Form your ranks and fight!
February 05, 2009
The Obama offensive had continued this morning with an op-ed in the Post and continued elsewhere. I hadn’t gotten to it yet as it was frigging cold outside so I hustled to the Metro rather than getting a start on it on my walk. Achenbach has some fun comments which reminds me of an earlier post by him and the origin of this post’s title.
On March 8, 1933, the fifth day of his presidency, FDR paid a visit to 92-year-old Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who had known a battle or two in his life, including Ball's Bluff, the first serious engagement of the Civil War -- which left him with a bullet wound and sent Union bodies floating down the Potomac to Washington.
FDR asked the old man, "What is your advice?
Holmes answered, "Form your ranks and fight!"
Solid advice. I do think that talking to the Republicans upfront was the right way to go. The opposition party should get a respectful hearing even when they act irresponsibly. However, working to get public support at the same time is also key and makes cooperation more likely. Also, as Stewart noted on the fourth, Obama’s plan was to actually start focusing on the stimulus package earlier but the Daschle controversy got the headlines.