Obama: "FDR Was Called a Socialist and a Communist"

[Oilwellian]

Sound familiar?

The president was accused of being "a socialist, not a Democrat." His plan was described as "undisguised state socialism." One critic, who controlled some powerful media outlets, suggested that communists had infiltrated the president's administration.

Those are some of the attacks that Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced in the 1930s — attacks cited recently by President Barack Obama to emphasize that he's not unique.

Obama has mentioned the Roosevelt comparison several times recently, including during an interview on Late Night with David Letterman on Sept. 21, 2009:

"What's happened is that whenever a president tries to bring about significant changes, particularly during times of economic unease, then there is a certain segment of the population that gets very riled up," Obama said. "FDR was called a socialist and a communist."
Indeed, Roosevelt was called a socialist or a communist many times. Most of that criticism came in the 1930s, when he was enacting programs intended to pull the country out of the Great Depression.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/22/barack-obama/obama-roosevelt-socialist-communist/

Obama was also called a Socialist and Communist during his 2008 campaign, hence his many comments about FDR being accused of the same thing.

What is unique about this campaign season, it is now Democrats who are leveling those accusations toward a Democratic candidate, and have no qualms with joining Republicans and embracing their inner McCarthyism.

How embarrassing for the Democratic party.

[Ferd Berfel]

1. We need more FDR and LESS Corporatism

[libdem4life]

2. He knows only too well the extent to which certain factions will go to win.

I see him backing away from Hillary and speaking things that are more in line with Bernie. Perhaps a bit of deja vu.

Her emotional instability (I've noted the silly, silly tokens she has tried with minorities here lately) including this "hastily announced" Town Hall in Iowa, comes to the fore when seriously challenged.

At the same time, she's wrapping herself in his legacy. Not sure that's what he wants. He'd probably rather a little push back from Bernie than an all out hug from Hillary.

[Go Vols]

3. K&R

[beam me up scottie]

4. Embarrassing indeed.

[TheBlackAdder]

5. Interesting: The Bush campaign called Bill Clinton a Social Engineer (Socialist).

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Right-wing author, F. A. Hayek, wrote a book called "The Road to Serfdom." It came down hard on "Social Engineers" that try to mould the government in a manner they see fit, where the ultimate result is an authoritarian state.


Here's an NYT article professing that Bill Clinton was called this by GHWB's campaign:

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/18/us/the-1992-campaign-the-republicans-bush-paints-clinton-as-social-engineer.html

With its disparaging references to Oxford, the 1960's and Mr. Clinton's "economic elite," and its allusions to socialism, the 41-minute speech was redolent with the blue-collar appeals that helped Ronald Reagan lure Democrats to his fold in 1980 and 1984.

Mr. Bush made no attempt today to explain or minimize the economy's present problems. Instead, he argued that the real danger facing the nation is that voters will "grasp change blindly, without considering seriously where these changes will lead us or what they mean in our daily lives."

"At a decisive moment in history comes your choice about who should lead the American economy: the government planner or the entrepreneur, the risk-taker," the President said. "This is the most fundamental disagreement between us: whether the driving engine of growth is government interventionism or entrepreneurial capitalism." Risk-Taker Turned Politician

This really sounds familiar.


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