Tuesday, November 18, 2008
There's No Depression Like a "Jaunty" Depression
Classic modern-day liberalism is that intent – not results – is what matters when it comes to policy. Who better to illustrate this than Richard Cohen?
“Enough Lincoln. More FDR. This is my shorthand advice to Barack Obama, who in several interviews has talked about wanting to emulate Abraham Lincoln….but …high unemployment, a housing crisis, a frozen financial system and no consumer confidence. In that case, a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt would do better.
“… It was his jaunty enthusiasm and his willingness to try almost anything to break the back of the Great Depression that mattered most. It had to -- after all, in the end, nothing worked.
“…The New Deal did not end the Depression. World War II did.” FDR as a Model for Obama
“Enough Lincoln. More FDR. This is my shorthand advice to Barack Obama, who in several interviews has talked about wanting to emulate Abraham Lincoln….but …high unemployment, a housing crisis, a frozen financial system and no consumer confidence. In that case, a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt would do better.
“… It was his jaunty enthusiasm and his willingness to try almost anything to break the back of the Great Depression that mattered most. It had to -- after all, in the end, nothing worked.
“…The New Deal did not end the Depression. World War II did.” FDR as a Model for Obama
