YEARNING FOR ROOSEVELTISM. With the Earths flora and fauna simmering in a human-engineered planetary crockpot, and in a time of ghastly beheadings of Innocents, school girls kidnapped en masse, rampant know-nothing denialists of all sorts, embarrassing wealth disparity and other self-inflicted human ills too discouraging to enumerate, remembering the Roosevelts is a blessed reminder of our much better selves and our potential for good, even greatness. These three super-humans possessed unbounded intellect, altruism, energy, charm and perseverance. Yes, their faults were writ large, as spouses and parents and in Teddys maniacal war bloodlust. Though born in luxury, they devoted themselves to the common folk and common good. Their leadership unified, rallied and inspired the nation to giant leaps, and their creative vision transformed society and the world. Theres no need to pick a favorite, but I especially revere Eleanor, who never sought fame or power for her own benefit, and endured as a looming conscience for the ages, almost always unerring in the right, for people she had little in common with except their humanity. (I say almost always unerring because she condoned the atomic bombing of Japanese civilians.) Despite her many achievements, sometimes her pleas were ignored, her efforts foiled. But she never gave up and, in the long run, the world gravitated ever nearer to her splendid ideals. If the Roosevelts could preserve magnificent natural wonders, rein in big business, elevate working people, enact Social Security and defeat Hitler and Hirohito, cant we rise to the challenges of our day?
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 00:01:08 +0000
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