NOT a Ford fan.

Ford was a good and decent man as well as a devoted husband and father.

He was also a horrible President.

He pardoned the draft dodgers, pardoned Nixon on the eve of the disastrous November 74 midterm elections, coddled the Russians, selected ideological soulmate Nelson Rockefeller as his VP, supported racial quotas, endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment, refused to support the huge tax cuts advocated by supply-siders, and, worst of all, he gave us 32 years of votes cast by John Paul Stevens. Since leaving office, he has been a crusader for expanding abortion and homosexuality.

Which part of that legacy should we honor or celebrate?

It is for good reason that the modest turnout for the Ford events will be dwarfed by the extraordinary turnout for our beloved Gipper in 2004. I shed one thousand tears for Ronald Wilson Reagan (and still do whenever I catch a video clip of one of his speeches). When I watched the incessant Ford clips this week, my contempt for the man's politics dispossessed me of any capacity to become teary eyed. Indeed, it is the millions of victims of Ford's legacy whom we should mourn.

And there is no doubt that Betty Ford loved her husband and has suffered the loss of a lifetime when her husband passed on.

But Betty Ford also ushered in the Oprah era where everyone's maladies, abuse histories and complete lack of privacy are put on public display for the world to collapse in hysterical tears over. For the love of God, strength used to be shown by a lady's ability to act like a lady no matter the difficulty of the circumstance or the effect of the past. Now, apparently strength is found in how rough one's life was and in how outrageous one can be in recounting every sordid detail. Ugh.

Never will I forget my mother, outraged at Betty Ford's support of the ERA then parading every malady or problem she faced for the world to review and comment on. Before that, it simply was not done. It was considered gauche.

Frankly, feminists have so confused where a woman's strength truly lies that it is all but a faint memory for the current generation of terribly confused young ladies.

I respect the private grief that the Ford family is suffering through, but make no mistake....there has not been a day that this conservative has mourned the liberal policies and proclivities of the Ford Administration.