Gerald Ford gets the last laugh
The USS GERALD R. FORD, the lead ship in a new class of ten supercarriers, also called Ford Class, was conducted this week, presided over by President Donald Trump. I was waiting for someone, perhaps an old political sailor, to point out both the justice and the irony of that. I’m referring to the relentless pounding in the liberal media of both presidents for exaggerated physical attributes. With Trump it’s that unique reddish-blonde mane and his supposedly tiny hands, which, of course is a snarky jab at the then proportionately-presumed small size of his manhood.
With Ford, a favored target of media derision after he pardoned Nixon, it was his supposed mental slowness, as was fallaciously evidenced by his slow, measured speaking delivery. More frequently the left derisively mocked him for being a stumbling klutz, whose constant clumsiness led to frequent trips and falls, and whose sporting ineptitude came from his occasional driving of golf balls into the gallery, once actually hitting a woman in the head, or on another occasion driving a ball into his tennis partner’s head. Ford’s most egregious tormenter for all these inflated bumblings was a comedian, Chevy Chase, whose “Saturday Night Live” skits featured pratfall scenes and comedic monologue in which the Ford character appeared mentally deficient, much as Trump is portrayed there today.
Actually, Gerald Ford always had the last laugh on his detractors during his presidency, laughing along with all the goofy portrayals for the simple reason that Ford was a good sport. Unusual among our presidents, Ford was a skilled athlete, an Eagle Scout, football captain, and an all-city selection from his Grand Rapids high school football team; then he became an all-star and championship football player at the University of Michigan helping them as a linebacker and center through two undefeated seasons and to two national championships. Ford received offers from both the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers but turned them down to become the boxing coach and assistant football coach at Yale while he attended law school to add to his undergraduate degree in economics.
When that first Ford Task Force ventures forth from Norfolk Naval Base to begin its far-reaching patrols of the world, it will demonstrate the continuing military supremacy of the Navy in which Ford served as a lieutenant commander on a carrier in WWII. And the name Gerald R. Ford will be embarking on a 50-year global journey during which it will be viewed with awe, respect, and sometimes fear, in far-flung ports and across all the world’s oceans. So our sitting president, who is regularly mocked on SNL by a very unfunny actor, should take heart. It just may come to pass that the lead ship of the next class of carriers, being built in the 2040s to replace the aging carriers of the Ford Class, will be christened the USS Donald R. Trump.
Crossposted from American Thinker
Category: Politics
Oh hell yes !!!
Wouldn’t that just stick in the lefties’ craw!
The best revenge is living well, yes? Well Trump’s best form of revenge is the list of accomplishments he has had – without congressional help at all, still having the support of the folks that voted him in and still not having been driven into depression/resigning.
What is even funnier in a sad way is what followed Ford…
Beats the shit outta some of the names that Maybus stuck us with.
Can those be renamed to something in accordance with Navy tradition?
I’m pretty sure they can’t – not without causing more trouble than just about anyone wants. Of course, I would be curious to see if your average sailor would rather be on the Harvey Milk or if he would want to incur Poseidon’s wroth by changing the ship’s name.
Of course ship change names when they go from navy to navy (e.g. USS Phoenix/ARA General Belgrano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARA_General_Belgrano) so it isn’t unheard of.
I’m just a dumb Marine, so what do I really know anyway?!
Any ship to be used as a SINKEX target shall be renamed USS Ray Mabus.
I’ll second that motion TOW.
No disrespect to Gerald Ford, but carriers shouldn’t be named after politicians. Traditionally, troopships were named for presidents, a tradition which today could be adapted into naming LPDs and the like. Name cruisers after cities. Name destroyers and frigates after Navy/Marine heroes (don’t name a goddamn thing after Carl Levin). Name subs after marine predators. Carriers should bear legacy names.
Poetrooper has a good point about Ford getting the last laugh, but still.
Agreed. We should rename all ships named after politicians. I’m quite happy to lose (for example) the USS Ronald Reagan if they named her Enterprise.
I’m a fan of Reagan the President, but neither he, Kennedy, Ike, Truman, etc should have aircraft carriers bearing their names. Enterprise, Yorktown, Essex, Wasp, Hornet, Ticonderoga, those are names that belong on carriers. Yes, some of them have gone to other ships, part of the problem. And why in the hell John Stennis gets a carrier is frankly beyond my comprehension.
Naming the Navy’s ships shouldn’t be a contest of political favoritism. Both parties are guilty of it. It really should stop.
I thought troopships were named after generals? My dad came back from his 1958 tour of Korea on the General X. (At least one of my uncles crossed the Atlantic to Europe on the Queen Mary.)
I’m just surprised that something hadn’t been painted pink yet.
Great article above!
Interesting bit for those who are bad at math:
Considering the expected life cycle of a US Navy aircraft carrier (50 years +), the final Commanding Officer of the USS GERALD R. FORD, has not been born yet, and won’t be for another few years!
Source Wiki: “According to the Captains advancement pace the average age is somewhere between the mid to late 40’s”.
Ford exhibited great comfort with himself and never whined about the jokes on his behalf. For me he seemed above all that and was able to recognize that the media does what it does and the targets are always the current power structure. He seemed a good sport and a relatively humble man.
Trump could use a bit of Ford’s personal humility. It would serve him well in ignoring what’s being said as he focuses on the business of the nation.
Perhaps. But remember that perhaps that “humility” and “ignoring the media” also cost him the 1976 election – and gave us 4 years of Jimmy the Clueless.
Personally, I prefer a POTUS that’s not afraid to speak his mind – and who will call out the media when they’re out to lunch.
I’m thinking the future “Trump” class of ship will be a cold fusion powered laser shooting sub for some reason….
This is nice. I’m glad to see that wiser heads are prevailing right now. Way to get the last laugh, Mr. Ford.
Don’t forget, the door swings both ways on naming ships. I’m looking forward to the USS Carter in the next couple of years and the USS Clinton and USS Obama sometime in the 2030s. ;-P
The USS Carter is a Nuclear Submarine, her companion ship is the USS Walter Mondale which shadows it and goes belly-up whenever the USS Ronald Reagan is near!
I always liked the Simpsons joke about a USS Mondale.
Homer: Are we going to be landing on an aircraft carrier?
Pilot: No, the nearest Navy vessel is the USS Walter Mondale… It’s a laundry ship.
lol, good one! ^^
http://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2017/07/21/no-urinals-on-the-new-navy-aircraft-carrier/
“For the first time, every bathroom on the Ford — known throughout military circles as a head — is designed to be “gender-neutral,” meaning all of the urinals have been replaced with flush toilets and stalls, Navy officials say.”
I guess it’s because these days not all males are born with penises? Why not just add urinals to the women’s head – wouldn’t that be “gender neutral” as well?
What little time I’ve spent touring navy museum ships, I thought Ford’s last laugh would be tripping people at every hatch!
LOL
Trump can also learn how to pardon Presidents for their crimes from Ford.
Ford was a veteran, dedicated public servant. All leaders deserve to be mocked because they are not kings. Its the existence of programs like SNL that separate us from autocracies. If you don’t like seeing the President mocked, you’re free to ignore it. There are many reasons he won’t land on a great President’s list, and most of that has to do with the era in which he served and the circumstances under which he ascended rather than any portrayal by comedians.
Nomad, it’s not the mocking of the President that’s the problem, the problem is that SNL’s mockery isn’t even entertaining, let alone funny. Ford and W both laughed at their portrayals, SNL missed their mark on Trump.
Ratings say they’re finding an audience.
Its easy to forget it exists. Getting upset about it seems strange to me.
As the launching of the Ford should remind people, contemporary judgments on political figures don’t always stand the test of history. He is fondly remembered among 20th century Presidents and gets an aircraft carrier. Whether that is Trump’s fate will have nothing to do with SNL.
SNL was great when it started out as the not ready for prime time players back in around 1975 I think with Rossanrosandana and Belushi. The snl of today I do not watch at all since it turned into using real shitbird LC (liberal/left correctness)players
SNL managed to stay funny through the late 90s. Ever since then? They had a handful of good ones between 2000 and 2010 that were essentially pearls in the swine pen. After that, not worth watching at all.
SNL has not been funny since 1979.
Letterman wasn’t funny after 1984.
actually, there has been no humor at all on TV since 1984.
There has literally been nothing to watch at all since about 1989.
TV…the vast nothing.
Oh, there’s a few shows worth catching. Not a lot, but a few…
Poetrooper, it would be better if the carrier were named the U.S.S. Donald J. Trump 😉
John, ya gotta cut an old fart some slack when it comes to memory. Interestingly, both here and at American Thinker, few people have caught that error.
Trump served when? Unless you concede it is a good idea to name a ship after a politician with no military connection like Gabby Giffords, no ship should be named after a non-warrior. Politicians get things like courthouses named after ’em; war machines of any service should ONLY be named for war heroes. I am buying the USS Trump about as much as I’d buy a USS Maxine Waters.
David, the guy who serves as commander-in-chief of ALL the warriors is not one of them?
Not unless he personally goes to Iraqistan to shoot at whatever remains of IS and/or Al-Qaeda. Otherwise you’d have to lump Obama and Clinton into that category as well.
I agree with David, the honor should go to true warriors, who have actually fought in combat for this country. USS Shipley anyone? ^^
Well this didn’t used to be a conundrum, because we expected our President’s to have served. Ironically, two Presidents who were Naval Officers, Carter & Johnson, got other ships named.
Non-military service politicians do have aircraft carriers named after them, including Carl Vinson & John Stennis. And, ironically, Abraham Lincoln.
Personally, I’d like to see naming conventions for persons limited to people who have been deceased 30+ years to allow any political associations to have long since passed and for a proper judgement of history to take hold.
Lincoln was a captain in the Illinois Militia. Briefly and with no actual combat, but it’s worth noting that when his own company was disbanded, he reenlisted as a private in another company.
And no, I do not regard the politician in whose charge the military is entrusted as a warrior. Commander, yes, but warrior, no.
FDR never served; the closest he got was Undersecretary for the Navy. Nixon as well.
…Have to take the latter back. I knew Nixon was in the Naval Reserve, but when I went to double-check his history, I see he served (albeit in logistics) in the Southwest Pacific during WW2. Even received a Navy Letter of Commendation.
I would disagree that Americans “expected” a President to have served. Say rather the experience made it easier to get elected. We’ve seen so many “veteran” presidents during the 20th century because two world wars, especially the second, provided so many men with at least some experience. WW1 and Vietnam both failed to provide a “war hero” president, mainly because Pershing refused to run and no one was very happy about Vietnam.
I think that’s why the Democrats nominated Kerry back in 2004. They thought they had stumbled across a genuwine war hero that would beat Dubya like a red-headed stepchild in K-Mart. Why Kerry even had three Purple Hearts!!!
Dubya had military experience in the NG, but wisely did not feature it very much. I expect Dan Quayle’s experience taught him that.
Alas for the Democrats, Kerry’s memories were, shall we say, “shaky,” once his history was subject to examination. This is why I consider having veteran status an aid and not a guarantor of electoral victory.
In addition to Ford, Carter and Johnson Presidents Kennedy and George H. W. Bush served as Naval Officers and have ships named from them.
CVN 78. I was class of ’78, and I voted for Ford in my first election.
If Hillary had won they could have named it the ” USS Bowe B. Berghdal”. Democrat sailors are going to have to go on hunger strike.
Ford was a hugely underestimated leader. One of my favorite quotes of all time is his (from an address given by Ford to a joint session of Congress on 12 August 1974):
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
If there’s a better explanation of why limited government is a necessity, I’ve never seen it.
Thanks for reminding us of the FORD detractors. I had forgotten them entirely. I was searching my memory for the names of the “comedians” who lampooned R. REAGAN and drew a complete blank.
There is a line between humor and heckling. CARSON knew it. Jack PARR and Jay LENO too. Steve ALLEN, a devoted liberal, knew where the line was and I don’t ever recall him crossing it. I can watch minutes of Jimmy Fallon and get a good laugh. However there isn’t enough money in the network budget to pay me to watch Stephen COLBERT. I mute most commercials anyway but I reach for the remote control reflexively when the Colbert promotion spots flash up. His show would provoke equal time provisions, if they still existed. After the TRUMP administration is history I am betting that COLBERT won’t be a footnote in American history.
Speaking of Chevy Chase, I’ve read personal accounts of him being one very co0nceited asshole and I’ve heard that most of the original SNL cast didn’t like him either.
I’ve seen video of Steve Martin playing a mean banjo.
Explains why he career was so brief, yes?
Someone posted a funny about this. As you know GRF was a U of Michigan Grad. I am a Michigan fan with a conservative kid Alum.
“The Wolverines get a battleship and Spartys get the dinghy!!
I have a different interpretation – It’s some kind of poetic justice since Ford replaced a president who resigned in disgrace. See where I’m going here?
Gee whiz Joe, is that the best you can do in between juicy bananas behind bus stops? Your Mommy called and said if you be a good little boy she’ll have a nice warm enema for you before your bedtime!
USS Donald R. Trump? Can’t tell if there is a subtext I am missing. Or if we don’t know the president’s middle name…