Fear and Panic - Obama's greatest allies

I have an old friend I chat with from time to time on Facebook. I've found that our discussions help to clarify my thoughts. Such was this case when I was speaking about Obama, Rahm Emanuel and FDR. Suddenly, the pieces all fit together.

Emanuel is well known for his statement, "A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste." Of course, he was referring to the economic crisis of the Great Recession. But, as I realized while chatting with my friend, it was more than the economy; it was the panic that economic fear engendered.

In a crisis, those who keep their heads are usually the winners. If you've ever seen the movie "The Unforgiven" with Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman, you'll probably recall they speak about this. It's not the best shot or the one who is fastest with a gun that wins in a gun fight. It's the one who keeps his head - assesses the situation coolly and aims carefully, the one who doesn't shoot himself in the foot.

Without fear and panic, Obama probably would not have been elected, Obamacare would have been DOA, Congress would have reacted appropriately from the start to all these czars and agencies setting up a shadow government. We wouldn't have sat back while our president went around the world back-seat apologizing for our history.


I'm clearly not a big fan of FDR's but, he was right when he told America, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He was telling people not to panic. FDR believed he could achieve his aims through the American system. Oh, he intended to circumvent the Constitution from time to time, but he was still an American at heart.

Obama hasn't truly tried to calm the waters, has he? Why not? Panic and fear are Obama's greatest allies. Panic and fear is what convinced people to buy into his "Hope and Change" in 2008, even though people didn't really realize what they were buying. All they knew was the economy was in the toilet and that Bush, utterly demonized by the lamestream media, was to blame.

Our job, between now and November of 2012, is to clear away the fog of fear and panic. People need to see clearly even if they're afraid. They need to realize, if they aim carefully in the ballot booth they won't shoot themselves in the foot again. FDR was right. Fear is the one thing we must fear the most.