With great power comes great responsibility

When I was twelve or so years of age, my best friend Chris Stift and I sent away for two solid bronze Spider-man coins. They were a bit bigger that a Kennedy dollar and each coin had a serial number etched in the side. The front of the coin showed Spider-man hanging from a wall and the back had just his face, but split in two; one side Spider-man, the other side Peter Parker. Above that was the inscription, “With great power comes great responsibility.” I carried that coin with me in my pocket wherever I went. I managed to keep it with me for over twenty years before I lost it. People would always say, “You should put that away before you lose it.” But I loved having it. I’d had it in my pocket since I was a boy. Do I now wish that I’d put it away? No, I just wish I had it back in my pocket. One day I was showing it to a grade school teacher of mine, and upon reading the back, he snorted, “Someone should have told that to Nixon.” I responded, “Whatever.” He shouldn’t debase Uncle Ben’s words of wisdom with profane politics. Now though, well…we really do give our President a lot of power. And it is an awesome responsibility. I don’t think any of us can really conceive of that kind of responsibility and power. The power, of course, comes from the Office, not from the man. I have some bad news for you: Spider-man is not on the ballot this time, nor is Uncle Ben. We, the Electorate, hold the actual power. With less than 50% voter-turnout, I’d say that most people don’t understand this power. This year, ask a young person if they’re registered to vote. If they’re not, keep bugging them until they do. Talk to them; argue with them, whatever it takes. (I find ridiculing them can work.) Just tell them that Uncle Ben would want them to, and Aunt May will be very disappointed if they don’t. In answer to Jennifer’s question about the 1812 Overture from her blog the other day, read this.

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