The result is that I have seen a flurry of articles in my inbox everyday -- many from mainstream outlets like TIME, Newsweek, NYT, LA Times, Forbes, etc. -- all contrasting Obama's moment to FDR's moment.
One of Obama's keywords -- "Hope" -- certainly seems to be the mantra du jour. This has started a new cycle of blog wars revisiting the New Deal and how effective it really was, a topic that has drawn in many prominent left-bloggers, including Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman. (Jon Stewart stupidly gave an uncritical forum on The Daily Show to the anti-FDR, anti-Krugman blogger Amity Shlaes. Boo!)
Obama wrote a book called _The Audacity of Hope_, but as Paul Krugman (basically) said, when it comes to Obama, we should _Hope for Audacity_.
Krugman's stance is that where FDR failed, it was not because he was too interventionist, but because he was too cautious. When I saw Naomi Klein speak recently, even she asked people to push, push, push, Obama hard to the left. NY Mag ha called for a new WPA: http://nymag.com/arts/architecture/features/52169/
On a personal note, a relative of mine who is an upper echelon-type exec at G.E. has decided to apply via change.gov to, as he put it, "work for Obama." I was more than shocked to see this. "We do our part."
-B.
Dwayne Monroe wrote:
"What's so attractive about Zizek's approach is the way it sprints past tedious arguments over what 'progressive' policies President Obama may or may not pursue -- indeed, it leaps over Obama himself to focus on potential psychological impacts."