Here at Extreme Mortman, we love 2006 year in review lists.  Heck, we’ve even done a couple ourselves (click here for proof).  So when we saw that Olbermann Watch had done its own unique look back at 2006, we quickly clicked over to check it out.  Such an ambitious undertaking we discovered.  With this classic, ADL-enraging Olbermann 2006 photo once again.

We still think der Furor would have been better off using his right hand for this.

C-SPAN last night showed fascinating archival footage of Gerald Ford’s October 17, 1974 appearance before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice to explain the facts and circumstances that were the basis for his pardon of Richard Nixon.  It’s the only time a sitting president has publicly presented testimony to a Congressional hearing.

As steeped in history as it was, the footage also was riveting for showing the people sitting behind Ford, presumably his lawyers and aides.  Talk about a period peice — they were constantly lighting up.  One kept puffing on a cigarette, the other smoked a pipe, cleaning it and fiddling with the tobacco every ten minutes or so.

Yes, there was time, 30 years ago, when you could smoke inside a Congressional committee room.  Which makes me want to propose the following.  Since DC is all ga ga now about Gerald Ford’s triumphant legacy of courageous bipartisan statesmanship (”gentlemanly virtues,” the Washington Post editorial calls it), Congress could swiftly step in and do something real in his memory.  The should create a room on the Hill where smokers could go for a quick puff.

The Washington Post recently reported that Nancy Pelosi “is thinking of banishing tobacco from the most popular smoking spot in the [Capitol] building: the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber.”  OK, but why not likewise create something for the other side — as a bipartisan compromiser like Ford would?  Call it the Gerald R. Ford Memorial Freedom Room — where smokers could go and not feel like they need a presidential pardon to exercise their nicotine rights. Think Arnold Schwarzenneger’s smoking tent, but with a bipartisan glowing Congressional mandate.  A fitting tribute to a President who loved pipes.

Forget all those touchy-feely English muffin memories.  Let’s remember the freedom-loving tobacco side of President Ford.

Doing this (Gerald Ford meeting Billy Preston and George Harrison) …

… inspires us to do this

The Gerald Ford Library reminds us — don’t ask about China!

The Squeaky wheel gets the Gerald Ford memories.

Of course, you can’t blame Squeaky Fromme, or Sara Jane Moore, for every shot Ford took.

That was Gerald Ford.  Two failed attempts at assassination, one successul shot of vaccination.

First, the answer to last week’s question.  Name every U.S. Senator, alive or dead, born in Hawaii.  Six: Daniel Inouye, Daniel Akaka, Spark Matsunaga, Hiram Fong, Hiram Bingham — and Barack Obama.

Now, the next Extreme Trivia question, sent to us by Seth Leibsohn of the Claremont Institute and Bill Bennett’s radio show. Name the speechwriter who wrote Gerald Ford’s famous August 9, 1974 line referring to Watergate and Nixon: “Our long national nightmare is over.”

Gerald Ford’s passing leads us, of course, to remember Richard Nixon as well.  Which gives us an opportunity — a flimsy opporutnity, to be sure — to remember one of the greatest lines ever in a Presidential Inaugural address.  Here’s what Nixon said on Jan. 20, 1969:

“I ask you to join in a high adventure.”

By the way, my New Media Strategies colleague Bill Beutler of Blog P.I. suggests this headline: “Ford To Self: Drop Dead.”

And a footnote: How smart is Bill Beutler?  You won’t want to miss the Buffalo News’ coverage of his brilliance.

Remembering Gerald Ford:

And from the Washington Post’s obituary:

In 1980 he campaigned hard for his old foe, Reagan, who decisively defeated Carter. “I’m a political realist,” Ford told The Post in 2004 in looking back on that election. “You win some and you lose some, and you have to accept the responsibility to do what you think in the bigger perspective. I sure didn’t want Jimmy Carter to be president again in 1980 because I was very sour on his performance as president.”

“Laura and I are saddened by the death of James Brown. For half a century, the innovative talent of the “Godfather of Soul” enriched our culture and influenced generations of musicians. An American original, his fans came from all walks of life and backgrounds.”

From today’s Washington Post story on Second Life:

Congress has taken note and is completing a study of whether income in the virtual economy, such as from the sale of gowns that Brown makes, should be taxed by the Internal Revenue Service. The Joint Economic Committee of Congress is expected to issue its findings early next year.

“There seems to be a lack of ground rules in an area that would have explosive growth in the next decade or two,” said Christopher Frenze, the committee’s executive director.

So here’s the obvious question — why not virtual taxes?