I agree. I’m sorry for coming in this late in the thread and saying so, but this is really scary. I don’t have any ill will toward any members of the Manson family; I just don’t want Manson or Fromme to be out in the world again.
I didn’t think you got out if you tried to off a prez. But I guess she never actually got a shot off, so who know?
But yeah. Bat-shit!
Eew… I wish I hadn’t come in here. I’d no idea any of them would ever be released. I remember that time back then. It was very scary. They’d been in the area where I lived. Not to tromp on anyone’s fun, but I can’t find anything amusing about her being released. I just hope she stays far, far away from anyone I know and doesn’t hurt anyone.
Interestingly though probably only coincidental, Arthur Bremer- the man who shot presidential candidate George Wallace (not fatally but leaving him paralyzed, impotent, and in great pain for the rest of his life) was paroled after 35 years also. He was sentenced to 63 years rather than life, but effectively the same sentence for most people over 20.
Sara Jane Moore got out two years ago.
However, the people she helped murdered are still dead.
Or since Sara Jane Moore is also out, pair them for a whacky sitcom. (Inspired by Mo Rocca in ‘I Love the 70s’ calling Squeaky Fromme and Sara Jane Moore “the Laverne and Shirley of presidential assassins”)
“1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 schlemiel/schlemazel/botched assassinations incorporated!”
Some trivia about Sara Jane Moore assassination attempt for those who don’t know is that it’s oft cited (with good reason) in gay history books and that I was surprised wasn’t mentioned in the movie MILK:
Fromme had an uncocked gun, so either through incompetency or insanity Ford was never in real danger. (Certainly there was no way of knowing that at the time and when dealing with women in red monk’s robes brandishing firearms it’s best not to take chances). Moore, who was not a Manson family member had a pretty wild and odd past herself; the musical Assassins portrays her as a befuddled housewife seeking counter culture relevance, but actually she was divorced five times by her early forties and old enough to be the mother of most of the hippies she wanted to join but turned FBI informant on. Unlike Fromme her gun was locked and loaded andthus her attempt on Ford came much closer to fruition. However, an ex Marine named Oliver Sipple who was standing next to her saw the gun just in time toknock it off targetso that it hit a local cabdriver instead (he wasn’t seriously injured). If it hadn’t been for Sipple it’s very possible she’d have killed Ford or at least one of the Secret Service.
Oliver Sipple had been severely wounded by shrapnel in Vietnam and spent months in VA hospitals, but his main problems were psychological. By 1975, the year he stopped Moore from shooting at Ford, he was honorably discharged and received full disability for psychological and physical reasons.
Sipple was gay and connected in a “lay line” to Harvey Milk- they shared an ex-lover with whom both remained friends after their breakup (not one of the two from the movie but an earlier one in NYC) so they knew each other and were 2nd or 3rd tier friends (i.e. they socialized but weren’t constant buds). Sipple was openly gay in the Castro, but not outside. His family and his military buddies and even some of his friends in San Francisco had no idea he was gay- until he became an overnight celebrity for saving the president and was outed in the media.
Sipple obviously wasn’t thrilled when reporters who wanted to tell the story of the hero of the hour not only learned he was gay but printed it all over the media. Some did so strictly for sensationalism to sell copy, others because it was objective truth, and gay papers and gay journalists because it helped dispel the notion that gays were swishy passive weaklings. Whatever the motivations it was soon known by everyone including his conservative religious family who disowned him and, long story short (here’s his wikifor the longer account) it was a significantly less than welcome and highly traumatic experience that caused him to have a complete collapse. The rest of his life is sad- descent into paranoid schizophrenia, substance abuse, suicide attempts and morbid obesity. He died of a heart attack at 48 in a one room apartment that was basically described as “early modern schizoaffective” by one account- scrapbooks and loose clippings of his hour in the sun of course, but also piles of newspaper clippings cut for no obvious reasons and bizarre stuff that made sense for a moment to a severely disturbed mind.
Anyway, Gerald R. Ford signed a thank you letter to Sipple but never met with him. Sipple prized the thank you letter above all other belongings. Many have claimed that the lack of a meeting was homophobia- that Ford was too afraid of the Anita Bryant lovers to shake the hand of the man who saved his life. For denied this as recently as 2004.
Some claim his notoriety and rejection by Ford sent Sipple over the edge but I think most who believe(d) that didn’t understand the nature of serious mental illness. Schizophrenia can certainly be affected or episodes worsened by traumatic experiences but it’s not caused by them, it’s as physiological as diabetes, so I give the press a pass on that one- it was a legitimate thing to report, though I personally wouldn’t have without his consent, but it didn’t cause his tragic ending, and like most flashbulb celebrities (those who become world famous in a flashbulb moment) his fame went away after a few weeks, and the damage done by the exposure really wasn’t anybody’s fault.
As to whether I think the fact he was gay had anything to do with Ford not meeting with him… oh hell yeah. Who doesn’t shake the hand of the person who saved your life? (I’ve wondered if the [probably true] gay rumors about Ford’s son Steven played any role, or if Ford even knew of the rumors.)
But if it weren’t for Oliver Sipple “we’d have been left bereft of” G.R.F…
Which Ford, the dead President or the car company? Come to think of it, it doesn’t matter; they’re both in good shape relative to GM.
Perhaps Squeaky will be the new side kick on Glenn Beck’s show? 
Thanks Sampiro, I knew none of that.
I will be stealing this term for my personal use. Thank you.
(I’ve previously used the terms “exes-in-law” or “exes once removed”.)
It’s not original to me, but it is a great term. It can be fun to make celebrity lay lines also- connecting Rex Harrison to Ashton Kutcher or whatever through lays instead of film credits.
Since the thread has been bumped: per wiki and a couple of news articles Squeaky’s living in Marcy, NY, a town of about 10,000 people, and apparently has been low key so far.
So far, but have any presidents traveled through the neighborhood yet? She might want to ‘talk’ to them.
I’m guessing if Lord Obama ever goes anywhere near Marcy, NY, they’ll make sure that Squeaky is in her crate that day.
I laughed in spite of myself. That was hilarious 
Low key Squeaky?
As a native West Virginian, I propose that Charles Manson, Sarah Jane Moore, and Squeaky Fromme become the spokespersons for the next WV tourism campaign.
Manson spent part of his youth in WV, Moore is a native of Charleston, WV (my hometown), and Squeaky spent the early years of her imprisonment at the federal women’s prison in Alderson, WV. Gee, maybe we could get Martha Stewart to join them, since she was imprisoned at Alderson, too!
Yeah. This. Remember when she escaped the last time? She’s in New York, too. This is gonna get ugly.
She was not along on those 2 nights so i do not think she ‘helped’ murder them in any way.