So, Show Us Something, Mr. Obama

Yesterday’s stock market gave the best evaluation of the Obama presidency so far. It hung, pending. No advance, not a big drop, only about 80 points on the DOW. Uncertain, unsure—hearing nothing new or terribly inspiring. Still waiting.
So far there has been nothing truly innovative—nothing like Roosevelt’s bank holiday, PWA or CCC or any of the rest of his alphabet soup. Those really did provide jobs, instantly. They built infrastructure I still drive over (it’s crumbling, but it’s been there since the ‘30s).
I don’t see anything new or refreshing about Obama’s cabinet picks, either. I see nothing to compare with the brilliance of FDR’s “kitchen cabinet”. That was a conglomeration of bright mavericks who were truly willing to suggest something new under the sun. Nothing like it to be seen today.
Obama has picked tried and true hacks (smart hacks, well educated hacks, experienced hacks—but hacks nonetheless) from previous administrations. A few of these hacks have already been caught with some unpaid business or income tax. Probably a sign of bad judgment or even hubris rather than actual dishonesty—but generally not an encouraging sign.
In keeping with the personnel involved, I don’t hear anything much new in Obama’s financial rescue and deliverance plans. They seem to differ from the actions of the late Bush administration only in that the pork is more of the kind favored by “liberal” Democrats as opposed to “conservative” Republicans.
The market doesn’t seem to see anything new or exciting either. Much of what is suggested for the banking industry was suggested and even tried by Paulson and company four months ago. It didn’t work then; why, asks the investing public, should it work now?
On the people side, just what are we going to do to create four million jobs? (FDR could tell you—build bridges, roads, national parks, reforest waste lands, construct new post offices and a spanking new navy.) What, exactly is Obama offering? The market still wants to know. Just a glimmer of an idea.
They are going to be “high tech” jobs, we’re told. High tech jobs are best and most effectively created when there is a goal laid out before people. We’re going to build an atomic bomb. We’re going to go to the moon. We’re going to fight AIDs. No goal has come forth from the Obama White House.
When you get past the speeches about Abraham Lincoln, what has Obama really shown us? Lincoln laid out goals—“preserve the Union”—fought and won a vicious war, played hard ball internationally (“Her Majesty’s government will be aware that if it builds one more raider [think weapon of mass destruction], it will mean war with the United States”), and left behind the most powerfully industrialized nation in the world.
Lincoln faced a crisis and he jumped right in. He forced the Confederacy to open fire first by sending ships to reprovision a federal fort. He then immediately raised the largest army ever seen on this continent. Violating all provisions of the Constitution as it was then understood he forced three border states to stay in the Union by occupying them. Immediately.
What has Mr. Obama done immediately, other than make some questionable personnel picks? The novelty of the color of Barack Obama’s skin is all the novelty he has shown us so far, either in his appointments or in his ideas. His brain trust is firmly rooted in the “ancien regime”, not the new day that is upon us.
It sounds cruel to say—even suspiciously racist. But so far it’s true.