Today, I finished reading No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin. :::Applause::: It is quite a book. Weighing in at about 638 pages, plus 100 pages or so of references, it was a daunting task. However, it flows very well and the chapters are broken up into subsections, so it makes it easy to pick it up and put it down and not lose the thread of the narration. I recommend it for all.
It was enlightening to learn just how liberal FDR was, especially for his time. And then Eleanor was even more liberal than he was. She was friends with this guy who was in this youth socialist organization, and she tried to get him installed in the administration. Franklin would do something and then she would be on his ass, telling him how he didn't do enough and not to give up the social justice causes they had fought for during the New Deal. Social justice...when was the last time a major politician even said those two words? Then I read that Obama is going to cave on extending the Bush tax cuts. According to DKG, (we're BFF so I can call her DKG) at the end of World War II Americans who were in the lowest 50% of income earners increased their portion of the income pie by 16%, while the top 20% of income earners saw theirs drop by 6%. It was to quote "the greatest-indeed, the only-redistribution of income downward in the nation's history." And here we are 65 years later, watching the gap between the rich and the poor increase to absurd levels, and about to give people who make more than $2 million dollars a year almost $330,000 more annually. I mean I'm pretty sure that the 50's were a good time for the U.S. economy, and I don't think it is any coincidence that it was probably the strongest point in history for the middle class.
I know that during his election, Barack Obama made a big deal about reading Team of Rivals, but I think that he should be reading this book. Lincoln isn't the example that you need, it's FDR. He was a liberal who stuck to his guns and turned out to be a pretty awesome president. Oh yea, and he got elected four times.
No comments:
Post a Comment