Roosevelt's Fireside Chats were a must when I was a kid.

[virgogal]

Our teachers strongly "suggested" that we listen to them,and even if they hadn't our parents would have made the same strong "suggestion".

Couldn't hear them in school because they weren't broadcast during school hours.

They were wonderful chances for discussion and I just don't get the furor of the maniacs that are against Obama's speech.

By the way,one of my son's still has that old radio-----doesn't work but it looks good.

[rockymountaindem]

1. Have you ever been to the FDR monument in Washington? n/t

[virgogal]

3. Yes,and also the one in Grosvenor Square in London.

[rockymountaindem]

7. I really like the statue of the barefoot old man listening to his radio

The FDR monument is my favorite one in the city. Not just because it is for one of my favorite figures in US history, but also because it tells a story and conveys FDR's grand vision and demonstrates his connection to the people. The statue of the man by the radio is the best one there, I think.

[virgogal]

13. And don't forget Fala. Everyone loved Fala.

[Captain Hilts]

15. I HATE the 1950s Eleanor. And the placement of her statue makes it

impossible for folks to take decent photographs as there is a bank of shrubbery right in front of it.

I DO like that she is glaring at the White House.

[Greenpeach]

2. Me too

I remember us all sitting around the radio at home, listening to every word.

[virgogal]

5. Wonderful.wasn't it?

[Libertas1776]

4. A simpler

time that was, with antiquated, simplistic notions like "respecting the office of the President of the United States of America when a speech for the common good was given" :sarcasm:


Thank You for sharing this great little insight back to one of the most important times of our nation's history.

[virgogal]

6. Thanks (By the way I have that Hopper print in my dining room) :-)

[Libertas1776]

9. He he

Doesn't get any better than Hopper, I think. :hi:

[virgogal]

11. Went to the Hopper exhibit a couple of years ago at the Boston

MFA and saw the real things. I was like a kid in a candy shop .

[Captain Hilts]

16. Hopper was actually a right wing crank and opposed FDR. nt

[virgogal]

17. Who cares? His paintings are wonderful. eom

[Captain Hilts]

18. I agree. I'm a huge fan. But a lot of folks don't know his political bent. nt

[BlooInBloo]

8. If only we had *SOME* idea why republicans won't let their kids hear *this* President....

Sigh. I suppose it'll remain one of The Great Unsolved Mysteries Of The World.

[virgogal]

10. It was just a "stir up the spot" maneuver IMHO.

[BlooInBloo]

14. lol

[gratuitous]

12. The maniacs learned their lesson

FDR was able to speak directly to his audience, and the maniacs didn't like that. We live in a far more sophisticated communications age, and the idea that the president is going to get a chance to speak without the likes of Rush or Michael or Sean or Glenn there to distort, deride, denigrate and deny just drives them nuttier. Naturally, they had no such objections when Bushie interrupted event after event with a hastily-called press availability in which he said absolutely nothing. But the media dutifully turned their attention away from whatever the administration didn't want them to look at towards Bushie, even if he wasn't much to look at.