A Comparison In Passing

Does it make me a bad person to say that I find the loss of James Brown more disconcerting than the loss of Gerald Ford? The fact that James Brown was only 73 (Ford was 93, and had been in ill health), and his death was much more unexpected may have something to do with it. Just a couple weeks back, my pal Marty pointed out that JB was scheduled to perform locally in February, at a club called Bimbo's here on Columbus Street in SF, and asked me if I was interested in seeing the show. I was seriously considering it -- in part because I had never seen James Brown live before, and I figured he may not be around a whole lot longer -- but I hadn't committed. Now the pont is moot, of course, and I never will get to experience the magic of one of his performances. Had there been a similar announcement of a planned speech or appearance by Gerald Ford in San Francisco in the near future, I'm certain that I would not have had to think even once about attending. It would not have even been a question.

Of course, given the tenor of the current administration, I have to say that looking back at the Ford years -- even though I personally didn't care for him as Chief Executive -- seems now like a look back at an era of peaceful, halcyon days. I may not have liked his presidential decisions, but I did not fear his administration, nor did I worry about the strange and terrible direction in which America was headed, as I do now constantly. Ford famously said, "Our long national nightmare is over." Had we all known at the time that a much worse national nightmare -- one in which we are now enmeshed, and which threatens to rip this country asunder; one that makes Watergate look like a pleasant daydream by comparison -- was looming ahead, perhaps we would have appreciated those days a bit more.

By the time Ford took office -- thanks to the timely and well-earned resignation of President Richard Nixon -- James Brown was already a legend. Ford was known as a guy who had perhaps "played a little too much football without his helmet on."

Some other James Brown/Gerald Ford comparisons:

James Brown

• Godfather of Soul
• "Hardest working man in show business"
• Loud; black; proud
• Got on the good foot
• Played a lot of funk
  
• Responsible in large part for the career of Mick Jagger (who would be nothing without the dance steps he copied virtually wholesale from JB) and many other imitators
  
• Felt good
• Had a brand new bag
• Claimed that it was a man's world, but it wouldn't be nothing without a woman or a girl
  
• Hired my friend Vicki G.'s brother to play trumpet in his band
• Was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Wielded a shotgun at an insurance seminar when he thought attendees of the seminar were using his private restroom
• Spent time in prison and in rehab
  

Gerald Ford

• Oatmeal Man
• "A Ford, not a Lincoln"
• Relatively soft-spoken; white; could be somewhat self-effacing on occasion, but certainly never lacked a basic sense of self-esteem
• Often tripped or stumbled
• Played a lot of golf
  
• Responsible in large part for the career of Chevy Chase (who portrayed the then-president to comic effect in the early days of Saturday Night Live) and many other bumbling, stumbling comedians at the time
  
• Was often bumped and bruised
• Had a bunch of WIN (Whip Inflation Now) buttons made up
• Claimed that Eastern Europe had never been under Soviet domination
  
• Hired Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and George H.W. Bush to work in his administration
• Served as both Vice President and President, but was never elected to either office
• Survived two rather inept assassination attempts within weeks of each other
• Spent time in the Navy and the House of Representatives
  

Summing up this comparison, let's look at the most negative memory associated with these two individuals. Each has a big strike against him in the eyes of many; here are the offenses with which each man discredited himself:

James Brown

• Beat his wife

Gerald Ford

• Pardoned Nixon

In my opinion, these were both heinous acts, but one obviously had more lasting import than the other. I mean, I'm just saying.