Is Ford responsible for current mess?

Admittedly, we never forgave Gerald Ford for his pardon of Richard Nixon which resulted in denying the United States closure for the Watergate era. Now that he has died, many are praising Ford for reuniting the country when in fact his actions had just the opposite effect over the long haul.

Robert Parry sums it up nicely:

Symbolically at least, Ford represented a repudiation of Nixon’s imperial excesses. Since Ford’s death on Dec. 26, that contrast between Nixon and Ford has been the theme of many eulogies, effusive praise for a common man of the Midwest who helped heal the nation’s bitter divisions from Watergate and Vietnam.

But in hindsight, Ford’s actions in the White House may have done more to salvage the idea of an imperial presidency than to shatter it. From the perspective of three decades later, the two-plus years of the Ford administration could be viewed more like a period of strategic retreat for the imperial presidency than a return to the traditional checks and balances envisioned by the Founders.

Indeed, given Ford’s appointment of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George H.W. Bush to key jobs, one could argue that the Ford administration served as an incubator for the imperial presidency’s rebirth – even if he personally opposed it.

Gerald Ford -- the "accidental president" who spawned the current crisis -- accidentally, we're sure.