"Why We Can't Trust Harold Ford, Jr."

[donsu]

http://www.blackcommentator.com/130/130_cover_ford.html


Tennessee Republican luminaries grumbled that they couldn’t get enough tickets to Memphis’s Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, last Friday’s stop on George Bush’s Social Security privatization tour. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, a GOP U.S. Senate hopeful whose district includes parts of suburban Memphis, failed to appear at her president’s show, claiming she missed her flight out of Washington. However, it is widely assumed Blackburn didn’t want to be hectored by Bush to get off the fence on private Social Security accounts.

Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., who may face Blackburn in the race for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s seat in 2006, had no problem with tickets – the White House personally invited the 34-year-old lawmaker and gave him 100 of the prized pieces of paper. From the stage, Bush warmly welcomed Ford, seated in the third row of the auditorium.

Why the star treatment for a Democrat with his eyes on the U.S. Senate? It’s simple: Bush and the anti-Social Security network consider Harold Ford to be a friend. Despite the public’s leeriness of privatization, Bush clearly believes that his scheme – and Ford’s vote – are still in play. Until very recently, Ford gave them no reason to think otherwise. Bush is at least as good a political dancer as Ford – and he’s not convinced the waltz with Ford is over. Neither are we.

Noting that Ford “is viewed as a potential ally by conservative backers of private accounts,” the Los Angeles Times asked the congressman about the Bush rally theme: A Conversation on Strengthening Social Security. "That wasn't a conversation. It was more of an echo," said Ford. The Associated Press got an earful of Ford’s concerns about the multi-trillion dollar cost of private accounts and the risk that people would lose their retirement money to the market. "If things go bad, people turn to the government for help," he said – appearing to endorse Franklin Roosevelt’s concept of Social Security as insurance against the vicissitudes of the stock market.
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I wonder about Ford's personal cash flow

[kentuck]

1. Because he has no institutional memory...

of what it is like to be a real Democrat, that looks out for the poor and the working people. He is the Michael Jackson of Washington politics...

[autorank]

2. Because he looks and sounds like a weasel. Seriously

the guy just reeks of insincerity. This is the same test you can apply to other luminaries. Just watch Bernie Ebbers for about 60 seconds and you want to shower. Ford is an insincere, self serving little prick. I hope he loses period.

[shance]

3. Cash Flow is always a telling thing isnt it? Just look at Tom Delay.

:)

[itzamirakul]

4. I go back to my question of a couple days ago, i.e.,

"Who do you trust anymore?"

It has gotten to the place that political labels do not necessarily mean loyalty to one's party anymore. No matter what ANY of them say, you wonder how many favors they are recieving or how many relatives have jobs with the opposition or how many stock options are on the table or....or....or....etc.

Now, with the White House okaying fake news stories, there is NO ONE or NO STORY that can be trusted any longer.

Sad state for Americans to be in...........

[harrison]

5. Like to hear some Memphis DUer's wade in on this one.