We (the People) Need a Hero

It's that simple.

Why is the presidential race (for both major parties) such a big story, so early in the process?

Is it because for the first time since 1976 there is no sitting President or Vice-President running for the office?

Is it because there is a candidate (of either party) who has so caught the pulse of the electorate that anything they do becomes the lead-in for the local nightly news programs?

No, and No.  

The reason that this presidential election cycle is so very Big New this early in the season is that (We) the people are desperate for a Hero™.

As evidenced by the most recent Senatorial snafu, the +1 Democratic Majority was, again, unable to get legislation regarding the Iraq Occupation onto the floor for a vote.  They didn't lose the vote, mind you, the Majority Party was unable to get the damn legislation onto the floor for a vote.  The only motion that the current Republican Minority is willing to cast a ballot on is yes or no for cloture.

Meaning that they will only vote yes or no on whether or not to have the opportunity to vote yes or no.  If that sentence does not make your head spin, then I think there's something wrong with you, too.

Oh, sometimes, how I long for those by-gone days when the headlines read, "... voted it for it, before I voted against it..."  At least then, there was enough bi-partisan activity to allow for voting on actual legislation, not just on motions for cloture. (This is an ad-hominem attack on congressional republicans - you bastards, every time the Democratic caucus threatened to fillibuster to stop votes on something they didn't like, you ran shrieking to the MSM that the Democrats were being 'obstructionists' and were keeping the US Congress from performing the duties they were elected to office to do. Now you as a group are doing it practically daily and where is the bloody outcry???)

So - our 2006 mid-term elections, which reversed over 10 straight years of republican majority rule, and which even the MSM touted as a rebuke to Bush, amount to nothing more than a dead-locked Senate, during a time when nothing less than aggressive, populous-minded action is being demanded of Congress (as evidenced by poll after poll on the thoughts of the electorate on the issue of Iraq, the War on Terror, Impeachment and other concerns of the day).

What these poll results provide is insight into a wide-spread feeling amongst our countrymen that the current status quo is no longer acceptable.  

For the most part, average Americans want the Iraq War-Occupation-Quagmire to come to an end.  We're not really very certain that we support any one means over another - we're just tired of the whole mess, and want the President and Congress to get us the hell out of there just as soon as possible, and to stop throwing the bodies of our fellow citizens (both men and women this time around) into the breach while they decide how to get from here to there.

What it's going to take to achieve that end appears to be nothing less than a Hero™.

Seriously.

Someone who is willing to gain nothing from their public outcry for action, any action from this achieve-nothing congress.

Someone who is willing to cross party lines to stop the immoral, unneccesary killing of innocents in Iraq to achieve, well, exactly what the fuck is the mission?  Democracy in Iraq?  While that might sound like a desirable objective, where, exactly in the US Constitution (from which the three branches of government derive their powers) does it state that the Executive Branch has the authority to (not-quite-declare and) persue War to promulgate democracy in a sovereign nation?  I challenge anyone to point out to me where I might find this article or sub-section.

Someone who is willing to persue public financing of (at the very least) federal elections.  If we allow public financing, our elected Representatives and Senators will be able to spend ALL of their time working on legislation to the benefit of the electorate - and ZERO time fundraising for their next campaign.  

It will spell the end, the absolute end of corporate influence on Congress.  No money, no influence.  It's really that simple.  We the People pay for the elections and We the People are the only ones that Congress is responsible to, or we continue to allow the Corporations to pay for the elections, and Corporations are the ones that Congress is responsible to.

Other than a Hero™, who are we going to find who will be willing and able to change the course of our Ship of State, and save our Democracy?

What do we need?  To quote Bonnie Tyler

Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where’s the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?

Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

I need a hero
I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life

A Hero™.  I looking for one good (wo)man.  Anyone interested?

•  Personally, I've had enough of hero Worship.

  by ROGNM on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:14:56 PM PDT

•  We don't need another hero

  One of the banes of our political life is this desperate clamor for the white knight or knightess.

  We need clarity.

  We need straight talk, the ral thing, not the McCain version.

  We need to face reality and drop these fantasy visions. Not just the dark blood dreams of the Neocons, but all of them.

  by melvin on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:16:11 PM PDT

•  There is no such thing as a hero

  outside of tidy flims, plays and novels.

  Even the recipients of the Medal of Honor will tell you that themselves.

  We have to learn to live with the mortals we have and find/encourage the best in them.

  But there is always American Idol if you want to engage in that sort of quest.  Too bad most of them haven't lived up to the moniker in the end.

  by inclusiveheart on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:35:11 PM PDT

  •  this is the defintion of a hero.

    We have to learn to live with the mortals we have and find/encourage the best in them.

    by jennybravo on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 04:13:43 PM PDT

•  Look! Up in the sky!

  Is it a bird?

  Is it a plane?

  No!  It's Super-Hero-Dem!

  Faster than a speeding Romney with a dog caged to the roof of his car!!

  More powerful than Rudy Guliani on crack-cocaine!

  Able to leap over Republican grandstanding without falling flat on his face!

  Yes, it's Super-Hero-Dem - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal politicians.

  Super-Hero-Dem - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend the will of Congress with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Dennis Kucinich, mild mannered politician from a great metropolitan area, fights the never ending battle for...

  Truth, Justice and the American Way!

  --

  Ahh, dreams.

  by Karmafish on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:38:39 PM PDT

•  No heroes for me

  Unless it's a Hero sandwich, with plenty of hot cherry peppers.

  My relationship with my governments is a business relationship, from fire commissioner right up to president. I'm hiring somebody to do a job, and not looking for heroics or inspiration.

  My parents and grandparents are my heroes, OK?

  by Ivan on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:50:33 PM PDT

•  All a hero is...

  ...is a person who does what has to be done, even if it means risk to himself.  It's that latter part that has been lacking of late.

  What would you do if you happened to spot a person drowning, being swept along by the current as you are crossing the river in your car?

  It's not your problem?

  Call the police?

  Stop, rush to the bridge, yell HELP IS COMING?

  Jump in and try to save them?

  People sense that the country is drowning in a river of crap.  We don't have time to wait for the cavalry.  We need help now.  That's what people want, the kind of honesty that says "I don't care whether this ends my political career or not, somebody has to say it.  The right thing needs to be done."

  The person who does that has my vote instantly.  All the Dem candidates are tiptoeing in that direction, but none of them has actually jumped into the water yet.
  

  by localroger on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:54:06 PM PDT

  •  This is what I was trying to say

    Not a Hero in the usual sense, like Superman or the Justice League.

    Someone who will act heroically, even in the face of personal risk.

    by Angie in WA State on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 03:58:19 PM PDT

•  Don't ever

  give up believing in heroes.

  by jennybravo on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 04:12:52 PM PDT

•  In defense of heroes

  There's a bit of cynicism running through these comments, it seems...

  People seem to generally agree that heroes are fantastical, or that they don't exist at all, or that we as a society need any heroes...

  But the history of this nation is punctuated by heroes of remarkable intellect and conviction. The founders threw off the yoke of King George III by defeating the mighty British army and declared a few self-evident truths.

  It's almost impossible to talk about politics without mentioning names like Lincoln, FDR, JFK, RFK, MLK, ... I could go on of course, but I think the point is clear.

  It's not that we don't need heros - we've just been lacking true heros for so long that we forget how inspiring they can be:

  But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

  Speeches like that one are transcendent - they explode the partisanship and, for fleeting moments, reveal a vision of America that we can be proud of, that really do make us believe that the United States is the greatest country on Earth.

  Unfortunately, there's few people who fit the bill. The closest I can think of is Al Gore... Though he wasn't born of a virgin, it could even be argued that he exhibits many of the characteristics of the archetypal hero's journeythat scholars like Joseph Campbell have written about. Whether or not Gore runs though, he's still an American I would consider to have been heroic in his efforts these past few years. Some see that heroism in Barack as well, but I can't say I've seen anything that impressive this past while.

  by dantyrant on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 04:36:40 PM PDT

•  You may need a hero, but you want a savior. nt

  by valion on Sun Jul 22, 2007 at 08:46:20 PM PDT