Everything thats old is new again.

"Great leadership - like great theater - is often about the suspension of disbelief, the audience's surrender of questions, an embrace of hope and redemption"

The above quote taken from Jonathan Alter's incredible book "THE DEFINING MOMENT" refers to FDR's famous quote

"So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

Im reading Alters book as I write this entry and I just keep reading over and over again , things that remind me of today. 1932 seems a lot like 2008. Whereas we are not in as bad shape as 1932 and there are not runs on banks and "Bank Holidays" ( do a search on google about it, its frightening, the word HOLIDAY aint what it means ) An outgoing president with dismal approval ratings. Anger in the country. Lack of trust in the system. 2008 has our country fighting two wars. 1932 had us years away from the defining war of our nation to date. Both men had a strong connection to Hyde Park Chicago ( FDR accepted his nomination for president there and audaciously started work on his inauguration speech ) Obama, who owns a home in the area and has lived there for years celebrated his victory in Hyde Park with 100,000 supporters. Throw in Abe Lincoln and let's face it , Illinois is a very important state in the history of this country.

As a side note, not to be over looked. How many of you knew that Adolf Hitler won the chancellorship of germany on march 5th , 1932? just one day after FDR was sworn in as president? Kind of amazing history right there. I wonder if someone dreadful to earths future history was sworn in on Nov 5th 2008? ( so far it doesnt seem to be the case, thankfully ) Kind of an amazing fact though.

Not being a reporter or even a decent writer and acknowledging the fact that Im a b level elecotronica artist at best I do however think a lot about what's going on in the world and how things DO repeat. History does repeat. It's repeating and right now , President Elect Obama has to build the right team to meet the challenges ahead for all of us. He has a lot of the same things on his plate that FDR had. Bad economy, huge popularity due to an inanely unpopular outgoing president ( hoover and bush jr. = failures), a goal to provide health care for everyone, a view about using energy in different ways. A wish for volunteerism to rise. All really important and defining.

We are headed into a period of history where with a new leader, infused with hope and change we have a chance. I thnk Obama will even take a page out of FDR's book and govern in a very similar fashion. I think he will be even better to be honest. Obama has NO advantages coming into his presidency. Another depression could be likely. struggling auto industry , soon to be higher unemployment numbers. a stagnating economy tat isgoing quickly in reverse. Challenge after challenge after challenge and somehow I think he will be ok. He will make wise choices and try many different things.

One of the center pieces of his speech the night of his victory focused on the fact that he wont always be perfect and that he will make mistakes. He will . So DID FDR , lots of them. But Obama will be straight with us. FDR, although a real politician who pitted his staff members against each other was as well ultimately.Obama will , I think , find a nice balance between personalities in his white house to rule the country. I think a lot of great minds will finally be back on Pennsylvania Ave. Im very excited about the future.

In 1932 there was a huge lack of faith in democracy. I think that's different right now but there is a huge doubt around the country that government can do the right thing. There is more faith in the system now than there was then but there is a lot of cynicism in this nation right now. Even on the heels of Obama's victory. People , especially people who voted against Obama are really looking for failure and waiting for disaster. A woman, from Mississippi who lives in my building ( a Mccain supporter ) said to me, "I have a horrible pit in my stomach, I think this country is finished:. My doorman, a 70 year old veteran and life long republican asked me how much money I made and if I was willing to spread the wealth to him.he further added that this was probably the last president he'd see be elected and that it was official to him that the country had now lost its mind. There is anger about the election outcome around the country. Far more than my benign exposure to it.

With so much going wrong in the economy right now and so much finger pointing I really hope that Obama repeats "THE 100 DAYS" of FDR and shows america they were right in electing him. Its going to be a long process and not all of it is going to be smooth. I do think that he is taking a page out of the FDR book though. how could he not? Do yourself a favor and read Alter's book that I mentioned above. You will be floored by the similarities that I as a novice writer at best tried to point out. Im blown away. I hope the results of an Obama presidency can bare as much fruit as that of FDR's. If so, we are headed towards greatness just lets hope there isn't a GREAT WAR thrown in there. Thankfully there isn't a HITLER lurking in the periphery. Oh wait, there is, His name is Osama and its time for him to be caught. Will be interesting to see if Obama follows through on his Afghanistan promises. Is Osama someone that can even be caught? Very interesting stuff.

check out the book..........history repeats itself. Hopefully this time for the good.

be well,

MOWO!™

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