A chat

  I was sitting at my desk when it occurred to me that these blogs are somewhat like Roosevelts fireside chats. That thought came to me because of the replica fireplace I built last week. Some of you may remember that. I have it sitting on top of my desk and light a tea candle in it. Reminds me of my childhood home. Then I thought while I'm writing these blogs of mine, they are like those fireside chats. I'm just explaining my thoughts, ideas and opinions. That what Roosevelt was doing too. He was "viral" before that was a thing. Well, the truth is he only gave thirty-one of those chats in his 4,422 days in office. Still, they are remembered. They were delivered in a time when the office of president was respected. That isn't the case today. 

 In those chats he talked about the problems of the day. The depression, the war, and the economy. We are still talking about all that today. He presented a new program. The Social Security Act. That act has been modified and expanded since then and resembles little of what he envisioned. It was part of the New Deal. The new deal is another name for socialist policies. And his fireside chats were designed to foster those policies. It was his way of countering the conservative newspapers of the day. The New York Times was a conservative paper back then! Roosevelt was the precursor to CNN. It was brilliant as millions tuned in to hear those chats. Not always successful but overall, very effective. He did remain president for four thousand four hundred and forty-two days! Only death prevented it being longer.

 I'm not a fan of Roosevelt or his policies. I'm not old enough to remember any of his fireside chats but have read about them. They were all very carefully prepared, crafted to sound as though he was just chatting with you while drinking a beer or whatever. The genius of a politician. Lots of smoke and mirrors. His plan to "pack the supreme court" was a failure. I've been Ben for twenty-five thousand seven hundred and sixteen days. I've written four thousand seven hundred and forty-five blogs counting this one. None have been carefully prepared. But I'm not a politician. I also don't have millions of people "tuning" in to read what I have to say. Roosevelts fireside chats are preserved in the Library of Congress. My blogs are on a server far, far away in cyberspace. 

  The thing is, back in those days people did listen a good deal more than talk. The office of president was respected, even revered by some. When I was in the military, I was taught to respect the uniform, the position and the authority. The individual in that uniform wasn't what was important to obey, it was that authority. Used to be that way with the President or the United States and all the way down to your local Mayor. It was a respect for the position. A position that you elected those people into! That was true even when you voted for someone else, but they lost. Today if our guy doesn't win, we tend to not listen to what anyone else is saying. It's fake news! I think we would all be better served if we learned to listen once again. Or, at the very least, read my blogs. Coming to you from my fireside.