tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post6160664344471317893..comments2024-03-27T07:18:39.229-05:00Comments on In Medias Res: Defending Malaise (or, Lenten Thoughts on Obamanomics)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-50174189363087209802009-02-28T18:03:00.000-06:002009-02-28T18:03:00.000-06:00I liked the post Russ. I thought the speech was gr...I liked the post Russ. I thought the speech was great, and liked his emphasis on jobs, energy, healthcare, and education aswell. He articulated very well his reasoning for what he is doing and the way he is doing it (as you have pointed out with the quotes). Lately I've been reading about French history. Just from the little that I've read, President Obama reminds me of Charles De Gaulle in certain ways. <BR/><BR/>First, De Gaulle was an excellent communicator. His clear communication skills saved him many times from political defeat and helped him succeed. He was very good at speaking directly to the people. <BR/><BR/>Second, he wanted France to lead the world in technological advancements. De Gaulle dumped massive amounts of money into R&D for new forms of energy and other technologies. <BR/><BR/>Third, De Gaulle wanted France to lead as a society. He did this with pragmatic and in certain cases moderate policies. For example in his economics, he found a middle road for France between American Capitalism and Russian Communism. <BR/><BR/>As far as President Obama goes:<BR/><BR/>First, he is an excellent communicator and has demonstrated his ability to clearly lay out what he believes and why. <BR/><BR/>Second, Obama wants America to get back on track as the leader in technological advancements. He is doing this already with the massive spending bill that was just passed. <BR/><BR/>Third, Obama wants America to lead as a society, and I believe that Obama is centrist and pragmatic in his approach to this. Obama is a keynsian (that's OK). He is not a socialist or Marxist.<BR/><BR/>It's been fun reading about France and thinking about their last 50 years. It makes me think about where we're at, how we are similar, and how we're different.Badenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00478031918981826638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-16780548148642309242009-02-25T21:10:00.000-06:002009-02-25T21:10:00.000-06:00Hector,I agree that Obama is probably not at all h...Hector,<BR/><BR/>I agree that Obama is probably not at all humble, which makes it all the more unreasonable to wish to have seen some from him in this speech. There are good reasons for this speech <I>not</I> to have been a humble one, and in a way the crisis is probably a good match for Obama's particular strengths (cool confidence, mostly). Still, I had my hopes.<BR/><BR/>Mormons do not, as a church, honor Ash Wednesday or indeed any of the liturgical calendar, besides the obvious (because absorbed into the civic and commercial mainstream) Christmas and Easter. I think that's unfortunate, but then, I'm a weird, high-church Lutheran/Mormon hybrid. (Not literally, but if you look at my own personal religious beliefs, that seems to be about where I would fit.) Besides that, there's the fact that my wife and I love holidays and marking our lives through holidays, religious or otherwise.Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-66237029127813975812009-02-25T20:19:00.000-06:002009-02-25T20:19:00.000-06:00I agree with your sentiments, but unfortunately I ...I agree with your sentiments, but unfortunately I don't see any reason to believe that humility is one of Obama's strong points. I mean, really, the man started running for President after holding national office for about 2 1/2 years (and it's not like he had a major career as a technocrat or civil servant before then). There are many good things about Obama, but humility isn't one of them (at least at this stage, who knows he may 'grow' in office). <BR/><BR/>I second your feelings about Lincoln's Second Inaugural. What a brilliant, and profound, meditation on U.S. history contained within such a short speech- in the kind of interpreting-history-theologically tradition of people like Ezekiel, Isaiah and St. Augustine. Unfortunately, they don't make presidential speeches like that anymore. <BR/><BR/>Just out of curiosity, do the LDS follow Lent and the other seasons of the liturgical calendar?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com