Yes - an accurate summation.

I still find it offensive to think of these two persons in the same breath.

FDR gaves us ---

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

Bush gaves us ---

The only thing we have to fear is ourselves and all the other little scares Dick and I dream up.

For a christian Bush certainly has little understanding of doctrine. Christian's put their faith in God - and God tells us to fear nothing - but trust in him - this is certainly contrary to terror threat W.

Compare these policies with those of the current president.

Is a comparison even possible?

A.B.

Ye, Tazvil04, you sure are correct in your comments.

Right now, Mr. Bush is running around the country like a snake oil salesman, shilling his own brand of snake oil, which is - how imperative it is for future generations to embrace the Bush Doctrine of Social Security reform.

When FDR originated Social Security in 1935 , it was on the premise that S.S. was to be an insurance program with payments certain.

The present occupant of the White House is not content to make a few necessary adjustments to this program.

What is more suitable to him is to have the U.S. go deeper and deeper into debt in order to promote his plan to have seniors play the stock market.

Wall street brokers endorse this whole heartedly. Go figure.

Also in 1935, as part of Roosevelt's New Deal, he pushed through heavier taxes on the wealthy, new controls over banks, a great number of which had gone belly up, causing thousands if not millions of depositors to lose every dime they had saved with no recourse. My own parents lost every cent of their savings because of this.

He also put into place new controls over utilities. If the utility companies want less controls why do they not welcome free competition? How many utility companies are there in your town?

The banks in my town caused the city ( Cleveland, OH ) to go into default in the 1970's because our mayor would not sell the municipal power company to the one and only and powerful power company. The mayor's name ---- Dennis Kucinich.
For more details go to the thread " Life in Our America " page 5, posting # 120.

Franklin Roosevelt also pledged the United States to the " good neighbor " policy which transformed the Monroe Doctrine from a unilateral American manifesto into arrangements for mutual action against aggressors.

Compare these policies with those of the current president.

Is a comparison even possible?

A.B.

Bush demeans and attacks and belittles.

This shows the smallness of him as a leader and as a person.

He is afraid of ideas and principles...and it shows.

And here, I want to note that the Republicans have kicked up their "grass-roots" internet machine once again, sending out an "article" that was sent around during the campaign season, WHERE FDR IS ATTACKED for having attacked Germany, WITHOUT PROVOCATION, which of course, caused a lot of needless American deaths, and used up a lot of needed American resources, while the HUMANITARIAN BUSH restored liberty, and freedom and justice and GOD, of course, to the hapless people of Iraq, in less time than it took Hillary Clinton to dig up some Rose Law Firm records, or some such crap as that!

FDR IS A WAR CRIMINAL is the message that comes across, and that e-mail is being sent all over America, via the conduit, or more appropriately, "RUNNING SEWER" that the Republicans have turned the internet into, on behalf of George W. Bush, their GOD on earth.

!

And here, I want to note that the Republicans have kicked up their "grass-roots" internet machine once again, sending out an "article" that was sent around during the campaign season, WHERE FDR IS ATTACKED for having attacked Germany, WITHOUT PROVOCATION, which of course, caused a lot of needless American deaths, and used up a lot of needed American resources, while the HUMANITARIAN BUSH restored liberty, and freedom and justice and GOD, of course, to the hapless people of Iraq, in less time than it took Hillary Clinton to dig up some Rose Law Firm records, or some such crap as that!

FDR IS A WAR CRIMINAL is the message that comes across, and that e-mail is being sent all over America, via the conduit, or more appropriately, "RUNNING SEWER" that the Republicans have turned the internet into, on behalf of George W. Bush, their GOD on earth.

FDR IS A WAR CRIMINAL!

FDR MADE AGGRESSIVE WAR ON THE POOR PEACE-LOVING PEOPLE OF GERMANY!

HE FIRE-BOMBED THEM, WHEN ALL THEY REALLY WANTED WAS HUGS AND KISSES!

FDR IS A MONSTER!

Classic stuff!

And people obviously believe it, because someone sent me the e-mail, to show me just how wrong I am in condemning George W. Bush!

Battle lines are being drawn, here in OUR America, and make no mistake about it, folks!

The only question is that eternal one: WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

And if you aren't with FDR, take a good hard look at what he was opposing back then, and guess what, THAT IS WHO YOU ARE A PART OF TODAY!

SO!

Be proud, I guess, if you can only stand the stink!

OF DEATH, that surrounds you!

This is unbelievable, if true. I wonder if this might be a hoax, making the rounds.

Like every president, FDR had his detractors, but basically, he was so liked, in fact almost revered by the public.

This type of mud slinging could be very counter productive.

When FDR died, I was still in the South Pacific, but from all accounts that I read, and also saw in the news reels that were very popular at the time, there was a huge amount of national mourning.

People shocked.

Thousands and thousands crying in the streets.

FDR was a true icon.

Unlike certain others.

RECALL GEORGE BUSH'

A.B.

This is unbelievable, if true.

I wonder if this might be a hoax, making the rounds.

RECALL GEORGE BUSH'

A.B.

It is so sad that the Republican Party hasn't the political courage to deal honestly with the American people or Bush...

tazvil, come, come, here!

Deal honestly?

THIS IS HARD-BALL POLITICS!

IT IS ABOUT POWER!

IT IS ABOUT BEING DOMINANT!

Words right from the mouth of the "ARCHITECT", Karl Rove!

You keep talking that "truth and honesty" crap, and why someone might just accuse you of being me!

Sorry - I come from the school of idealism or wishful reality.

I thought I was awakened in 1988 when I came to the conclusion that statesmanship did not begin until you were elected - meaning you do whatever you need to to get elected - but once elected you have an obligation to govern based upon your principles and convictions in the best interests of all Americans.

I believe this is how our greatest presidents governed.

However, with Bush - I believe we have slid into the zero sum game of politics where Bush does whatever he can to advance the political and partisan goals he has - no matter what effect it has on the rest or the most of America...

This machiavellian display has perverted the American system of governance and at the same time our international standing in the world. 

And well said, tazvil!

Well said, indeed!

George W. Bush is out to dismantle OUR America, and re-make it in his image, which will be in essence a return to the politics of the 1880's and 1890's, when the Jay Goulds and the ROBBER BARONS were KINGS, and the common folks OWED their souls to the COMPANY STORE!

Robber Baron is a perfect analogy - except the difference is none of the robber barons were ever president - they may have owned presidents - but they never actually controlled the institutions of government.

Dangerous precedent.

It's easier to understand when you remember that Cheney is the organ grinder; Bush is merely the monkey.

In 1932 When FDR was elected president, he recognized that what was needed badly was for the people to have jobs and to have confidence in the government.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to the presidency in 1932, it was on a promise to restore the confidence of the American people and to bring America out of the Great Depression.

Roosevelt stated in his first inaugural address that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself."

His objectives were to calm the economic fears of Americans .......

Immediately after his election, Roosevelt began to formulate policies to bring about relief from the economic hardships the American people were experiencing.

These programs became known as the New Deal, a reference taken from a campaign speech in which he promised a "new deal for the American people."

The New Deal focused on three general goals: relief for the needy, economic recovery, and financial reform.

During the One Hundred Days, Congress enacted 15 major pieces of legislation establishing New Deal agencies and programs.

Among these was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which was established to protect depositors from losing their savings in the event of bank failure.

Another program was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which put thousands of men to work on projects in national forests, parks, and public lands.

A.B.

I have met older Americans who were in CCC camps in their younger days, and everyone of them was very thankful for what that experience of being productive with their lives meant to them.

They thought it was uplifting, and gave them a confidence and belief in themselves as young people that carried through into their older lives, which is the point they were at when I met some of them.

Near me, up in the mountains, we have a CCC dam, and I go up there every now and then, just to sit there, because it is a place of quiet and natural beauty.

That dam also quieted a lot of floods that could have been, BUT FOR ....

SO!

It was not just "make work"!

Under this Bush Co., the economic fears of Americans are being revived, and big time.

And as to confidence in government?

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

I can't tell you HOW MANY bridges, tunnels, dams, public libraries, City and County buildings in and around Los Angeles have a 1930's date in the cornerstone.

I think we have a small dam on the Colorado that made agriculture possible in the southwest.

It also made Las Vegas possible.

The law of unintended consequences.

George Bush has recently started comparing himself to one of our former great presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"The only thing we have to fear is... fear itself" - FDR

"The only thing we have is... fear itself" - GWB

I can't tell you HOW MANY bridges, tunnels, dams, public libraries, City and County buildings in and around Los Angeles have a 1930's date in the cornerstone.

I think we have a small dam on the Colorado that made agriculture possible in the southwest. It also made Las Vegas possible. The law of unintended consequences.

FDR the "Bright Father".

GWB the "Dark Father".

You are too kind to GWB.

A.B.

I remeber during the 2000 Republican Convention he had mentioned that there was another Geoge W that led this country...  some how trying to equate himslef to George Washington.  It made me sick to my stomach.  This guy is so full of himself.  His legacy is failure and low standards and he needs to start getting used to it.

Okay, I will.

SLOGAN:

George W Bush has recently taken to comparing himself to Franklin D Roosevelt. But the only thing they have in common is Social Security:
FDR created it, and GWB is determined to finish it off.

Is this okay?

George Bush has recently started comparing himself to one of our former great presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This president was a president during my younger years and also during my military service in World War II.

M. Bush would be wise to not compare himself with this president.

F.D.R. as he was known to the public was one who leveled with Americans.

Here is one example.

This article written by Columnist Bob Herbert of the N.Y. Times

April 18, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
A Radical in the White House
By BOB HERBERT

ast week - April 12, to be exact - was the 60th anniversary of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "I have a terrific headache," he said, before collapsing at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga. He died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage on the 83rd day of his fourth term as president. His hold on the nation was such that most Americans, stunned by the announcement of his death that spring afternoon, reacted as though they had lost a close relative.

That more wasn't made of this anniversary is not just a matter of time; it's a measure of the distance the U.S. has traveled from the egalitarian ideals championed by F.D.R. His goal was "to make a country in which no one is left out." That kind of thinking has long since been consigned to the political dumpster. We're now in the age of Bush, Cheney and DeLay, small men committed to the concentration of big bucks in the hands of the fortunate few.

To get a sense of just how radical Roosevelt was (compared with the politics of today), consider the State of the Union address he delivered from the White House on Jan. 11, 1944. He was already in declining health and, suffering from a cold, he gave the speech over the radio in the form of a fireside chat.

After talking about the war, which was still being fought on two fronts, the president offered what should have been recognized immediately for what it was, nothing less than a blueprint for the future of the United States. It was the clearest statement I've ever seen of the kind of nation the U.S. could have become in the years between the end of World War II and now. Roosevelt referred to his proposals in that speech as "a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race or creed."

Among these rights, he said, are:

"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation.

"The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation.

"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living.

"The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad.

"The right of every family to a decent home.

"The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.

"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment.

"The right to a good education."

I mentioned this a few days ago to an acquaintance who is 30 years old. She said, "Wow, I can't believe a president would say that."

Roosevelt's vision gave conservatives in both parties apoplexy in 1944 and it would still drive them crazy today. But the truth is that during the 1950's and 60's the nation made substantial progress toward his wonderfully admirable goals, before the momentum of liberal politics slowed with the war in Vietnam and the election in 1968 of Richard Nixon.

It wouldn't be long before Ronald Reagan was, as the historian Robert Dallek put it, attacking Medicare as "the advance wave of socialism" and Dick Cheney, from a seat in Congress, was giving the thumbs down to Head Start. Mr. Cheney says he has since seen the light on Head Start. But his real idea of a head start is to throw government money at people who already have more cash than they know what to do with. He's one of the leaders of the G.O.P. gang (the members should all wear masks) that has executed a wholesale transfer of wealth via tax cuts from working people to the very rich.

Roosevelt was far from a perfect president, but he gave hope and a sense of the possible to a nation in dire need. And he famously warned against giving in to fear.

The nation is now in the hands of leaders who are experts at exploiting fear, and indifferent to the needs and hopes, even the suffering, of ordinary people.

"The test of our progress," said Roosevelt, "is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Sixty years after his death we should be raising a toast to F.D.R. and his progressive ideas. And we should take that opportunity to ask: How in the world did we allow ourselves to get from there to here?


E-mail: bobherb@nytimes.com

"The only thing we have to fear is... fear itself" - FDR

"The only thing we have is... fear itself" - GWB

Well said.

The tragedy to the country is that this imposter actually believes that he belongs right up there with the the great presidents.

A.B.

"Natural gas is hemispheric!"

"I like to call it hemispheric in nature, because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods!"

- George W. Bush, the ULTIMATE president of the United States, Austin, Texas; December 20, 2000

And for all you people out there who are trying to compare FDR to George W. Bush, I'll bet FDR never would have thought up something like this to say to the world, while he was president!

Now, what does that say about FDR?

'What does that say about FDR?"

Well, it says that he was a wise, articulate, intelligent man!

Now GW Bush on the other hand......

QUOTE(Livyjr @ Apr 20 2005, 06:21 AM)
"Natural gas is hemispheric!"

"I like to call it hemispheric in nature, because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods!"

- George W. Bush, the ULTIMATE president of the United States, Austin, Texas; December 20, 2000

Well done, amy!

Words fail me.

A.B.

How on earth did GW Bush get through Yale Univ.? He graduated with a "C" average, didn't he? Not that grades are necessarily an indicator of intelligence, but... in this case I do wonder...

When you have an elitist father who is an alumnus ( or is it alumni ) of Yale and continues to send big bucks to the school, it is a given that you are going to " get through " Yale or practically any other university.

That's also how he shows up with a ' C' average. Did you think he really was THAT smart?

If it was you, Amy, - and I'm pretty sure it was - who left those muffins on the table, thank you. I chomped down two of them and left a couple for anyone else who came by.

I plan to bring Beacon over to the place one of these days. He may not want to leave.

A.B.

When you have an elitist father who is an alumnus ( or is it alumni ) of Yale and continues to send big bucks to the school, it is a given that you are going to " get through " Yale or practically any other university.

That's also how he shows up with a ' C' average. Did you think he really was THAT smart?

If it was you, Amy, - and I'm pretty sure it was - who left those muffins on the table, thank you. I chomped down two of them and left a couple for anyone else who came by.

I plan to bring Beacon over to the place one of these days. He may not want to leave.

A.B.

amy, I am going to respond to this on A.B.'s Corners.

Chances are you will find the existance of a "BUSH HALL". Perhaps Beacon will wish to relieve himself there.

Chances are you will find the existance of a "BUSH HALL". Perhaps Beacon will wish to relieve himself there.