Here is the text of the opening of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first Fireside Chat which he delivered on Sunday March 12, 1933, and which was about closing down the banks for a while:
I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking—with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking but more particularly with the overwhelming majority who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks. I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be.... I know that when you understand what we in Washington have been about I shall continue to have your cooperation as fully as I have had your sympathy and help during the past week.
And here is something he said toward the end:
I do not promise you that every bank will be reopened or that individual losses will not be suffered, but there will be no losses that possibly could be avoided; and there would have been more and greater losses had we continued to drift.
And here is how he closed:
It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.All of it, every word straight, simple, direct, reassuring, assertive not defensive. Delivered the goods.
I watched President Obama last night, and we should be embarrassed for him.
Not a "chat," and not quite a speech, either. Fumbled words, uncomfortable language, misplaced emphasis, unclear objectives. It felt more like a run through, and that he was not familiar with the text or its meaning. He was supposed to leave us gasping with gratitude, and instead we were left grasping for meaning.
I have long resisted what I now fear: that our President, a man I have supported and greatly admire, just doesn't know how to express (or worse, doesn't actually feel) real outrage, real anger. And if he does, can't communicate that anger in a productive, comfortable and comforting way that still does not compromise its power. Saying you know whose ass to kick doesn't mean you'll actually do it. The kids in the schoolyards where I grew up always knew who was faking it, and who wasn't. Guess who is faking it?
Results count most in the end. Of course. But in the moment no matter what you say about a problem, how you say it is as least as important. And the moment lingers. Long after people forget the substance they remember the feeling they had. As of last night, that can't be good ----- either for us or for Obama.
