75 Years Later, Missed More Than Ever

Maybe not even Will Rogers could have arrested the republican slide into nihilism, and the American public from finding it attractive, but at minimum we could use a popular voice pricking Obama's conscience.

Greg Mitchell in The Nation:

Rogers was simultaneously the country's most popular radio personality and newspaper columnist and one of the top three movie stars. Unfortunately, many Americans today (those who even know about him) think of him as merely a humorist or celluloid comedy star but he was also the nation's most influential political commentator, and from a progressive point of view always promoting the "common man." His views on the economy, FDR and the need for bold action are particularly interesting in the Obama era.

Read the whole thing.