Thursday, September 20, 2012

President Steve Rogers

Apparently, in the Marvel Comics, Captain America has been elected President via write-in vote.*  Um, sure. Since I didn't read the comic book and since a write-in candidate does not have a platform the same way Obama and Romney due via parties and conventions, it is not clear how Captain America will govern his fictional country.  But that is what I am here for: to ruthlessly speculate with little information.

So, in his first four years (and, only, as he will out-George Washington George Washington and insist only serving one term), Cap will:
  • Seek to change laws governing steriods.  As an enhanced super-soldier, he cannot be hypocritical about using the best of modern medicine to improve performance.  
  • Change his name. He understands that having a person with a military title, such as Captain, is a threat to civilian control of the military.  So, President America for four years.  He will not mind the demotion after four years of working with/against Congress.
  • Appoint people regardless of skin color (green) to the cabinet, so expect the Hulk to get an important role.
  • Throw the first pitch at ball games.  Given what he has been wearing for decades, Cap Pres America knows the power of symbols and rituals.
  • Support gun control.  He will prefer that every house as a shield, which can still, of course, be used offensively, than a gun.  While he used guns during World War II, he has been reluctant ever since.
  • Not appear on Letterman or the Daily Show.  President America is nothing if not uptight.
  • Raise taxes and cut spending as he is a big believer in a balanced budget.
  • Use super-heroes when he wants to intervene around the world rather than the US Armed Forces.  He has friends and they are cost efficient.  Indeed, he might follow the last military hero/President, Ike, by going for bigger bang for the buck, with a smaller military.
  • Rely more on international organizations to deal with problems around world, since he is comfortable with SHIELD and similar organizations.
  • Try to develop innovative ways to engage in oversight as he understands principal-agency and the dangers of shirking better than most super-heroes.

* That this Ultimate series at Marvel allows for stories to spin so wildly beyond any sense of comic book reality (an evil Reed Richards?! a dead Wolverine?!) makes me feel very good about my ceasing to buy comic books about 16 years ago (diapers uber comic books).  I stopped mostly because one needed to buy more and more books each month to follow just one character (Spidey) or team (X-Men), but clones and alt-realities also did me in.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Any thoughts on the pilots for Last Resort and Revolution?