gaffe, that left us with four years of Jimmy Carter.
I sent this article to a liberal friend of mine who has been trying to bait me on this whole generals nonsense all week. Here is his reply and my response to it:
Libidiot friend: PLEASE. NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN GERALD FORD WHO IS 115 YEARS OLD IS THE MAN TO TURN TO.
CERTAINLY BUSH HAS THE FINAL CHOICE, AND HE CHOSE TO BACK RUMSFELD AND HE AND HIS PARTY WILL BENEFIT OR BE HURT BY THAT CHOICE.
HOWEVER, TO SUGGEST THAT THESE GENERALS HAVE NO PREROGATIVE TO SPEAK OUT, IS WHAT I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH. I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD CRITICIZE WHILE ACTIVE, BUT THEY CERTAINLY SHOULD IF THEY FEEL THAT STRONGLY AFTER RETIREMENT. UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE ULTERIOR MOTIVES ( AS THE REPUBS HAVE WITH ANYBODY THAT DARED CRITICIZE ANYBODY IN THE ADMINISTRATION) THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO SPEAK AND SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.
My reply: So rather than deal with the substance of the man's remarks you trash him instead. What he said mirrors what others have said including Tommy Frank and Richard Myers, both generals themselves. Sorry, but as Ford notes this is an encroachment on civilian control of the military. They may be ex-generals but they still have the responsibility to comport themselves as military men.
Again, this is obviously nothing but a personality conflict, not some disagreement over the idea that we should be in Iraq as you and the Democrat's media lapdogs want to make out. I know Rumsfeld sticks in your craw because he refuses to wave the red flag of surrender in Iraq as the Democratic party wants, but too bad. You're stuck with him until January 2009 and I hope Rummy sticks around for every last minute of it to continue to torture you guys who seem so bothered with the man's very existence.
As to your remarks about ulterior motives, So everyone attacking Bush is driven by only the purest of motives huh?? LOL. So when Joe Wilson was lying to the New York Times about what he found in Niger and a bipartisan and uninamous finding of the US Senate Intelligence committee pointed out that he contradicted his own findings to the CIA with his publicized comments, and 3 international investigations proved he lied as well, Wilson was just acting in the public interest and not as the paid John Kerry flack he later turned out to be huh???
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