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June 14, 2006
President Eisenhower about "Texas oil millionaires"
I wasn't sure this was accurate when it arrives in an e-mail, but a check at Snopes.com verifies it. People outside the United States may find it even more surprising than I did. Is it encouraging, or does it just show our decline?
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."--President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952
Is it possible that after decades of globalization U.S. politicians are far less attuned to the things that matter to ordinary people, here and around the world, than they were in 1952? It's no wonder that this affects what the world thinks about America.
Posted by Karen Christensen at June 14, 2006 7:17 AM