Jim Hightower ~ A REAL Populist

I say Jim is a real populist, because right now, the right wingers have attempted to hijack the populist image. Beck, Palin and the Tea Party in particular. Let’s be clear. A populist is in this game to improve the lot of the average person. Beck, Palin, and the Tea Party are in this to FATTEN THEIR WALLETS!

“Holding Out For A Hero”

Heroes are defined by each of us, in many, many different ways. The cop on the beat. The fire fighter. The Super Bowl hero. The guitar hero. Heroes in real life and heroes in fiction. Tough guy heroes. Tough women heroes. War heroes – peace heroes. Nameless heroes and heroes that have their names splashed across the Front Page.

The fallen hero.  The unsung heroes. A new hero. The everyday Mom and Dad heroes. The heroic relatives that step forward to care for children in times of tragedy. The old, nearly forgotten, hero from a time long ago.

Personally, I am not given to hero-worship. There are many, many people that I admire greatly, including our President and the First Lady, but very few that I would consider a hero. The list is short:

The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali.

Senator and presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy.

It is noteworthy that all of my heroes made their mark in the Sixties, the era in which I came of age.

“Holding Out For A Hero”

“I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til 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”

Bonnie Tyler, 1986 – written by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford.

So, you don’t need to call them heroes if you don’t want to use that term, no labels required, but who would you put on that pedestal and why?

William Stephenson Clark

Friday, 5/21/10, Public Square