2/27/2009

In which I try to talk about politics and rhetoric

I'm kind of sick of hearing about Obama's rhetoric as not living up to his message of "hope" and is different than what he campaigned. No kidding. Do we really need to have a lecture on rhetoric being dependent on context and audience? I like President Obama, but I also acknowledge that he has the prerogative (and I think responsibility) to use his powers of rhetoric pragmatically.

Which leads to Obama being the new FDR. I mean, he's already being put on that pedestal so many complain about. FDR was so popular and looked up to during his led to a democratic party reign for years after his presidency. Basically, Roosevelt had the advantage of taking office after an extremely unpopular president during a time of economic concern and then doing as much as possible as soon as he got in office. Sounds pretty familiar.

I'm just not sure what all the complaining is doing. It's healthy to find fault within government so that it's held responsible for its actions. It's good to understand how people are trying to manipulate you with their rhetoric. But it's also lame to complain about things that are vague and confusing and no can even know. I don't know how the stimulus package will work. I just know that economics are complicated and that there are too many factors that go into to really have a vehement stance on it. Who knows what more government spending will do? Just like with FDR, people are looking for a solution, so why knock a nice man who speaks well to get something done?

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