Democrats, Then and Now

President Franklin D. Roosevelt: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

President Barack H. Obama: 'Do what I want, or the economy will melt, and you'll all die poor and alone.'

Irresponsible fear-mongering is not all that presidential. Now that I think about it, weren't we promised a calm, cool, post-partisan president?

Guess that 'hope over fear' stuff was "just words."

Although I'm not a big fan of FDR, the man knew that part of leadership was preventing panic. In 1933, during one of his "fireside chats," FDR said the following:

After all there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.

It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.

They can't pay their bills. They've stopped spending money. And because they've stopped spending money, more businesses have been forced to lay off more workers. In fact, local TV stations have started running public service announcements to tell people where to find food banks, even as the food banks don't have enough to meet the demand.

As we speak, similar scenes are playing out in cities and towns across America. Last Monday, more than 1,000 men and women stood in line for 35 firefighter jobs in Miami [Florida]. Last month, our economy lost 598,000 jobs, which is nearly the equivalent of losing every single job in the state of Maine.

And if there's anyone out there who still doesn't believe this constitutes a full-blown crisis, I suggest speaking to one of the millions of Americans whose lives have been turned upside-down because they don't know where their next paycheck is coming from.

The contrast couldn't be clearer. Roosevelt was deliberate in his attempts to calm. Obama is deliberate in his attempts to induce panic. In many ways, he's like Syndrome from "The Incredibles." *Spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie.* The villain deliberately creates a giant machine designed to attack a city and create panic so he can swoop in to play the part of the hero. He's designed the machine to respond to his commands, so he can 'destroy' it. Unfortunately for him (and the city) his plan goes awry and he can't control the destructive monster he unleashed.

I didn't say it was a comforting metaphor.

What we've seen over the past few weeks is that Obama's definition of 'hope' is 'not-Bush.' That may have been enough to get him through an election, but it's a poor substitute for the real thing.

posted by Slublog at 09:56 AM

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