A New kind of Super Hero
They say that the President of the United States is the most powerful man on earth. Some people would choose to debate this, but there is no doubt that whatever he or she decides to do does have an effect on just about the whole world, so that is a lot of power. However, it’s not simply a case of having the power, but how it is used that is important.
I finally got around to watching the film “Hancock” starring Will Smith. This is a very unusual role for him as he acts out the part of Super Hero, a different kind of Superman. He has a definite public relations problem in the film, but it got me to thinking about super heroes, and what we expect from them.
Essentially, we expect our ideal hero to be on the side of good. They are supposed to be a part of the solution, coming to the rescue in the nick of time. No challenge is too great, or too small, and everybody looks up to them. Most of our super heroes exists only in our imagination, however President Obama is very real, and so far he seems to be filling out the criteria very well.
He has taken on an impossible task, that of putting the U.S. economy back on the tracks after a derailment unlike at any other time in history, and that would most likely lead to putting things right with the rest of the world. He has taken some bold steps to turn things around. The U.S. was in very bad shape when he stepped into office on January 20th, 2009. President George W. Bush drew the short end of the stick. It was on his watch that 9/11 happened, and when the result of too much easy credit came home to roost.
I thought that he, together with Dick Cheney as Vice-President, and Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defence responded quite rationally by striking back at the sponsors of the 9/11 atrocity in Afghanistan. However, they then went a step too far by attacking Iraq on a pretext, and that led to a great deal of criticism worldwide, and America’s image fell off a cliff.
Following President Obama’s G-20 involvement and stops throughout Europe a poll was conducted among foreigners asking whether his performance had caused them to revise their opinion favourably towards the United States, and a staggering 91% said yes. This is no small achievement and bodes well for the future.
President Obama has gone on to tackle the thorny issue of Cuba, a thorn in the side of the U.S. for over 50 years. No other president would even touch the subject, but just a little loosening of the icy grip has brought forth from the Castro brothers the surprising statement that they are prepared to talk, and everything is on the table. At the least Cuba has been a perpetual embarrassment to the U.S. so to bring about a warming of relations would be a welcome thing. After all there are very real people who have been suffering as a result of the intransigence of the leaders.
Then came the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, and Mr. Big Mouth, Hugo Chavez, who is on record as having said that he thought President Obama was stupid was overheard now to say that he would welcome a friendship between himself and Mr. Obama.
So far, so good!
This is the kind of real super hero we can all believe in. I’m sure that even those people who still can’t digest the fact that he is their president are probably pausing to reflect on the reasons they hate him so much, and are finding that the list is shrinking.
So, as goes the President so goes the country, and in effect the entire world. At least everybody is talking, except that lone wolf in North Korea, but hopefully he will come around. His people are dying to have him get on board the Joy Express.
I wish President Obama continued success, and very small and inconsequential errors because he does not walk on water. Let’s stay tuned for the second 100 days.
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
They say that the President of the United States is the most powerful man on earth. Some people would choose to debate this, but there is no doubt that whatever he or she decides to do does have an effect on just about the whole world, so that is a lot of power. However, it’s not simply a case of having the power, but how it is used that is important.
I finally got around to watching the film “Hancock” starring Will Smith. This is a very unusual role for him as he acts out the part of Super Hero, a different kind of Superman. He has a definite public relations problem in the film, but it got me to thinking about super heroes, and what we expect from them.
Essentially, we expect our ideal hero to be on the side of good. They are supposed to be a part of the solution, coming to the rescue in the nick of time. No challenge is too great, or too small, and everybody looks up to them. Most of our super heroes exists only in our imagination, however President Obama is very real, and so far he seems to be filling out the criteria very well.
He has taken on an impossible task, that of putting the U.S. economy back on the tracks after a derailment unlike at any other time in history, and that would most likely lead to putting things right with the rest of the world. He has taken some bold steps to turn things around. The U.S. was in very bad shape when he stepped into office on January 20th, 2009. President George W. Bush drew the short end of the stick. It was on his watch that 9/11 happened, and when the result of too much easy credit came home to roost.
I thought that he, together with Dick Cheney as Vice-President, and Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defence responded quite rationally by striking back at the sponsors of the 9/11 atrocity in Afghanistan. However, they then went a step too far by attacking Iraq on a pretext, and that led to a great deal of criticism worldwide, and America’s image fell off a cliff.
Following President Obama’s G-20 involvement and stops throughout Europe a poll was conducted among foreigners asking whether his performance had caused them to revise their opinion favourably towards the United States, and a staggering 91% said yes. This is no small achievement and bodes well for the future.
President Obama has gone on to tackle the thorny issue of Cuba, a thorn in the side of the U.S. for over 50 years. No other president would even touch the subject, but just a little loosening of the icy grip has brought forth from the Castro brothers the surprising statement that they are prepared to talk, and everything is on the table. At the least Cuba has been a perpetual embarrassment to the U.S. so to bring about a warming of relations would be a welcome thing. After all there are very real people who have been suffering as a result of the intransigence of the leaders.
Then came the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, and Mr. Big Mouth, Hugo Chavez, who is on record as having said that he thought President Obama was stupid was overheard now to say that he would welcome a friendship between himself and Mr. Obama.
So far, so good!
This is the kind of real super hero we can all believe in. I’m sure that even those people who still can’t digest the fact that he is their president are probably pausing to reflect on the reasons they hate him so much, and are finding that the list is shrinking.
So, as goes the President so goes the country, and in effect the entire world. At least everybody is talking, except that lone wolf in North Korea, but hopefully he will come around. His people are dying to have him get on board the Joy Express.
I wish President Obama continued success, and very small and inconsequential errors because he does not walk on water. Let’s stay tuned for the second 100 days.
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
