Opinion

Obama's Daunting Job

Can he fix entire economies? The world?

By Rafe Mair, 8 Dec 2008, TheTyee.ca

Barack Obama and Superman

He'll have to be super.

Text size:

Rate this:

Login/Register

I woke up with a start at 6 a.m. on Nov. 5 while on a trip through the Mediterranean. Because it was so early in the morning for us, I didn't watch the U.S. election results and as I flashed on CNN was delighted to learn that Barack Obama had won. Tommy Toad would have been an improvement over Dubya, over John McCain and certainly over Governor Palin. And there he was in the middle of his victory speech. It was a fine and generous speech but it was more. It had a ring of confidence to it. It sounded Rooseveltian or Churchillian, though God knows he's far, far away from those lofty heights. And great orators don't necessarily make great leaders and sometimes bad orators -- Harry S Truman and Dwight Eisenhower come to mind -- do show considerable leadership.

Before venturing further, let's concede that six months from now -- max -- President Obama will be taking it on the chin from all quarters.

We tend to forget that this is supposed to happen in a democracy. The mainstream media, almost all of it owned by Republicans, will be all over him. But we must remember that though the American media isn't as bad as ours -- none in the western world are -- the public seems quite able to sort all that out. Most of the time, anyway.

President Obama's task is not as tough as that of Churchill, as he had a nation and perhaps a world to save from Nazism. Still Obama's challenge and opportunity is very much like that Franklin D. Roosevelt faced in March of 1933 when he took over a nation sinking fast into a huge depression, orating his ringing phrase "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself..."

Obama's broken globe

The similarity doesn't end there. Both in 1933 and now in 2008, the opposition Republican Party was in tatters. Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt's opponent and the sitting president, a bright enough man with a wonderful record as an engineer and as a humanitarian, simply couldn't cope with the fallout from the 1929 stock market crash. George W. Bush, an idiot, was not up for re-election (Thank God for the 22nd Amendment), but, like Roosevelt with Hoover, Obama had an able and well thought of opponent in John McCain.

All this by way of saying that president-to-be Obama, as did FDR, won a substantial victory, has a favourable Congress and a very substantial mandate to do something.

The question is what?

Unlike FDR (Mr. Obama is not likely to be known by his initials BO) in his first term, the 44th president faces foreign calamities. They were different times in the '30s. For example, Roosevelt, embarrassed by the antics of Nicaragua's dictator Trujillo, simply shrugged and said "he may be a son of a bitch, but at least he's our son of a bitch." And while the U.S. still has the same sort to deal with, most of them have oil and must be dealt with politely.

What a mess! Just a partial list: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea and now, for the first time in decades, a South American country, Venezuela. Israel/Palestine, Somalia, Republic of Congo... dear oh dear, is there no end to it?

New Cold War brewing

The biggest problem internationally is Russia. Of all the damned fool things the U.S. has done in the last decade the most foolish has been to gratuitously alienate Russia. Put yourself in the Kremlin for a moment. Communism has gone and with it Russia's internal and external empires. The Cold War is over and what does the White House do? Instead of disbanding NATO, now that the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact are dead, it extends it into former Russian satellites. Is it surprising that this pissed off the Russian leaders?

Then, to have the insane "missile shield" located in former Warsaw Pact countries beggars belief. This was Donald Rumsfeld's great idea. As most people understand, a working missile defense shield gives the power to strike without fear of retaliation, which means, duh, the object nation must spend all the money it takes to find a way to penetrate the shield so that the principle of mutually assured destruction, which kept the Cold War cold, is re-established.

In short, a new and more terrible version of the Cold War is commencing -- doubtless the worst decision of eight years of bad judgments under George W. Bush. Dare I observe that those who have no recollection of the October 1962 missile crisis can have no idea what it's like when the leaders of Russia and America are nose to nose with itchy fingers on nuclear triggers?

One of the very first people Obama called on his victory night was Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has already announced Russian plans to upgrade their nuclear arsenal. One tends to forget that Russia or former satellites border on all the hot spots in Asia and there's no reason not to secure their friendship, not in some sentimental way, but as a practical way of dealing with a half a dozen or more potential horror stories. Obama's move is promising and one can only hope and pray that it's not too late.

Catching the financial thieves

On the home front -- unhappily it's ours, too -- God only knows what to do about saving a smashed economy. It's been said of FDR, like Voltaire's physician, that he merely kept the patient amused while nature ran its course.

There is one thing the new president must do. Never again can unrestrained capitalism be permitted to hold the country, indeed the world, ransom to the ability of thieves in three-piece suits to plunder without consequences. After the 1929 crash, FDR faced the same situation. The capitalist establishment pleaded with him that they could police themselves. Roosevelt knew better and put one of the bandits, Joseph Kennedy (father of) in charge of the new Securities Exchange Commission, saying he was "setting a thief to catch a thief."

Surely now that we've seen the Savings & Loan scandals, the Enron scam, the collapse of banks one thought of as impregnable, and the stock market crash, we're ready for some real rules in the investment world, with the government an active policemen, and laws, which if broken, result not in bonuses but time behind bars.

No man has come to the White House with the array of problems domestic and foreign as has Barack Obama. We know he can speak and inspire people. Obviously he knows how to command loyalty.

Let's hope and pray he can also fix economies and, indeed, the world.

Related Tyee stories:

[Tyee]

Rafe Mair writes a Monday column for The Tyee. Read previous columns by Rafe Mair here.

15 Comments:

Login or register to post comments

  • Wild Yaker

    3 years ago

    Media is owned by the Democrats

    "The mainstream media, almost all of it owned by Republicans, will be all over him."

    You are kidding right? I hope you are kidding! There is only 1 major media outlet that is owned by Republicans in America, Fox News. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS are all owned and operated by Democrats.

    I do agree with you on most the rest, but that line was one of the funniest statement I have read.

    In the very near future, Russia and Iran will attack Israel, a long with a few other countries. It is already known. It almost happened before. This time they will do it.

  • ME2

    3 years ago

    Good one Rafe

    IMO this is by far the best analysis you have ever offered, Rafe, and your comments re Bush's missile "shield" were spot on.

    Only one cavil to make - your last sentence, which reads.....

    "Let's hope and pray he can also fix economies and, indeed, the world."

    .....should have the proviso - "Before he gets shot". Hope and prayers are definitely in order.

  • seth

    3 years ago

    "CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS

    "CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS are all owned and operated by Democrats."

    Where did you get that?. They are publicly traded and bias wise lean to the Republicans side on most issues.

    Talk radio is 99.9% far right in the US and has enormous influence with the half-wits that support the Guns, God, and Gays agenda.

  • murdock

    3 years ago

    wither the will...

    More often than not the action needed to correct the mistakes of the past can be determined, what is most lacking is the will to take that (or those) actions.

    Iraq and Afghanistan were collosal mistakes, is there a will to reverse these and embarras the generals?

    The banking debacle is only a symptom of a mistake made in 1972, taking the US dollar off the gold standard. Is there a way to reverse this that does not include a massive change in the way the planet conducts business? Does this president have the intestinal fortitude to take that step?

    The US has severly damaged its own constitution, by laws and repeals done during the Bush admin. There are now US troops on deployment in the US and prepared to take action on behalf of 'Homeland Security', is there the will within the new administration to overturn these acts against the freedom of their own people? Is there a will to stand up to the 'new praetorians' and order them to stand down?

    Time will certainly tell...wither the will to act is in this new president...or not.

  • Cynic

    3 years ago

    Rafe Rafe Rafe. "The

    Rafe Rafe Rafe.

    "The biggest problem internationally is Russia."

    Nonsense. The biggest problem internationally is the USA. They have a military presence in over 150 countries and their record of subhuman activities is very well known and far too extensive to list here.

    As for Obama, he is not the decider, he is the latest puppet presented to us, bringing false hope to millions worldwide.

    "God only knows what to do about saving a smashed economy."

    More nonsense. Money reformers have always known that private banking is the fraudulent issuance of our means of exchange, and the present situation is the foreseen result. Only money reform will provide prosperity for all. Until then, more of the same. Haven't heard a peep from Obama...

  • Jeffrey J.

    3 years ago

    Challenging Times Indeed

    Important reflections Rafe. The kind Canadians across the country should be having. A couple of quick comments. First, thanks for acknowledging the "mainstream" press and its narrow ownership interests. This has been systematically excluded from most discussions in North America and the sooner it becomes common knowledge, the less damage they can do.

    Secondly, one big difference between Obama and Roosevelt. For Obama (and all of us) its still 1929. Not 1933. Those four years will make a huge difference between what citizens will want and need. The US elites were still an obnoxious, arrogant bunch in 1929. And in 1930. And in 1931. It took awhile to loosen their desperate grip on power.

    Required reading on this issue: John Kenneth Galbraith's brilliant "1929: The Great Crash". It tells our future.

    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Great-Crash-of-1929-John-Kenneth-Galbraith/9780395859995-item.h

    Great stuff Tyee!

  • mopled

    3 years ago

    The triumph of hope over reality

    The guy's another patsy. He won't produce a valid birth certificate and he's appointed every hawk he could find.

    "What was evident from even a cursory analysis of his key campaign advisers and public commitments to Wall Street speculators, civilian militarists, zealous Zionists and corporate lawyers was hidden from the electorate, by Obama’s people friendly imagery and smooth, eloquent deliverance of a message of ‘hope’. He effectively gained the confidence, dollars and votes of tens of millions of voters by promising ‘change’ (implying higher taxes for the rich, ending the Iraq war and national health care reform) when in fact his campaign advisers (and subsequent strategic appointments) pointed to a continuation of the economic and military policies of the Bush Administration.

    Within 3 weeks of his election he appointed all the political dregs who brought on the unending wars of the past two decades, the economic policy makers responsible for the financial crash and the deepening recession castigating tens of millions of Americans today and for the foreseeable future. We can affirm that the election of Obama does indeed mark a historic moment in American history: The victory of the greatest con man and his accomplices and backers in recent history."
    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11315

  • Glen Murtz

    3 years ago

    Huh?

    "Never again can unrestrained capitalism be permitted to hold the country, indeed the world, ransom to the ability of thieves in three-piece suits to plunder without consequences."

    Oh really?
    What sort of return have you been getting on your investments Raif? On your savings?

    Like everybody else - you've been raised on the premise of constant, unceasing growth. And like most boomers, you've grown fat and comfortable while *your* money went to feed the rapacious engines of capitalism.
    The system is broken - plain and simple - because our "system" allows for all the freedoms money can buy, but no freedom without it.
    Only when our political system can provide a liveable, respectful "opt-out" mechanism to the rat race (and the attendant "small C capitalist" attribute bestowed), can you or anyone else start crowing about who exactly is complicit in these shenanigans.

    To sit around and bitch about "those dirty bastards" who are using the money you've thrown into the pot, well, Raif - you have a lot of thinking to do...

  • quarry bay

    3 years ago

    Obama, I don`t think so

    Obama doesn`t even have the power to quit smoking!

    Obama doesn`t get it,Americans have been spending for too many years on credit and rising house prices,they still have a 5.50 minimum wage.
    Americans have to hunker down and get out of debt,the corporation wants to create another bubble,there will be no more USA bubbles.

    The Americans have printed 10 trillion dollars over the last year,all of it out of thin air,the result of endless(manufactoring of money)will be a worthless Amero dollar,Zimbomwe has recently printed a billion dollar bill for domestic use,I think you can buy a loaf of bread with it!

    As for Obama`s infrastructure plan,PATHETIC--They don`t build roads with a 10 thousand man pick and shovel crew anymore, a trillion dollar infrastucture investment is nothing,wall street has been bailed out to the tune of 8 trillion dollars and the derivative beast is still feeding.
    The individual states--California/new york etc etc etc need a trillion dollars to keep out of the red.

    Health care/social security/millions of bankrupt seniors --The USA is totaly @$%ked

    They need 60 trillion to make social security fiscally sound!

    They need 200 trillion for universal healthcare over the next 25 years!

    There is already a trillion dollar federal budget deficit, The federal goverment has already borrowed 3 trillion dollars from social security fund,they are not even paying the interest on that loan!

    There is only one hope for the USA --- They have to get the world to agree on a " All debts are null and void for all countries"

    I don`t see that happening,the Americans have poked a sticked at everyone,most countries are enjoying watch the Americans squirm!

    Cheers

  • Cynic

    3 years ago

    For chilling confirmation

    For chilling confirmation that our political leaders are puppets, watch this video of Harper and Howard delivering the same speech:

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10491

    When will the Tyee and its columnists deliver some piercing insight into the situation? I like Rafe generally but this column is pap. The public needs to be educated about the bitter reality of elite rule, that these elections are farce, and that banking is the scam that empowers the elite and fills the world with misery. We get enough fantasy from the msm. The Tyee can and should do better.

  • Des

    3 years ago

    Change

    is the word. Obama talks well, but also shows a willingness to reach out to others to tap into their experience. As long as he continues to show leadership he will be able to convert that experience into positive steps instead of the negative and unregulated waltz that Bush promoted.

    Putting unemployed Americans to good use in re-building infrastructure and building new kinds of infrastructure will boost the egos of those who still have a belief in "the American way." Returning to the gold standard will take a much longer time but we can all hope, can't we? And learning from past mistakes is difficulr for everybody, especially Americans, but Obama being the first Black President could signal a turnaround on many attitudes held by white Americans.

    Rafe's optimism is not misplaced.

  • alda

    3 years ago

    Can Obama fix the

    Can Obama fix the economy?
    No, he can't, Rafe.

    Obama's plan is to "save" or "create" a paltry 2.5 million jobs over the next 2 years. I read an article last week stating the US will lose 1 million jobs EVERY SINGLE MONTH once this thing hits bigtime (up to a 25% total U.S. unemployment rate). In 2 years, that'll be 24 MILLION newly unemployed. Picture all of those tent cities splitting at the seams.

    When they get there, I'd like to ask Americans who've put such blind faith in their political and financial banking systems, "How's that workin' for ya?" -- a question, by the way, we should be asking ourselves.

    The Tyee is among the best of non-MSM we've got in the country so I have to give it kudos, but I agree with Cynic, the political writers could ratchet up their sceptical radar a couple of notches.

  • borealis

    3 years ago

    Simply Blather, nothing more

    According to Rafe, there is only one hope for America.

    I hope he does not mean the Americas?

    What Rafe professes to know and what is known about the Americas is of course described as an abyss:

    "Abyuss invocat abyssum"

    In other words "Deep calls unto Deep." The shallow shall never meet the deep. Rafer simply cannot 'fathomn' profundity.

    For instance Russia has not been alienated. It now supplies up to 90% of the natural gas (low carbon energy) to the European Union. Russia can alienate the EU, but not the US either domain.

    The truth of the matter is that because of the current domestic economy in the US, the new regime, social democratic under Obama, AND THE RECENT RESIGNATION OF TWO KEY OFFICERS IN THE US MILITARY, there will be no contracts continued or renewed for many types of military craft such as the F22, the refueling stations, et cetera.

    The new 'war' of conflict will be against detractors from the Democrats and their plan to replace and repair infrastructure in the US, and re-employ up to 2 million jobless in the US. [That is Rafe's goal is to stop that type of assistance here in Canada]

    It is that simple...there is no need to engage in fear and anxiety regarding new international strife between past super powers such as Russia and the US.

    In fact, Russia needs to expand markets for all types of its manufactured raw commodities (wood products, autos, raw materials refined or not), and thus there is no possibility of a cold war , now that the US is not a factor in the control of oil and gas in the middle east or for that matter anywhere in the world except in it's own country.

    Under Bush the US Congress was unable to allow the drilling for oil in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge....

    Was there ever a TRUE WAR OR JUST WAR IN IRAQ THEN?

    Under the recent Bush regime the excuse was to depose a dictator, but the real explaination was to invest US companies in the worlds largest proven reserves of light crude oil, which was in Iraq.

    The total irony of the current situation is that after spending about $500 billion US, lossing 4000 men and women, the US and North America are now energy self-sufficient. The US no longer needs or uses any significant amounts of middle east oil or gas.

    If Mexico, the US and Canada now were to nationalize the oil and gas industry, we could effectively outcompet all other nations in the world in terms of energy inputs to the factors of production of world based goods, and the Americas has cheap labour, high labour and environmental standards, and lots of patents and so on.

    Basically the Americas does not need any middle east oil, nor it's cash spending on the US debt.

  • Okanagan Orchardist

    3 years ago

    Obama's future

    Congrats to all of the respondents. I particularly concur with the comments of Quarry Bay, Glen Murtz, Moped and Cynic.

    Most Americans had such high hopes for Obama. But he hasn’t even taken over the presidency before the “big change” everybody expected was very quickly dropped when he selected his in-transit executive. But, I don’t suppose we expected anything else. The executive members under Bush were so secretive on the workings of individual portfolios that it would be difficult to begin a presidency in these particularly difficult economic times without their help. So perhaps we can expect, by the end of the 100 day period of grace, that Obama will have made a selection of executive members that will more closely reflect the change we would like to see in the States.

    Having said that, I personally will never believe that any change is forthcoming unless, without too much wasted time, Obama selects a qualified, unbiased commission that can get to the bottom of 9/11 and bring those people responsible to justice—no matter how high they have to reach. I think, once Americans have adjusted to the inadequacy of their political system, they can move forward and rebuild it completely.

    Thanks for listening

  • RickW

    3 years ago

    He's All Ready Saving The World.....

    ....and he's not even holding the reins of power yet:
    http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/12/08/world-markets.html
    Keep up the good work, Mr. O!

    • The discussion for this story is closed. No more comments can be added.