Charlie Rose Science Series
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12/27/2007
Thomas DeFrank
A conversation with journalist Thomas DeFrank
Keywords:
A conversation with journalist Thomas DeFrank about his book Write it When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford
DVD
Charlie Rose DVDs on Amazon.
Charlie Rose DVDs on Amazon.
Audio
Audio available through Audible.com.
Audio available through Audible.com.
Transcripts
Transcripts available through Voxant.
Transcripts available through Voxant.
Dear Mr. Rose: A few days ago you had on a gentleman (name ?) regarding the Haiti problem. Is there a place where I can either get a pring out, or buy a tape, or listen to the conversation? Thank you. Fred Kuhl, Greenfield, WI
Good interview. Straight talk. No nonsense. The question of President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon came up. I believe it remains a blight on Ford's legacy. Ford's explanation that the nation needed "healing" is nonsense. The healing was the departure of Richard Nixon. The "healing" myth is dangerous because it undermines the ground of any civil society: The truth of the proposition that "we are a nation of laws and not men." The president is not above the law. He is a citizen of the United States not its sovereign. We do not have a monarchy even though Nixon thought of himself as a monarch. Ford's explanation of why he pardoned him included the fact that they were friends. That is a self-indicting admission. We should revisit the pardoning power of the president and amend the constitution. It has been the occasion for many presidential shananigans on their last day in office. Perhaps we should restrict the pardoning power to the judicial branch where it will be less influenced by political considerations although the last foray of the court into politics in deciding the 2000 election shows it is not above political considerations as Justice Sandra Day O'Conner recognized.
Let's face it: Charlie's job is tough. It's hard to please everyone. But this interview was Charlie at his best. He ALLOWED THE GUEST TO TALK. I much prefer interviews when he says very little and never points his finger in lecture mode. He should take a serious look at this interview, where he used a far lighter touch, and emulate that in most of his others. Although, of course, Charlie was downright obsequious when interviewing RumsFAILED and I was deeply disappointed with that one. Like I said, he's got a tough job!