Dubya is no FDR

Gia recently posted about The New 20 Commandments; that reminded me of FDR's Second Bill of Rights.

Second Bill of Rights
Every American is entitled to:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries, or shops or farms or mines of the nation;


• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;


• The right of farmers to raise and sell their products at a return which will give them and their families a decent living;


• The right of every business man, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
  
• The right of every family to a decent home;


• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;


• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, and sickness, and accident and unemployment;


• The right to a good education.

George W. Bush doesn't even deserve to be metioned in the same sentence as FDR, but look at the difference in the two. FDR spoke about protecting the rights of people. Bush does everything in his power to protect corporations.

I was just listening to FDR's 1936 acceptance speech at the DNC in which he said this:

Governments can err, presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted on different scales.

On which scale will Mr. Bush's sins be weighed?

After the United States was attacked in 1941 FDR addressed the American people and said:

On the road ahead there lies hard work -- gruelling work -- day and night, every hour and every minute.

I was about to add that ahead there lies sacrifice for all of us.

But it is not correct to use that word. The United States does not consider it a sacrifice to do all one can, to give one's best to our nation, when the nation is fighting for its existence and its future life.

It is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the Army or the Navy of the United States. Rather it is a privilege.

It is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainmen or the doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for which he is best fitted. Rather it is a privilege.

It is not a sacrifice to do without many things to which we are accustomed if the national defense calls for doing without it.

After the United States was attacked in 2001 George Bush told the American people to go shopping. We must keep corporate revenue flowing.