For those who don't know, Will Rogers was a Progressive Era (1900-1935) entertainer and political wit. He died in a plane crash in Alaska at age 55, far too soon. But before he did, he wrote a treasure trove of columns for the New York Times.
He was a Democrat and his writings during Roosevelt's first year in office are quite apropos for our times, for example:
That was the one big thing he [Roosevelt] did that really started the whole “Back to Normalcy” movement. That’s an old Republican expression. Poor old Republicans, they weren’t a bad bunch of fellows, just dumb. You know a dumb fellow can be the most likable fellow in the world. You can just kinder love ’em and pity ’em at the same time. Well, what are a Republican’s thoughts now? Here they see a guy come in and do everything in the world that they ought to have done years ago, but didn’t think of doing. So it’s as I say: They meant well but were just dumb. They didn’t put the country on the bum purposely, as lots of folks think. They thought they were getting somewhere.
Will Rogers Writings
This could have been written about George W. Bush & Crew post-2008 - the likable guy Americans wanted to have a beer with, but who didn't realize one beer would turn into 12 or 16 and end with a headlong crash into a ditch.
I encourage anyone with an interest in the parallels between the Depression Era and post-2008, as well as the years leading up to the Depression (the Progressive Era), to take a read through Rogers writings - in many ways, it's a trip back to the future.
http://www.willrogers.com/...