We need a Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- not Obama

Stand up and be tough Americans!

I'm all for charisma, I'm all for excellent oratory (especially after 7+ years of bumbling incoherence), and I'm all for youthful energy (even as I see my own retreating). But what I'm really for is a president who will boldly push forward initiatives and ideas and programs that will answer the many crises created or greatly abetted by years of BushCo malfeasance. In short, as admirable as JFK was, we need a new FDR.


When FDR was sworn in as president in 1933, the world was in the grip of the Great Depression--a global economic and social catastrophe that directly contributed to cementing Mussolini's power in Italy and to the rise of Hitler in Germany. FDR's predecessor, Herbert Hoover, had done nothing to stem the misery of the times, preferring instead a "wait and see" laissez-faire approach to solving America's problems, leading to a host of social ills for all but a very tiny slice of American society.

The parallels to our own current economic meltdown are sobering. And let's not forget that there was a partly human-caused climate-based disaster going on as well: America's iconic "Dust Bowl," which ravaged the Plain States from 1930 to 1936 and produced a huge migration of people away from the heartland to the northern industrial states and especially to the West Coast (think Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath).

In short, FDR faced incredible challenges, any one of which would have been daunting. But he surrounded himself with competent and talented people and instantly--within the first 100 days of his administration--enacted a slew of legislation and reforms, leading to myriad programs designed to create jobs and revitalize American agriculture and industry (and even fine arts).

The now-legendary acronyms--CCC, TVA, NRA, PWA, SSA... Roosevelt knew that America needed solid, energetic action to shake off its years-long malaise and despair. Even though not all of these programs worked (and indeed, the Supreme Court ruled against the excesses of the NRA--the National Recovery Act), FDR's willingness to "think outside the box" helped get America back on its feet far more quickly than even his most enthusiastic supporters could have envisioned.

That's what we need today: bold, innovative, and empathetic leadership. We need a leader who will level with us about the hardships we face, as FDR did via such venues as his famous radio "Fireside Chats." We need a leader who will press on with needed reforms despite skeptical and hostile obstructionists. We need someone who will restore our Constitutional rights and our moral standing in the world. We need someone who will go head-to-head against corrupt and selfish corporate interests--and win.

Only another FDR will be able to help America recover. Who will be this new FDR?


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