Former President Ford hospitalized again

[Jeanette in FL]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/12/gerald.ford.ap/i...

Former President Ford hospitalized again
POSTED: 1:40 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2006

RANCHO MIRAGE, California (AP) -- Former President Gerald Ford was hospitalized again for medical tests, his office said Thursday.

Ford, 93, was doing well at Eisenhower Medical Center, spokeswoman Penny Circle said in a statement. She did not disclose the nature of the tests.
Ford underwent heart procedures this summer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, then returned to his home in Rancho Mirage. He received an implantable cardiac pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat and underwent angioplasty, with stents in two of his coronary arteries to increase blood flow.

[LTR]

1. My best goes out to him and his family

Ford was the last Republican president with dignity.

[YOY]

2. I have a feeling that a ex-presidential funeral will happen soon

n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. I hope he makes a good recovery.

[krispos42]

4. Sad. Hope he recovers. He was here at the Mayo recently.

Will a state funeral be added to the shocks of October? Reagan's state funeral was the only one I remeber seeing. If I recall, Nixon kinda got a different ceremony because he resigned and of Watergate.

With so much stuff happening in October, will be even notice Rove's planned "October Surprise"? Foley, North Korea nukes, and a state funeral (potentially), all in October. It's a hell of a line-up already.

What will Rove's surprise be? Iranian assault? North Korean assault? Dick Cheney resignation "for health reasons"? Dubya being assasinated by "Islamo-Fascist Arab terrorists"?

[LTR]

5. It's the choice of each particular president

Prior to Reagan, the most recent state funerals were for JFK and LBJ. Truman, I believe, opted for a smaller service. Same for Nixon. Nothing to do with Watergate, unless Nixon himself used that as the reason. He would have been allowed a state funeral.

Many presidents opt out of state funerals.

[krispos42]

8. Thank you for the info.

I thought it was kind of automatic, with the actual burial private but he lying in state and guards and such was pretty much mandatory.

Thank you for the correction.

[bluestateguy]

7. I wouldn't worry about that

A Ford funeral would not exactly rev up the conservatives to go and vote in November. Ford is not even close to what Reagan was for them. Conservatives didn't like his policies in the 1970's, and they don't have much affection for the Ford years today either.

[krispos42]

9. It would be the only non-negative event so far! lol

But a few days of reminicing about his life, the funeral, etc., would distract from Foley and Kim Jong-Il. Flowers and flags and brass bands and bunting.

Of course, a national media look back at Watergate might stir people to think an awful lot about current events. Maybe it would not be a non-negative event after all.

[Ignacio Upton]

11. Reagan ran a primary challenge against Ford in 1976

And I think he did pretty well, sadly. I actually wish that Ford won in 1976, because then we wouldn't have been stuck with Reagan four years later.

[LeftishBrit]

12. That, I think, is my earliest clear memory concerning American politics!

I was just a child then, but I was aware that this horrible man Reagan was trying to replace Ford and become president, and I was so glad when he lost. Alas, I did not know the future! Perhaps because of this early memory, I have always felt relatively kindly toward Ford.

[LoZoccolo]

6. My favorite Republican. n/t

[Phredicles]

10. I do wish him well.

The best Republican president since Eisenhower, and it's not even close...

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. I could have sworn I read that he died like two weeks ago.

Weird.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

18. No, that was Abe Vigoda. -nt

[LTR]

21. Abe Vigoda is still alive

As far as I know.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

23. No....Abe is still alive.

He'll never die.
Duckie

[LibraLiz1973]

14. Must have the constitution of a horse

He keeps getting this close to the great beyond but he always comes back.
At 93 he has had a good long life. I hope his family has gotten alot of positive memories
from those years.

That would leave only Carter, Bush, Clinton & Bush living, right?
Bush Sr. is getting pretty old. But I think he and Jimmy Carter have some good years left in them.

As for a big funeral- that is the decision of the family. I wonder what Betty's opinion on that is?

[pitohui]

17. alcohol is a preservative

damn the man, every time i consider giving up drinking i look at what it has done for him, this a man who did nothing but fall on his face for an entire presidency and he's freakin' immortal!

i wish him well and hope he recovers soon if only for the selfish reason of needing the inspiration

back in the day i never had a good word for him but i'll be honest -- i read the esquire interview with him and realized this is the guy lbj made the playing football without a helmet jokes about and he's about a million years old and he's still smarter than the bushes

it really makes you stop and think how far to the right this country has gone -- and how tiny of an IQ we expect of a pretzeldent in these decadent modern times

i mean, crap, falling off that scooter thingy would be all in a day's work for mr ford!

[cureautismnow]

15. He needs to keep kicking another month or so ...

...to beat Reagan's longevity record.

"Previous-Most-Evil-Person-in-the-World" Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004)
"Warren-Commission-Apologist" Ford (July 14, 1913 - ???)

As Mr. Joel would say, "Only the Good Die Young."

[UTUSN]

16. Another month or so, PAST election day n/t

[Raine]

19. All the best to Ford and his family

I think he is a good man at heart.

[noonwitch]

20. My grandpa is 93 and had to see a cardiologist recently

He has a weak vein or something. His older brother had the same thing a couple of years ago (he's 96). The doctor told him to take it easy-grandpa said "I'm 93, what I've been doing has got me here, I'm not stopping it now".

Old guys have a lot of these kinds of little things pop up. Doctors are pretty good at treating them, if the patient is otherwise pretty healthy. I hope he's okay, I've always liked Ford and his family.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

22. My thoughts, prayers, good wishes, peace and light go out to him and his

family

He's a very decent man -perhaps someone slightly out of his depth when he became President -but someone who consistently tried to do the right thing. I disagree with some of his decisions -like his pardoning of Nixon -but I could never question his honesty, his integrity and his sincerity.

If we had more Republican presidents of his mould, the world would be a much better place for it