The New Yorker: George Packer has a new article entitled "The New Liberalism," comparing Barack Obama and F.D.R.
Packer was one of the centrist liberal cheerleaders for the invasion of Iraq.
He's a graduate of Yale (1982).
Time: Peter Beinart has a new article entitled "The New Liberal Order," comparing Barack Obama and F.D.R.
Beinart was one of the centrist liberal cheerleaders for the invasion of Iraq.
He's a graduate of Yale (1993).
Are these guys sleeping together or something?
Evidently under a portrait of FDR.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Is There an Echo in Here?
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6 comments:
Yalies... what are you going to do?
Where are the hot-shot Columbia liberal writers? Why doesn't the New Yorker have a Columbia writer?
And Allen Ginsberg is dead.
I'm extremely alarmed by all the articles and tv stories comparing Obama to various prior great Presidents and political figures - and I'm alarmed by anyone who pays attention to this crap. The unalterable difference between Obama and past figures is this: Obama lives in an age where the media create a person's past and reputation before they ever have to earn it. The reputation becomes the acconplisment. This could destroy Obama (and the US, though he won't fall for it. It's more of the non-news that dominates jouralism. So far, President Obama doesn't exist.
Joe Stiglitz is always opining on globalization and economics on behalf of Columbia, isn't he?
Boola, Boola, Boola, Boola,
Boola, Boola, Boola, Boola,
When we're through with those men of Harvard,
They will holler "Boola, Boo,
Rah, Rah, Rah,
Yale, Eli Yale!
I wouldn't put too much stock in these Iraq-misquided Yalies. FDR was a Harvard man, Obama undergrad at Columbia, right?
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing some vigorous FDR-type action out of Obama in the first 100 days a-la-FDR, would you? We could use a new New Deal, or at least some salvage of whatever is left from the old one.
I'll say this for those guys, they're better than the crew over at Newsweek, with John Meacham warning about Obama trying to govern a center-right nation, that Milton Friedman-esque Robert Samuelson, and that globalization cheerleader Fareed Zakaria.
Paul, I think the historic nature of Obama's victory may be leading to some of this need to link him to previous "historic" presidencies. And some of it is the usual media overhype after a big win. You see this in sports all the time. Someone plays one really good game and suddenly he's being compared to the great Hall-of-Famers. At least until he throws three interceptions in the next game.
People are excited. So, yes, they're trying to find some expression for what they're feeling - no matter that Obama hasn't even taken office yet.
Also, the PTSD of 8 horrible years of Bush is leading to some of this. I've never seen the public and the media so ready to coronate the new king. Even foreign leaders are openly treating him as if he'd already taken office. We're all so desperate to end the Bush apocalypse.
Also, I think the FDR thing is because of the terrible economic situation. There are some historic parallels, though I think they're being blown out of proportion.
But why two big centrist liberal writers would come up with the same theme and almost exactly same titles and same images for their articles is really weird.
Jeff,
I would like to see Obama pass a major infrastructure program. We've gone far, far too long in this country not taking care of . . . our country.
There are some good folks at Newsweek - I like Howard Fineman, Jonathan Alter and Richard Wolffe. They show up on MSNBC a lot - and I think they've been some of the better commentators during the election.
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