We Need a Hero

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/17-2

We Need a Hero

by Dan Hamburg

In the Disney animation The Tale of Despereaux the hero is banished from Mouseworld because of his refusal to cower. As the plot thickens, Despereaux is forced to traverse a ledge strewn with deadly mousetraps in order to escape the dreary Ratworld, rescue the fair princess and resurrect the kingdom.

Despereaux is Barak Obama, right down to the adorable ears.

snip//

Barack Obama assumes office in a time of unparalleled challenges for the country and the planet. For the first time in my lifetime (and I was born in the year Harry Truman was elected!), the very idea of the United States of America is in question. For what would this country be if it were no longer powerful, if not the most powerful nation on earth? And that possibility is looking us right in our collective eye.

When it became clear after the first couple of years that Bill Clinton was not going to move the country in a progressive direction (in fact, the Democratic Party crashed nationwide during the Clinton years), there was still the enormous smarts and great charm of the man; those, and a weak 1996 opponent, were enough to stake him to two terms. Despite dishonoring his office and despite the fact that many of the policies that we came to hate under George W. Bush actually began with him, Bill Clinton is still much loved by his party.

But love will not be enough for Barack Obama. He must produce. If Clinton faced deficits, Obama faces chasms. Military quagmires. A broken health care system. Public education in shambles. Unprecedented income inequality, and an economy on life-support.

If in two years Obama voters feel cheated, their high hopes unfulfilled, there will be hell to pay--for the Democrats, but more importantly, for the country.

But allow me to conclude by returning to Despereaux. The subtitle of the hero-mouse's story, appearing on the screen in the film's opening frames, is: "A Hero Doesn't Appear Until the World Really Needs One."

Well, we really do!

[acmavm]

1. I would LOVE to see things work out and Obama truly be the president

born for these times. As the OP said, there will be hell to pay if he isn't.

[babylonsister]

2. I would, too. We've endured so many years of anger and despair;

as corny as it sounds, I just have to hope he is the man for these times.

[acmavm]

3. He's a GOOD man. The thing I wonder about is whether he's like Bill

Clinton in his self-serving opportunism. Will he think of the country and the American worker, or corporate Amurika and what he goes on to do when he leaves office?

edit: I really do believe that no matter what anyone says, he truly is a very good man and possibly a gentle soul. That doesn't mean that he can't and won't jump bad. Look at his idol, Abraham Lincoln to see what I mean.