DubiousPolitics: Man of the Hour

As much I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, there is a certain hysteria that came along with the inauguration of the newest (and probably blackest) president in our nation’s history, there’s no doubt about that.

Here is the moment of truth, though. The moment where the streamers stop flying, the confetti is swept up and Sheppard Fairey sulks his way back into the depths of covert, political propaganda. The moment where every man, woman and child will now have to step back and watch with rampant anticipation whether the ‘Last Scion’, er, ‘Great Hope’ (or whatever other nicknames we have adopted for him), can actually pull off one of the greatest comebacks in history since ’86 Mets in the World Series.

Of course, saying that President Obama is going to have his hands full is a gross understatement and should be taken for more than just a grain of salt. Between the perpetual ‘war zone’ that is the Gaza Strip and a crumbling world economy, the new president is going to have to do a little more than shake a few hands and make music videos with Will.i.am to take us off of this seemingly one-way ticket to oblivion.

It is a tough thing to ask of one person, but I feel that Obama was well aware of his job description before he filled out the application. That is not to say this feat has never been accomplished in our ‘eventful’ past as a free nation.

Enter: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR, for those partial to brevity.

Delano, somewhat of a miser in his earlier days, was instrumental in pulling this country up by its bootstraps out of the economical muck that was the ‘Great Depression’. With the First and Second New Deals, Roosevelt was able to nearly quadruple the gross national product and all but dissolve the national unemployment rate before his death in office.

In regards to his foreign policy, there is no question that he made strides to form alliances with some of the most influential countries in the world; that, coupled with his military tact during World War II, caused Roosevelt to become one of the world’s most renowned political leaders.

Now, with such an impressive resume, Roosevelt would seem to be a tough act to follow.

Quite the contrary, though.

America is now going to have the difficult task of coming to grips with the fact that no matter how many collectors’ cups, personalized t-shirts and commemorative coins we sell in effigy to the new president, there is going to be a time where the president’s meddle is going to be tested sooner than later, and I hope that Obama has everything that it takes to turn this country around. Our reputation as a country is counting on it…

-BJW