There was a time ...

[kentuck]

when Democrats would fight you if you said something bad about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They loved the man. He was their hero. They adopted him into their own families. Perhaps it was what they had to go thru when Roosevelt was their leader? Perhaps it was the struggle of the Great Depression and just being able to survive? But whatever it was, they just liked FDR and did not want to hear anyone talk bad about him.

Perhaps this is a stretch, but I feel that a lot of people feel similarly about Barack Obama. They like him. They have adopted him. They don't want to hear anybody talk bad about him. There is that same strange type of kinship that some people felt with Roosevelt. It is progressing to the same point with Obama where people will fight for him. He is their leader.

Call it whatever you wish. Hero worship? Cult of personality? But it is real. There is a sense of courage and greatness about the man. He is the calm in the face of the hurricane. Being black has absolutely nothing to do with it. It is almost as if he is being called to duty and he recognizes the rising. There is a deep subconscious call to patriotism that beckons him forward.

[VolcanoJen]

1. I feel that way. It's almost like they're attacking my family when they hit him with crap smears...

... that have nothing to do with the everyday lives and struggles of the American people in 2008.

I never thought of it in an FDR way, and that's quite provocative, to make that connection. Nice post, as always, kentuck.

Are you anywhere near Northern Kentucky? We're throwing one helluva bash for Obama tomorrow night, if you wanna come! I could PM you the deets!!!

[kentuck]

4. I wish I could be there...

But I am in Colorado. Because of my screen name, a lot of people assume I live in Kentucky. :-) I was born deep in the hollows of Southeastern KY.

[VolcanoJen]

5. I'll toss back a Crown Royal for you, darlin'

;-)

[kentuck]

7. Why, thankye!

:-)

[grantcart]

2. I agree

BTW did you read the Conrad bio on FDR absolutely fantastic - ironic now that he is in jail. His thesis is that FDR saved the democratic party, capitalism, western civilization and was a much better military leader and commander in chief than Churchill.


I grew up in a family where my relatively gentle parents had an irrational hatred of FDR. Being naturally contrarian I reflexively took the other side and love him more all the time even if he treated Eleanor badly.

[NanceGreggs]

3. wow ...

... that was just ... wow. Beautifully stated and ... wow.


K&R - as if that needed to be said.

[kentuck]

8. Thanks for understanding the post Nance..

Much appreciated.

[BeatleBoot]

6. I Loved When Obama Pulled Us Out of World War II and the Great Depression

FDR = BHO ???


:rofl:

[VolcanoJen]

12. It was so cool when Hillary slew Osama Bin Laden and won the War on Terror

And single-handedly solved the Troubles in Northern Ireland and won the peace in Bosnia.

Turnabout is fair play. 35 years of experience, I'm sure she did something in all of that that is somehow discernible to voters.

:rofl:

[kid a]

9. thank you, kentuck

well said and good post.

Legitimate critiques of his policies and legislation are fair game and debatable, even campaign foibles (I remember hammering him on the dumb "organized desk" comment - no big deal, just didn't think it was a good/smart answer to the question).

But the flag-pin, patriotism, excessive Wright frenzy drives me frikkin crazy.

It will be interesting to see the questioning on MTP Sunday. I wonder if Russert is spending time on the phone with Hannity?

Oh well - you post is correct.

[NanceGreggs]

10. Back for a ...

... :kick: :kick: :kick:

[NanceGreggs]

11. Just hanging out ...

... thought I'd give this another :kick: while I'm here.

[kentuck]

13. For being a visionary...

Thank you very much.

[Lyric]

14. I don't get this at all.

I get no sense of anything but badly-handled politics from the man. There is nothing, absolutely nothing "Great" about him. What great things has he accomplished? Nothing. What inspirational, new ideas does he have, ideas that are different from anything anyone else is offering? None. He's just a typical politician. He is not MLK, he's not JFK, and he's not Jesus returned.

I truly do NOT understand the worshipful attitude of his devotees. I sincerely get the same "Ick" feeling from that as I did from watching the conservative nuts fawn all over Bush the past eight years. I guess I have become deeply distrustful of politicians who inspire that kind of "devotion".

[smoogatz]

15. Yeah. God forbid that a Democratic candidate for president should actually

you know, excite and inspire people. Ick-ola.

[Lyric]

26. I guess I would understand it better if I could find the substance behind it.

I've looked at the unbiased stuff--the policies, positions and goals listed on his website, and at ontheissues.com. I've examined his speeches, and the only "vibe" I got was the creepy-preacher vibe that makes me automatically suspicious of whoever's using it.

I guess I just don't have the right mental receptors or something. :shrug:

[smoogatz]

30. I think he's the best available choice.

I've seen him speak in person and he is very, very good. I teach at a regional university and recently polled the students in my big freshman comp class: out of 50, 48 were passionate Obama supporters, the other two liked Ron Paul! I haven't seen a candidate who can galvanize young voters like this since RFK, as I said downthread. I think if the Democratic party chooses Hillary, it makes the strategic blunder of the century, throwing away a whole generation of voters. As for substance, I like the fact that Obama's been right on Iraq from the get-go and has an actual plan to get out. I think he's far more likely to lead as a progressive than Hillary, who in practice is a moderate Republican, as was her husband. I think Obama is by far the most intelligent of the three candidates, the quickest study and the best informed, which explains why he's come down on the right side on issue after issue, from Iraq to the idiotic gas-tax holiday. I think Hillary's impulse is pretty obviously to play follow-the-rightwing-narrative, and I've had all of that I can stomach, thank you very much. That said, if Al Gore had run I'd be supporting him.

[kentuck]

17. I guess you get it or you don't?

Some people like him. I don't think it is worship or "devotion". I think some people are looking much deeper than others. It is not just one Democrat against another. It is not that shallow.

[SwampG8r]

29. so using this replies logic

hillary gives you the same "ick" feeling?

[aikoaiko]

16. There can be no more political messiahs in the age or irony and technology.

[Maribelle]

18. Oh please. This nation loved FDR because of what he did for this nation.

He lifted beautiful souls out of abject poverty and the horrors that confronted these people; his strengths and leadership facilitated this nation to become the leader of the world. That's why the loved him then, subsequent generations love him today, and future generations will love him as they learn of the magnificent things he accomplished during his presidency.

Obama has done diddly-squat. I could go on and on about the poor people in his district bamboozled by the slum lord Obama helped out. Or Obama's 'present' votes on key issues. Or Obama's inability to get his story straight about his prior associations. Or, or or... Most love Obama based on a false illusion, and illusion that has been built with a political machine that reflects good-old back room politics. Attempting to compare this to the love of FDR merely reflects shallowness at full throttle.

Obama is not, and never will be, in the same league as the finest leader of the greatest generation. Sorry - it simply is not there.

[kentuck]

20. FDR was an elitist....an aristocrat...

before he was elected President. The times brought out the best of his inner soul. That is why people love him even today. In my opinion, that is what they see in Obama and that is why they like him so much. It is true that he has not accoplished the great deeds of Roosevelt but we are talking about why people like Obama? His supporters might say that the shallowness lies with those that cannot see beyond the surface of politics-as-usual. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper in the well...

[Maribelle]

25. FDR was Governor of New York and Assistant Secretary of the Navy before

he ran for president.

Evidently Obama followers do not want to pay attention to FDR and his strengths, and merely try to attach Obama to his coattails with a ride based false illusions.

[livingmadness]

19. A brilliant post kentuck

and totally in line with my feeling. I've heard many who have met him find him to be a very special human being. The whole 'once in a generation candidate' - and idea I completely endorse!

[Dogmudgeon]

21. Excellent choice of lipstick on that (metaphorical) pig.

Hillary is running because she is a power-craving monster.

Obama is running because "there is a deep subconscious call to patriotism that beckons him forward".

Man, that is some reframing! Prof. Lakoff has taught his lessons well!

--p!
"Perhaps this is a stretch ..."

[kentuck]

22. Your assumptions are in your words.

Nobody said Hillary was a "power-craving monster"? As someone stated a couple of days ago, "You don't have to be against one to be for the other." I think Hillary is a great candidate. But when all the fruit is put in the basket, Obama comes out ahead, in my humble opinion. When we put everything, everything, into perspective, including past records, our nation's history, the ability to communicate, the ability to unite, and the innate ability to lead, I think Obama comes out ahead.

[smoogatz]

23. I'm old enough to remember Bobby Kennedy, and the real sense

of excitement people had about him and his campaign. They were genuinely grateful he was running. He was against the war and he was great at connecting with people; a natural. Obama's not RFK, but I think people do see the possibility of greatness in him.

[Cooley Hurd]

24. FDR was a hero in my boyhood home...

His pic was on the wall and my Mom would tell us what it was like during the Depression. During that time, her father (my Grandfather) was a handyman (with too much of a taste for alcohol), and work dried up (pardon the pun;)) My grandmother was a maid for the local wealthy people (including the abolitionist and sufferage activist Emily Howland) so they had a meager income. When FDR was elected, he made it a point to communicate directly with the American people often, to soothe their fears. My mother said that she felt that FDR was a second father to her and her siblings.

Fast-forward to 2008. We're aguably at the most frightening time in my lifetime. The economy is at the precipice of a meltdown akin to the Depression. The middle-class is shrinking. Our stature in the world is at its lowest. Corporations have infiltrated our government, gaming the system in their favor. And, of course, global warming.

The next President can only do better than the last one, be it Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, and will likely be judged as a great President if for the only reason that they followed the worst president into office.

[mtnsnake]

27. Let's wait to see if he actually does anything before he's christened the 2nd coming of FDR & JFK

Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?

[Annces]

28. We will see if he gets elected

It could be the days of the hero are over, and we must be our own heroes.

[TBF]

31. I like his message of inclusion -

after 8 years of the class divide getting worse and worse it is nice that someone is willing to not only bridge the gap, but also try to unite people despite race and other divisive factors. He may not be a policy wonk, or political elite, but perhaps this mixed-race man with a big heart just might be able to get America working again. Great post.