This page was last updated on March 2, 2017.
Roosevelt had it right; we cannot let fear rule; Ruth Barrett (RB); Beaver County Times; February 10, 2017.
This is my first review of an RB letter. The BCT published at least four RB letters prior to this, but I did not review any of them.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“‘This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.’
“Regardless of political party, Franklin Delano Roosevelt got this right on March 4, 1933, in his first inaugural address. Sounds like we are still facing the same challenges.
“We must guard our minds and spirits, and our children, against people who will whip us into a frenzy of ‘unjustified terror which can paralyze’ our good sense. If you don’t believe this, take a quick look at history and what we fought for in World War II. We must not forget so quickly.”
[RWC] Nice words, but wasn’t FDR the guy who – with the acquiescence of Congress and the Supreme Court – used an executive order to send German, Italian, Japanese, and other Americans to World War II internment camps simply because of their ancestry?
© 2004-2017 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.