Politicians are not Superheroes | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Rod Eccles is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show, The Rod Eccles Show, and we are most happy to have Rod as an extended member of our growing BCN family.

    There is a lot of cinematography lately that has Americans eagerly dishing out their hard earned cash just to be entertained for 120 minutes.

    It's a particular genre of film that has Americans flocking to their local Cineplex as well as having them glued to their big screen televisions almost nightly. This genre is so pervasive that even specialty networks have their own versions.

    What Americans seem to want and seem to search for on a constant basis is a superhero. We look for them everywhere. We freely give the label, HERO, to just about anyone who performs above the call of duty. To anyone whom we believe performs some feat of amazement that is beyond the average and everyday human.

    The funny thing about those we call a hero is that none of them truly believe they are. They believe they are simply a caring human doing what caring humans do when they are trained at doing what they do. They view it as a job.

    Funny thing is, when we look at the make-believe heroes on the screen or in the pages of comic books, those heroes view themselves as nothing more than humans with abilities and training to do a job.

    So Americans keep looking. They keep searching. They keep longing.

    This search often leads to many dead ends. Even though we think we found a real hero, we later find out that those particular humans are fillable, flawed, and in many cases fake.

    It is because we place the label hero on too many people who do not truly deserve the title. And when we are let down by these false heroes, we don't mourn. We don't look inside ourselves and ask how it is that we could be fooled so easily.

    Instead, we search for a replacement and we quickly find the new hero that is then catapulted to the stratosphere as the savior of our society, our nation, and our very way of life.

    We rally behind this new found hero and we give them praise. We bow down to their perceived greatness and put them on pedestals. Some would say mighty pedestals.

    When this so called hero fails us again as they usually do, we do not mourn and we do not look inside for answers. We simply place the label of hero on another person.

    Often we do this without even realizing it. Often the hero is not seen as a hero by many at first. Then their fable grows and more and more people come to see them as a hero and before long we start using specific language that identifies them as the new hero. We say "they are the ONLY one" or "only this new hero can save us" or "he is the only qualified person to do..."

    Sometimes, the hero comes to believe the hype and they think of themselves as the hero or the savior. We call them politicians.

    We fawn over this politician. We praise him upon high. We write songs about him. We elevate his wealth. We swallow every word he says with glee. We are certain that this time...this time, we will not be let down. This time, he will be the real hero we need.

    Americans need heroes. We want them with different powers and abilities. We want them at different societal and economic levels. We want a gaggle of them.

    So we search and we label. We say our heroes are the sports star, the first responder, the soldier, the medical professional, the politician. Even the kid down the street if he saves an old lady's cat. We have so many heroes yet none of them can save us. They do not have the power to save us. They cannot use a super power to keep us from harming ourselves.

    Every time the hero fails to save us from ourselves, we don't mourn. We don't look inside for answers. We simply look for a new hero and we always find the new false hero. They are a dime a dozen. America needs a hero. So we will continue to search and search and search and label.

    But if we would just stop. If we would just look within. If we just stop being gullible for one moment. If we stop looking to that politician that smiles a big smile and tells us the big lies. If we stop voting for the fake savior of our nation. If we just stop falling for every false hero that puts on a superhero suit.

    If we just got on our knees and prayed. We would find out that the hero we need is inside each of us.