The stock market is closing on January as part of a day of mourning for President Gerald Ford--the unelected president. Who woulda thunk it? Agnew was out because he was going to jail. Ford was a hard to notice worker bee type of guy. When he was nominated/inaugurated he seemed harmless enough, a neutral figure, we thought. Then just like that, Nixon stepped down (I was in Indiana as I remember) on August 9, and then Ford was president, and turn around again and on September 8, Nixon is pardoned. We headed straight into hard economic times and tremendous skepticism about the government. The time of Nixon and his aftermath was at least the beginning of my awareness of the country's deep distrust of government. Any government that would cover up Nixon and tell us it was for our own good was bad. We were spared the ordeal of justice. It was the advice of a kindly district attorney talking to the young rape victim saying, there, there, now. Let's just put this behind you. What purpose could be served by investigating this further? We just need to move on to a positive future. Mrs. G doesn't like the analogy because it was a white collar crime, but when you steal someone's money, you steal their life. When you take their freedom, you take everything. The thing was a conspiracy. Many were involved. Ford sheltered them all. Ford was either a dupe or another bad guy.

Who was Gerald Ford's chief of staff, his most trusted advisor? Dick Cheney. His secretary of defense? Donald Rumsfeld. Who benefited most from the cover up? The Republican party certainly in a general way. Their officers escaped implication. But specifically, Dick Cheney may have benefitted most. Look at him now. It's all still going on.