Sure, LBJ might have killed a couple million Vietnamese -- and, by 1969, about 25,000 Americans -- but he got the Voting Rights Act passed.

That "Dems & Doze" post is Taibbiesque, the best thing you've ever linked to from Dennis Perrin.

Yes, the "Dems & Doze" post is good but isn't it a bit too obvious. Where's a twist, where's the punchline?

Jonathan Schwarz rules.

I'm guessing I would like Dennis if I ever met him, but I keep catching him on days when he goes overboard on topics I find inoffensive. First it was the "Michigan fans are like the Nazis in their mindlessness" post, and now it's "the big plane scared me, which is appropriate because Gerald Ford was a mass murderer."

Maybe a third time will be the charm.

If you read Dennis on a regular basis you'll find there's good stuff in there. I didn't care about the plane story, but his first post on Ford and East Timor and the great American whitewash (which mainstream liberals participate in) was exactly right.

That plane story was one of Perrin's best. Passing over Michign stadium for a dead president was just this side of Buñuel - and Perrin caught the very essence of the thing.

"[T]he big plane scared me, which is appropriate because Gerald Ford was a mass murderer."

Actually, I was afraid that the plane was going down in a residential area where I and mine happen to live. I didn't know it was carrying Ford's body until later. And had I known that AFO was going to fly low over my neighborhood, I wouldn't have been afraid -- I would've waved to Betty, as I clearly said.

You might like me if we met, but it would be nice if you understood what I was saying rather than interpreting my stuff like you do.

Hi Dennis,
That's what I get for talking about you in the third person -- how ridiculous of me to think that you wouldn't see my comment (or, more accurately, to not even think if you would see it).

Granted, you didn't really express fear but more concern, so certainly my summation was not terribly accurate.

As Donald suggested, I did look at your recent posts to see if I am missing something. File me under "no accounting for taste," but I am just not a fan. I won't go into detail because I don't think this is the right place, and because it's perfectly OK that not everyone loves your blog; it sounds like you have more than enough fans.

There's a reason "Blue" is half my username, so maybe I'll get back to Ann Arbor someday and look you up for a beer; in the meantime keep fighting the good fight.

You know, this whole Gerald Ford thing has crystalized my feelings for our country.

When I was a kid I used to get "Soviet Life" magazine, a reciprocal agreement we arranged for them accepting one of our magazines (I think it was National Geographic). Even at ten I could see through the propaganda - and it really was propaganda light, not at all heavy handed. But it was propaganda nonetheless, stories about how wonderful the Soviet Bloc was and how happy everyone was. Not a word about the Berlin Wall or the Gulags or those ridiculous press conferences the Soviets used to have. Just like the ones Tony Snow presides over now.

36 years gone now and we've traded places. Jesus, what was is, 6 months of half-staff flags for that criminal Ronald Reagan? Now another round of mourning for Gerald Ford? And I hadn't even heard of East Timor before. And the lies roll on. Crocodile tears for another figurehead leader.

I guess we were only the good guys comparison to the really bad guys.

May I, as a pilot, point out that there are a few rules that someone doesn't seem to be following. For instance: 14 CFR 91.13(a): "No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another." Or 14 CFR 91.119: " Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below ... (b) Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft."

Flying any aircraft - even Air Force One - low over an occupied football (or NASCAR) stadium or a populated neighborhood is a VERY big no-no. Can we review the Flight Data Recorder from that flight and see if the pilot is due for a license action?

Andy J.

I think the best way to celebrate the death of Gerald Ford is to watch that Simpsons episode where he and Homer fall on their faces at the end.

And read that Golgo 13 comic where he orders Golgo 13 to fly into space and blow up a satellite.

Flying any aircraft - even Air Force One - low over an occupied football (or NASCAR) stadium or a populated neighborhood is a VERY big no-no. Can we review the Flight Data Recorder from that flight and see if the pilot is due for a license action?

Don't forget that Air Force One is operated by the US Air Force. Is it subject to the same rules as civilian aircraft?

I know the malkin posts were from a few days ago but, I didn't want you to miss this. Esp. 1, 2 and 3.

Andy Sullivan had this link for the word of the day, I thought you might get a kick out of it:

http://wordsmith.org/words/yester.html

Jimbo,
36 years gone now and we've traded places.

traded places? I guess you've never listened to the Voice of America back in those years...

"Don't forget that Air Force One is operated by the US Air Force. Is it subject to the same rules as civilian aircraft?"

The law of the land is the law of the land. The rules apply to all aircraft, whether domestic or not, civilian or not. There are military operating areas for low-level flight training, and they are certainly not in built-up areas. Military != do whatever the hell you want. (I'm talking about the law, not necessarily the real world).

As for the flight data recorder - I'm sure that data is long since recorded over, even with just that one flight. No doubt there are recordings of radar returns, though, so it should be possible to launch an action.