How many FDR fans do we have here?

[Sean Reynolds]

I wonder if FDR fans condone the actions of Japanese interment. If they don't, do they still like Roosevelt....even with that mistake? I do.

Yet you'll all piss and moan about a YOUNG kid (not an adult like Roosevelt) who was FORCED into joining Hitler's Youth. Don't you see the double standard here? When is hate ever good? Yet I can't count how many pro-Roosevelt threads I've read since I began posting here. What Roosevelt did with the Japanese was WRONG. What Ratzinger did as a youth was wrong too. The only difference here? Roosevelt was a grown man, Ratzinger was just a boy.

So if you do feel the need to attack Ratzinger on his past, please do so when talking about Roosevelt. Because even with all the good Roosevelt did, his actions during WWII were pretty shitty.......yet everyone here will idolize him and call him the greatest leader of our time.

But I guess there is a different, right?

At least Ratzinger, in his autobiography, condemn Nazism and fascism. Never once did I hear Roosevelt say he was wrong...ever.

If you don't like Ratzinger, fine....I don't either. However find something better to attack than the kid's history. Like you know, his current policies.

[bryant69]

1. The problem is

It's easy enough to see the Japenese Internment camps as an aberattion in an otherwise steller career. There are those who would disagree, i'm sure, but Roosevelts other triumphs do not line up with the spirt of the Internment camps, and os they are not seen as indicitative of where Roosevelt was coming from.

On the other hand, for many people on here, Ratzinger's Nazi Youth is seen as a reflection of his current policies. They don't contrast with the rest of his life (in the minds of some). So it does fit. I'm not sure I agree, but that would be the argument.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Sean Reynolds]

3. Same was said about Roosevelt...

Firstly I don't agree that we can ignore the brute force used against Japanese Americans. In fact I'm sure most Japanese Americans during that era can just 'forget' what Roosevelt had done. Yet that doesn't make him any less a leader.

Secondly there are people out there that believed Roosevelt was building a dictatorship and it loosely seemed that way when he began internment camps for Japanese.

Either way, you can't condone those actions by ignoring them. You can't say "well it doesn't matter, he was a good president anyway". Because it does matter. Ratzinger has never endorsed Nazism (not even when he was youth), so calling him a Nazi would be like calling Roosevelt a dictator.

All I'm saying is if people want to attack Ratzinger, attack him based on what he's saying and DOING today. But if you attack him on what he did when he was a kid....well it seems quite odd we can support a person that made camps for Japanese Americans.

[bryant69]

6. Yeah

But what Ratzinger detractors are saying is that he still is a Nazi. Back then he was supporting the Nazi party and right now he is still supporting Nazi-LIke positions. That would be the argument.

Roosevelt acted like a dictator in allowing the Japanese Americans to be rounded up, but did he act dictator-like the rest of the time?

[atreides1]

8. My Take

You're right Pope Benedict has never endorsed Nazism,at least not publicly that we know of, and personally I don't think he is or was a Nazi, he was a good German and served his country.

But, he was member of the Hitler Jugend, in 1943 at age 16 he was drafted and assigned to the Flak Corps. In September 1944 he was released from service and returned home, whereupon, he was drafted again.

This time he was sent to Hungary and was part of a unit that was preparing for a Red Army offensive. He was released from service again and returned home in November 1944. After 3 weeks he was once again drafted, this time he was trained for the infantry, he was posted close to his home, and never saw the front. In April or May of 1945, just days before the final surrender, he deserted and went home.

Now see this is the problem that I have, the Hitler Jugend, I can understand, and even being drafted the first time, but to get drafted
two more times after that, and then all of sudden when it's all over but the crying, you get the courage to desert.

And let's not forget that the only evidence that there is about his wartime activities comes from his memoirs or the accounts of his brother.

At least with FDR, there were others who wrote of his accomplisments and his failures, and not all of them liked him.

One last thing, all of us are affected by how we grew up, the environment that we were exposed to. Look at Senator Byrd, his past is very checkered, but because of the constant exposure to change, he in turn finally changed, unlike Strom Thurmond, who was probably a racist until the day he drew his last breath. Now the same can be said about Pope Benedict, the German people were known for being conservative, it was his environment. The down side IMO is that he continued to live in a conservative environment, and therefore his views never really adapted. His writings from the 60's show a level of disgust with those both in the US and Europe who were protesting against the Vietnam war.

If he intends to carry on the works of John Paul II, it will be the first time that he will actually be exposed to a world that isn't self contained, unlike the one he's been living in since he bacame a priest.Only time will tell.

[liberal N proud]

2. Roosevelt actually did good in his time as President

I do not condone much of his tactics and practices but his early Presidency is exactly what this nation needed.
I still think he want and pushed to get the US into WWII.
If it were not for the many positive things he did, I don't think could like him as a President.
I also think that in todays world, we chew him up and spit him out. much as we are the bu$h regime. FDR did some low down dirty things to accomplish his agenda and is the reason for term limits (thankfully)

[autorank]

4. Huge fan, great leader, some flaws but overall THE BEST PRESIDENT!

IMHO :hi:

[Sean Reynolds]

5. I agree.....

He is my favorite president.

[rinsd]

7. Why stop with FDR?

Jefferson had slaves.

Byrd was in the Klan.

Kerry fought in Vietnam.

Gore fought in Vietnam.

We excuse these things by saying the times dictated such behavior.

Yet someone growing up in Nazi regime in power since he was 6 and was conscripted is the devil incarnate because of such.

People thinks it a sexier way of taking him down but all it does is make hypocrites out of many.

He's a rigid ideologue that will further polarize an already divided congregation. He's quick ex-communication and has expanded church doctrine into the political arena.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

9. Let's not forget Woodrow Wilson who was a staunch racist and

segregated the federal government.

Almost all of these Presidents have something that wasn't "too good".

[bleedingheart]

10. Roosevelt didn't live long enough to reflect upon his flaws

he was the president of a country at war when he died.

Had he lived past the war...i have a feeling he may have regretted the Japanese internment.

[Coastie for Truth]

11. He was one of our greatest Presidents -

with Lincoln and Clinton.

[El Supremo]

12. He wasn't the Pope.

The Pope is supposed to be a man of peace chosen by God.

[Zorra]

13. FDR was largely responsible for saving the US, and the world, from

a fascist takeover. Sometimes even great leaders like FDR make mistakes when taking steps to protect their people
in extreme emergency situations, such as WWII.

Pope Neocon I is partly responsible for the world's most dangerous fascist remaining in power.

[UdoKier]

14. To be fair, FDR died before the war ended...

Didn't really have time to repent...

[Dave Sund]

15. Why did I KNOW this was going to be another Pope thread?

[paineinthearse]

16. Definate FDR fan, but even better....

I met James (grandson) and Ann Roosevelt last night. Very nice people.

[Zinfandel]

17. FDR a great liberal democrat!