“I would wager the cost was much more than we spent on 3000 of our young men who have died in Iraq.When ,and how can we start to regain some common sense in this once wonderful country?.How much did it cost?”

Good point--How much did it cost to Bury Ford--that body was flown all over the U.S. at the taxpayers’ expense. 

Isn’t interesting that we see Gerald Ford’s flag draped coffin, but we never see the coffins of those who die in Iraq.

Ford did a job, which he was paid for ! Forgetting all of the politics, and remembering the situation that our country is in financially,I wonder how much we as tax payers paid for five days of memorial. Now ;after all of these years that we as Americans have paid the bills of our politicians, and allowed them to vote on their own pay raises ,when they refuse to increase the minimum wage .What did it cost us to bury Mr Ford .I would wager the cost was much more than we spent on 3000 of our young men who have died in Iraq.When ,and how can we start to regain some common sense in this once wonderful country?.How much did it cost?

How can anyone call what’s in the White House
now an Administration? This is the largest num-
ber of criminals in any organization. Bush is
a TERRORIST, and a MURDERER. He has caused the
teath of thousands of American Service men, and
women, also many times more of innocent Iraqi’s
in order to get revenge. And getting FILTHY
RICH IN THE DOING! Don’t buy one of Halburton’s
Coke Cola’s, And their Refrigerators are out
of sight. To let this kind of thing go on can
one come to a good conclusion that there is
Criminals in the White House?

“The current President has to know when NOT to be there also. How ironic that we honor our Presidents in this way on the same day that the butcher of Baghdad was thankfully hung like a dog”

Dave,
Maybe the shrub missed the funeral to attend the hanging; after all, Ford was already dead.

Oh my goodness. Just guessing, but bet if given their druthers, the Fords would druther Bush wasn’t there, or anywhere till President Ford is safely interred.

Remember the flack at Reagan’s funeral? Angry widow, angry kids. Arrogant Bush, and the endless comparisons. Already we’ve been subjected to comparisons ... like Ford wasn’t ten times the president without even trying!

While never elevated to the stature of great in the national psyche, Ford will never be dropped to the level of worst. Given where we are and what our country is going through just now, for that reason alone we should all turn out to pay our respects.
(And hope Bush doesn’t show up)

Regarding comment 44559 by Dave, who said in part:
While you are all free to comment on the President not being at the event tonight, you lose your integrity when you make foolish comments about the President skipping out… One must learn to criticize where neccesary but not make ridiculous comments when not warrented.

Dave, it’s never warranted to spell a word wrong when you are trying to make a valid point.  Secondly, you cannot possibly spin this by using the argument that you have used.  The security from having the VP there is already very high, and the subsequent increase in having the POTUS there would not be so significant as to warrant (there the word is again!) the flawed explanation that Bush is staying away to somehow be magnanimous to the Ford family.
The fact remains:  Having the POTUS (an anacronym that fits this President especially well) skip this event is a national disgrace.  The fact that he sent Cheney instead of cutting his own vacation short is a slap in the face.  It just shows that the Bush family has no class.  I’ve always despised W, but had respect for Laura.  Now, I’ve lost all respect for her as well.  She should have some say/influence over her husband, and the fact that THEY COULDN’T CUT THEIR VACATION SHORT TO HONOR A DECEASED PRESIDENT OF THEIR OWN PARTY is “beyond the pale,” as Cheney likes to say.  W is for World Class Loser.  I can guarantee if he had another term to run for, he would have been on the tarmac at AFB kissing Ford’s coffin, while a disingenuous Laura would have been consoling Betty every step of the way. 
AGAIN, BUSH IS A WORLD CLASS LOSER AND IS THE WORST PRESIDENT MODERN DAY AMERICA HAS EVER SEEN, AND HOPEFULLY FOR THIS GREAT COUNTRY, IS THE WORST WE WILL EVER SEE.  IT CAN ONLY GET BETTER AFTER THIS LOSER LEAVES OFFICE.

Maybe the little twerp wasn’t invited to the funeral!  HAHA that would be hilarious!!

I can see it now---Betty calling him up and telling him..."look, Jerry thought you were an ignorant little prick, we don’t want you at the Memorial service.”
George would say “I’m the decider here Ma’am...I’m the President, don’t tell me what to do! It’s my house, my Capitol, my Country, my...”
Betty would reply..."Shut the F*&% up! Look Junior, just stay home and swig on a scotch bottle! If you walk in, my family and I will walk out...got it!?”

2nd idea....the service began past his bedtime, and Betty told him he couldn’t wear his footed jammies.

Just shows, you’re never too dead to be snubbed by H.R.H.

I can’t believe Bush is not there.
What a loser....and does anyone really believe he was sleeping while Saddam was being killed??

Bill T--why is shrub the only no show; oh yes, Rumsfeld didn’t attend he was stuck in a snow storm, poor thing!

While you are all free to comment on the President not being at the event tonight, you lose your integrity when you make foolish comments about the President skipping out. This is a Procession NOT a Funeral. There are countless people not there tonight who MUST be at a Funeral. Can you imagine the additional security and bother to have the President there also?  One must learn to criticize where neccesary but not make ridiculous comments when not warrented. This is a Funeral honoring the man but also honoring the office of the President. The current President has to know when NOT to be there also. How ironic that we honor our Presidents in this way on the same day that the butcher of Baghdad was thankfully hung like a dog.

re comment 44371: Yes, but inexplicably the shrub also made number one in the greatest hero of the year poll - go figure!

Bush is an emarrassment to our country.  To not be there in DC to meet the former President’s family and President Ford’s body as it arrived at the airport, is another example of what a lazy ass self absorbed President we have.  Where was he when the people of New Orleans needed him?  Oh that’s right, in Texas.....just like he is NOW!

President Bush’s decision to not attend President Ford’s state funeral is an sbsolute disgrace. As a former head of state and predecessor in the Presidency, Ford should at the very least be honored by the current head of state.  This lack of respect from Bush shows us exactly what he is all about.  He is a coward and a shallow individual.  How said it is that Bush can’t even take criticism from a dead man! 

I hope he enjoys his time with the cows on his ranch.  He’ll be more welcome there anyway.

I swear every time I see a new photograph of Bush his eyes keep getting squintier and squintier and get closer together. He would be a cyclops but for the bridge of his nose. These are all telltale signs of limited intellect and habitual lying.
Mr Ford, although he had the likes of daddy Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, still seemed to have some intestinal stature and conscience. He is being ignored by a man who has neither.

Druthers sure does nail it when he says that this bush administration has become a dark plague on the planet.  Very Eloquent, I would have been proud to have thought of such an apt description myself.  I hope you go demonstrate and put your words in action too. See you in D.C. on the 27!  TGW

The article is wrong in its premise.

Ford’s funeral is in Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.  Bush will be there.  He skipped Reagan’s funeral because he was at a previously scheduled Summit.

Ford will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda starting tonight.  That isn’t a funeral, it is a memorial service and viewing for the public.  Looks like Bush is going to skip it, again, like he did with Regan.  So what?

President Ford’s national esteem has increased by Bu$h not attending his funeral. Apparently even a posthumous critique is too much for George to handle. Time for another talk with Dr. Phil.

Our puppet president continues his pathological behavour of running away from anything unpleasant.  He applies his “flight forward” in politics as well, plunging the world into one catastrophic war after another.  This administration has become a dark plague, cloaking the planet in a flood of blood and destruction.

What could be better than being snubbed by a shrub?

Check out the latest AP poll.  See who wins out over Bin Ladin and Sadam in the Villain of the year contest:

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articlei d=174303

Bush’s feeling intimidated by a deceased president takes the cake.  Just because an All-American gridiron hero like Ford, said Bush was wrong for attacking Iraq and wiretapping Americans, is not a valid reason for Bush to skip the funeral. Someone with more aplomb than Rove possesses needs to advise Bush on protocol and respect, here.  Before Bush defiantly takes his Pom Poms and goes home.

The memorial service will be more dignified without Bush darkening the doorstep.

But wait.  He’s speaking at the funeral at the National Cathedral and attending the wake at the Capitol.  Exactly how much mourning are we supposed to do for the late great Gerald Ford?  Or for any former president?  What is the mourning protocol?  The last presidential mourning I remember as worthwhile was for Kennedy.  Let’s not get our panties in a bunch about Bush only attending part, and not all - ohmigod- of the funeral bash.  How many soldier funerals have you seen given this concern?  Please. Do you think if Bush attends all the ceremonies everywhere that he’s going to magically turn into some other kind of person?  Or if he did, would you, could you, forget who he is, really, down deep?  Nah.  This is tea party stuff.  Drop it.

Because Ford severely criticized Bush’s Iraq invasion scheme.

Criminal never wanted to see other criminal due to their professional competition !

This is pathetic. A sitting President “skips” the funeral of a former President? And why? Because President Ford said he was “dumbfounded” by Bush’s policies?

President Bush has showed his disrespect for nearly everything he has encountered during his tenure. Our foreign allies, domestic critics, the troops he has sent to die, civil liberties, science, and most of all, the American public, who he continues to tell the most bald-faced lies every day.

Now he has dropped to his most pathetic, childish level yet. I can’t even get angry about it anymore; he is so manifestly rude, boorish, and incompetent. To disrespect Gerald Ford, as a man, as a fellow Republican, and as a former President is to disrespect the very office Bush holds. What an appalling creature.

Why don’t VIPs speak out when they see abuses? Ford should have publicly denounced Bush’s war. Colin Powell too. Whom are they protecting? Aren’t American servicemen’s lives worth some effort to bring out the truth? Is there a “conspiracy” among the politcally powerful to protect one another’s reputations? Clinton and Bush, Sr. are now great friends. Protect the friendship, enjoy your Scotch and camaraderie--and our brothers and sisters continue to die for the folly of one man.

Here #43 has zero support and as well internationally zero support. He tops satan as the most hated, and yet only those who die or retire dare say anything against this character. i don’t get it!

The more Ford is praised as “decent,” “honest,” etc. the harder the White House will have to spin Ford’s very sensible criticism of Bush’s escalating war in Iraq and policy of spying on us at home. Bush’s boycott of Ford’s funeral is just the first step, and judging from Rove’s behavior in the past, this could get ugly for the Ford family.

Apparently Bu$h hadn’t asked Gerald for his input it the latest “The Way Forward” stragedy (Bu$h vocabulary). The only part of the Iraq Study Commissions report Bu$h read was the cover title. He ain’t got tim to larn, he’s the “Decider”.

Gosh, I hope Gerald didn’t hurt poor Georges feelings.

For those who’ve been paying attention, President Bush’s refusal to attend Ford’s state funeral should come as no great surprise—the man has never (or at least, never successfully) made a secret of the fact that he has zero patience or tolerance for anyone with the cojones (or in his eyes, the gall) to criticize or even simply question his policies.  To anyone with even half a functioning neuron left, the subtext comes through loud and clear:

“Waaaaaaaaaah!  You said mean things about me, so I’m not coming to your funeral!  Waaaaaaaaaaah!”

What a class act our president has turned out to be!  Actually the Ford family and the American people are not missing anything by the lack of Shrub presence at the state funeral.  If anything we won’t have to listen to his stupid remarks....again!

As far as President Ford’s family is concerned, the absence of George Bush clan should be considered an honour rather than an insult.

So Dubya has a burr up his ass because Pres. Ford was critical of him and some of his policies and decisions (or lack of them).  Well, isn’t that just so childish to skip out on the state funeral of a former president because your feelings are hurt!  Could it be that he just “doesn’t do” funerals?  Oh wait, he attended Reagan’s didn’t he?  I guess he just doesn’t attend funerals where he can’t be the center of attention—like those of our troops he so callously and cavalierly ordered to their deaths.  Or could it be that he doesn’t want to sully his shoes by entering the Capital now that the GOPs have been turned out?  The only positive thing about this one is that he’s being minimally honest about why he’s staying home —to pout.

Bush is obviously feeling particularly nasty and vindictive.

I fear for Iran: I’m sure that nuking Iran will be just the thing to make Bush feel like a big, important man again.

By his pardon of Nixon, my belief is that Pres. Ford did our country a disservice. A public trial would have shown the American people just how corrupt the Nixon admin. was and perhaps the truth about Viet Nam would have been exposed. A wound will not heal if you only cover the infection, it must be treated. These thieves and tratiors should be brought to trial and if convicted, they should be booked, fingerprinted and then all their ill-gotten gain should be confiscated. They should lose their citizenship, fined and set loose to wonder the earth in their disgrace. Perhaps then the world will see that trully no man or woman is above the law in America. Politicians lie and cheat because they believe they can fanagle and wiggle their way out of any situation. In the final analysis anyone that misuses the public trust needs to understand that they will be held accountable and it won’t be nice. As far as Pres. Fords not wanting to critize the Bush Iraq policy until after his death speaks volumes. “WOW” is all I can say and may God have mercy his soul.

When Bush leaves nobody is going to miss him. At least not the GI’s or ex GI’s. If he wanted to be like his father, he has a long way to go!