Looking For Batman in a World of Jokers

As a kid I had a passing interest in Batman. He was not a “super hero”. Batman was simply a trained, dedicated man that believed enough to overcome corruption and graft in his city. There were no eyes that shot lasers. He had no supernatural powers of flight. His strength came from sweat and determination. Batman was the ideal citizen in a society that was far from ideal.

When I grew up I became less invested in the notion of fictional heroes that could not be bought and sold. I threw away the silly notion that men could be trusted to do the right thing because they claimed to be on the side I thought was right and just…

Aw, heck, No, I didn’t. I voted as a Republican too many times to pretend that I had a problem suspending disbelief. I would watch, starry eyed, as they put their hokey, outdated commercials on the local channels. I would cheer on their messages of “America First” and “Our great state will lead the way back to the good ol’ days!”

Dazzled as I was, I never, not once, found a candidate that was really about truth, justice, and the American way. I would look back on my vote in the same way that I used to look back on the nights that I had imbibed too heavily at the local dive. In that same way, I was ready for a disingenuous speech bender by the time ballots were waiting at the booth.

If I strain my ears enough I can hear you rebuking me for my ignorance. “D. Plorable, What on Earth did you really expect? They are politicians playing politics.”

Well, you are right about that. The problem was that I really expected a tiny minority of disingenuous people to do the work that I certainly was not going to do. I mean, I had a job. I had responsibilities. How could I carve out the time it took to make my voice heard? I had voted for Superman…I mean, my candidate… and I darn well meant to see him put on the cape and fly through the state legislature righting wrongs and busting the bad guys. At a minimum, he could pull out the Bat-Truth and defeat the powers of collectivism where they stood.

What’s that? You have never believed in such heroes? Ah, good for you! So, you’ve never been guilty of silly comic book one liners like “If we only had Reagan in office!” or “George Bush wouldn’t have taken this!”? How about this one, “George Washington would shut these idiots down faster than an obsessive compulsive Department of Health inspector at Typhoid Mary’s E.Coli Burger stand!”? What did you say, there? “Not the same thing?” I cannot make such a connection between statesmen and fictional characters? Hold my non-alcoholic beverage.

We know that Good Ol’ George did not chop down a cherry tree. It was Mason Locke Weems that created that story to teach children that morals are so important that we should lie about a politician in order to make that politician seem more like the ideal.

Still, we (unfairly) pump Washington up to be superhuman. In return, we get the collectivist backlash that chides him for being human and prone to the limitations of those unfortunate creatures known as Homo Sapiens.

We speak about the titan of tolerance and the deliverer of black Americans, Abraham Lincoln, as though he walked the earth in garments, spotless white, and unmarred by mortal short comings. For that, we get mindless robots storming our parks looking for the next “racist” marble tyrant to wrench from his pedestal. 

We block out the Mulford Act and get a shuddering left hook from Democrat trolls when we mention Reagan Conservatism. We then stand right up and (as if trained to believe that Conservatism is a relic of the 1980’s) repeat the meaningless mantra, “If only we had Reagan. If only we had Reagan.”

Now, to be clear, collectivists will always find a reason to be unhappy with Constitutionally minded, Conservative leaders. Still more, I am pretty happy with the service these men gave to our country. The problem is that we make superheroes out of them. They become symbols of perfect ideals; superhuman, infallible, unassailable demigods to some on the right. Then, they are summarily condemned by the left to suffer post-mortem fact dissection. Bits of their life are carefully cut free of the connective context and waved before a stupefied crowd of libel gluttons. It is a gory end for a hero to endure.

As long as they remain relatively few and easily researched or libeled, slandered, defamed, set up…Well, you get the picture, heroes of the political variety will always fall hard. Send them up to fight the wicked powers of political corruption and they are investigated for tax evasion, Russian collusion, or quid pro quo power brokering. Cheer them on at rallies and they are labeled as a new Hitler or Mussolini. Urge him to shut down a border and he will be a “racist, ultra-nationalist, bigot”.

Now, here’s a little idea that tickles the patriotic senses within me: What if there were tens of millions of heroes? What if there were untold millions of detectives watching in the proverbial night for misdeeds? What if the streets were taken from the violent and dangerous by, not one caped crusader, but by an army of blue collar types? What if Americans were the most feared anticorruption force in the known world? What if we were a cohesive, self supporting, thoughtful, unyielding force for the rights of each and every single citizen?

What if we used the right to practice religion to teach moral values in this country? What if we used the freedom of the press to “speak truth to power”, even when Hollywood and the Social Media Dons do not approve? What if we peaceably assembled in groups so large that television networks found it impossible to hide the truth about that assembly’s mission of peace, order, and lawful governance? What if groups met in open places and discussed ways to help communities, drive industry, create jobs, lower crime, and help those in the most critical depths of poverty? What if we created the demand, then demanded the supply in politics? Sending those that we actually see work in communities would beat taking that which we are served by political machines.

What if we, Americans, Citizens, Patriots, were involved in our communities as much as we are involved in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, etc, etc.?

I know. It’s so unrealistic, right? It is fantastical and naive. It’s absurd! Why, when has a group of people ever gathered together in defense of their freedoms and liberties in this country? When have people actually spoken more than brief pleasantries to those…those neighbors? Those neighbors that are so…neighbor-ish! Unpalatable? Unacceptable? Unlikely?

Okay. We can wait for the next “superhero” to be eviscerated by the media…Right before our very eyes. Oddly, I haven’t seen many superhero volunteers lining up to be drawn and quartered while we watch. You know those superheroes; always hiding in fiction, never coming into reality. It’s safer that way, I guess.