Great post. I love the connection between TR's athleticism with his staff and Jed's trivia. Jed really is quite TR. I liked The Roosevelts documentary- but I didn't see the final two eps because they aired during my family's emergency. I hope to catch them later.
Like Jed, Teddy wore an academic hat (historian, naturalist), was not only obsessed with nature but considered an appreciation of nature as a mark of good character, monopolized conversations, etc. From what I've seen of BSG, FDR and Laura Roslin play or *are* quiet listeners and pay so much sincere attention to the opposition making their case that the opposition feels like they're convincing FDR/Laura, but then, Laura/FDR just quietly do what they think is best which can leave the opposition feeling cheated. Jed and TR can't quite play that game because they can't control their impulse to opinion-belch to all and sundry.
Obama's psyche is pretty inscrutable. There was a lot of chatter early in his presidency that he aspired to have an FDR-like New Deal in his stimulus package and health care reform. That never happened and that could be a similarity between Jed and Obama if they both strove for an FDR transformative presidency that never materialized based on the men and the times. However, I don't know if Obama actually wanted an FDR transformative presidency or these grand ambitions were imputed on to him by the media out of Obama-worship or the desperate panic in the darkest days of the Great Recession or right-wing hysteria about Obama as a radical figure.
Obama, like Jed, is more of a compromiser than FDR. And unlike Jed and FDR, Obama doesn't wade into the weeds of legislative reform and basically delegated the stimulus and Affordable Care Act to Congressional Democrats.
FDR and Laura Roslin play or *are* quiet listeners and pay so much sincere attention to the opposition making their case that the opposition feels like they're convincing FDR/Laura, but then, Laura/FDR just quietly do what they think is best which can leave the opposition feeling cheated.
I think that analysis holds up. There's also the never-quite-text reality that she'd obviously developed that skill in a lifetime of nodding along politely with men who are not half as smart as she is. FDR's ability to do so came from a very different place, I think - he always felt 100% entitled to be the smartest guy in the room, totally sure that he was the one who was most qualified to make decisions, and so he didn't need to tip his hand by proving how smart or otherwise impressive he was. But it somehow led to quite a similar political style.
Jed and TR can't quite play that game because they can't control their impulse to opinion-belch to all and sundry.
So true. TR really was not great at the "speak softly" part of his famous maxim.
I don't know if Obama actually wanted an FDR transformative presidency or these grand ambitions were imputed on to him by the media out of Obama-worship or the desperate panic in the darkest days of the Great Recession or right-wing hysteria about Obama as a radical figure.
I suspect that was largely projection as well, coming from both the mainstream media and the right-wing echo chamber. And to some degree it was awareness that if ever there was a time that a new New Deal was so clearly needed and therefore possible, it was in 2009/10. Why it didn't happen will be tough to say for at least another decade, but yeah, part of it was about Obama having a very different approach to politics. There's a lot to be said for that collaborative, consensus-oriented leadership style, but there's also a lot it can't do.
Time will tell on the ACA. It's possible that putting any kind of breaks on the extortionist health insurance industry will turn out to be that first breakthrough toward a more sustainable framework. But in and of itself, it's not radical in the way implementing Social Security was.
Like Jed, Teddy wore an academic hat (historian, naturalist), was not only obsessed with nature but considered an appreciation of nature as a mark of good character, monopolized conversations, etc. From what I've seen of BSG, FDR and Laura Roslin play or *are* quiet listeners and pay so much sincere attention to the opposition making their case that the opposition feels like they're convincing FDR/Laura, but then, Laura/FDR just quietly do what they think is best which can leave the opposition feeling cheated. Jed and TR can't quite play that game because they can't control their impulse to opinion-belch to all and sundry.
Obama's psyche is pretty inscrutable. There was a lot of chatter early in his presidency that he aspired to have an FDR-like New Deal in his stimulus package and health care reform. That never happened and that could be a similarity between Jed and Obama if they both strove for an FDR transformative presidency that never materialized based on the men and the times. However, I don't know if Obama actually wanted an FDR transformative presidency or these grand ambitions were imputed on to him by the media out of Obama-worship or the desperate panic in the darkest days of the Great Recession or right-wing hysteria about Obama as a radical figure.
Obama, like Jed, is more of a compromiser than FDR. And unlike Jed and FDR, Obama doesn't wade into the weeds of legislative reform and basically delegated the stimulus and Affordable Care Act to Congressional Democrats.
Reply
I think that analysis holds up. There's also the never-quite-text reality that she'd obviously developed that skill in a lifetime of nodding along politely with men who are not half as smart as she is. FDR's ability to do so came from a very different place, I think - he always felt 100% entitled to be the smartest guy in the room, totally sure that he was the one who was most qualified to make decisions, and so he didn't need to tip his hand by proving how smart or otherwise impressive he was. But it somehow led to quite a similar political style.
Jed and TR can't quite play that game because they can't control their impulse to opinion-belch to all and sundry.
So true. TR really was not great at the "speak softly" part of his famous maxim.
I don't know if Obama actually wanted an FDR transformative presidency or these grand ambitions were imputed on to him by the media out of Obama-worship or the desperate panic in the darkest days of the Great Recession or right-wing hysteria about Obama as a radical figure.
I suspect that was largely projection as well, coming from both the mainstream media and the right-wing echo chamber. And to some degree it was awareness that if ever there was a time that a new New Deal was so clearly needed and therefore possible, it was in 2009/10. Why it didn't happen will be tough to say for at least another decade, but yeah, part of it was about Obama having a very different approach to politics. There's a lot to be said for that collaborative, consensus-oriented leadership style, but there's also a lot it can't do.
Time will tell on the ACA. It's possible that putting any kind of breaks on the extortionist health insurance industry will turn out to be that first breakthrough toward a more sustainable framework. But in and of itself, it's not radical in the way implementing Social Security was.
Reply
Leave a comment