In 1933, this nation was gripped by fear, but Franklin Roosevelt offered it hope and a willingness to experiment. He tried many things, and some did not work. There were Roosevelt haters, of course, but most people were glad FDR was trying.
Barack Obama did not sugar coat the situation we face, and he has come forward with plans to deal with the crisis. But there was a great difference between Obama's situation and FDR's. Roosevelt had some help in addressing the problem. Obama has faced almost solid Republican opposition and obstruction.
Despite Republican obstruction, much of the nation seems to blame Obama for the crisis and has forgotten that republican policies brought about the great recession and the near collapse of the financial system.
Roosevelt had to face the opposition of right-wing fanatics like Father Charles Coughlin ande Dr. Francis Townshend. Both at least offered, alternative economic plans-- however unorthodox and unworkable they probably were. But their following was not nearly as strong as the right wing surge we now see.
Today's right wing opposition offer nothing but a return to the policies that created the crises, and there is evidence that the nation wants that solution.
The obstructionist strategy has paid off, but the key to Republican success was playing to fear and generating it. Recently,we are hearing still another fear-generating argument. John McCain, again displaying the poor looser syndrome, claimed that President Obama has placed our national security in grave danger. The Arizonan offered no evidence, but we can can expect more on this theme.
Republicans created the fear by suggesting that Health Care reform would cripple the economy and kill jobs. Senior citizens were told that health care reform endangers their Medicare benefits even thougfh the Congressional Budget Office reported that the reform extended the life of Medicare. Somehow, we are hearing that the stimulus was another job killer. More fear was generated by Republican claims that financial reform will make banks afraid to make loans.
Fear generates anger against "Others." It is a fact so old thatr Plato wrote about it. With the help of radio shock jocks, cable news and talk shows, and highly developed political organizations, the Right has generated a poisonous climate of fear, hate, and rage.
Polls show that people are more worried about terrorism now than they were several years ago, even though Al Qaeda is weaker and has had no successes in this country. People are more hostiloe to Muslims now than they were after 9/11. More people now think that Obama is a Muslim now than thought so 18 months ago. Although illegal morder crossings have diminished in the last two years, the anti-immigrant frenzy is greater than any time in recent memory.
In Roosevelt's day, the Right played dirty pool--literally spitting on our institutions. General Smedley Butler exposed a plot to use some right wing military officers to oust FDR. Nothing came of it, but there was a Congressional investigation. This time, the GOP polluted the marketplace of ideas in order to gain an advantage in the coming elections. In Congress, it abused the filibuster rule as well as Senate "holds" to derain Obama's legislative plans.
No one reported much about the evidence General Butler presented back in the 1930s, and today the press behaves as though abusing Senate rules and
generating fear and hate are normal things in a democracy.
Fear has so clouded people's thinking that very few seem upset that so many Tea Bagger candidates are talking about secession and using force against the federal government. In seventeen states, there are efforts to "nullify" health care reform. People offering such solutions should not be nominated by major political parties, but there are very few responsible journalists willing to say so.
In November, it is very likely that the electorate will place its seal of approval on these despicable tactics and very doubtful legal theories, and they will become acceptable and respectable. How can a democracy thrive when some people hint that they might have to take up arms to get their way?