Posted by
Xavier Cougat on Friday, November 21, 2008 12:47:10 PM
During his campaign Barack Obama often compared the current financial crisis to the Great Depression of the thirties. "The worst economy since the Great Depression" became a major talking point, endlessly repeated in speeches and debates. So it came as no surprise when the president-elect in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes said that, "What you see in FDR that I hope my team can emulate is not always getting it right, but projecting a sense of confidence and a willingness to try things and experiment in order to get people working again." It could be argued that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was considerably better at inspiring the people than actually resolving their economic distress-- that is, he didn't "always get it right"-- and that many of his "experiments" like the National Recovery Act and the Works Projects Administration were not all that effective (other than fostering various constituents dependent on the federal government) in ending the depression.
Even his detractors have to acknowledge Barack Obama's keen intellect as well as his appreciation for history. He seems to admire and identify with the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. He has been inspired, no doubt, by the legacy of John F. Kennedy, a predecessor who Mr. Obama has been favorable compared to. It would be natural for our president-in-waiting to look to FDR as a guiding light in facing today's global crisis. It would seem that the Obama presidency will be one informed by Santayana's admonition, "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it".
Unfortunately, subversive elements within his own inner circle managed to present Obama with a copy of Amity Shlaes book on the Great Depression, The Forgotten Man. (Ms. Shlaes works for the Council On Foreign Relations.) One aide, speaking off the record, claimed that Barack only decided to read the book because he mistakenly thought the author's name was Amnesty Slaves, a name so politically charged as to pique his curiosity. Once into the book, Obama couldn't put it down. Therein he came to discover that what really brought this country out of the Great Depression was not FDR's New Deal but, rather, World War II.
According to an insider source who wished to remain anonymous, Barack Obama, in consultation with Joe Biden, his brilliant foreign policy expert, plans to, upon taking office in January, instruct Congress to declare war simultaneously on Japan, Germany and Italy in a concerted strategy to bring our ailing economy out of its current malaise.
Thank God-Obama for such a measured and temperate leader in these perilous times who, with intellectual depth, calmly weighs all the options and takes in the bigger picture with a cool, detached calculus that inspires our confidence in and gratitude to The One.