Posted on Jan 6, 2023
This Congressman-elect swears by (and on) vintage Superman
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https://www.npr.org/2023/01/06/ [login to see] /this-congressman-elect-swears-by-and-on-vintage-superman
This week, Congressman-elect Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) made some news by announcing he will (eventually!) swear himself in on a copy of the Constitution, a photo of his late parents, his certificate of U.S. citizenship and ... a copy of Superman #1, on loan from the Library of Congress.
This week, Congressman-elect Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) made some news by announcing he will (eventually!) swear himself in on a copy of the Constitution, a photo of his late parents, his certificate of U.S. citizenship and ... a copy of Superman #1, on loan from the Library of Congress.
This Congressman-elect swears by (and on) vintage Superman
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
ComicsU.S. House of Representatives
Constitution
Citizenship
Library of Congress
ComicsU.S. House of Representatives Constitution Citizenship Library of Congress
Posted 2 y ago
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Kind of unique, but I am sure something like this has been done before... However, I believe that too much has been made by the Congressman-elect and the media regarding the Superman comic book... This is a serious swearing in and shouldn't be taken lightly by anyone! In my view it would be most appropriate to be sworn in the Customary congressional rules of swearing in new members...
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SGT Mary G.
Totally agree, Sgt (Join to see). We need as much dignified respectful honoring of the swearing in ceremonies as possible to remind us of everything that is good about our system of government - including that it is intended to reduce seething enmity among those elected and appointed to do the bidding of we, the people.
I like the old traditional colonial approach to serving in government to, as exemplified by the The Old Farmer's Almanac wit:
"We estimate that our Almanac has survived and thrived all these years because we have maintained Robert B. Thomas’s mission: “to be useful with a pleasant degree of humor.” That, plus a high degree of accuracy in all of the content (from the weather to astronomy to the historical features to the astrology and more) plus a little bit of luck . . . "
I like the old traditional colonial approach to serving in government to, as exemplified by the The Old Farmer's Almanac wit:
"We estimate that our Almanac has survived and thrived all these years because we have maintained Robert B. Thomas’s mission: “to be useful with a pleasant degree of humor.” That, plus a high degree of accuracy in all of the content (from the weather to astronomy to the historical features to the astrology and more) plus a little bit of luck . . . "
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Not sure the possible symbolism will be understood by everyone. Not everyone is into comic books, or familiar with that particular one. Symbolic gestures interfere with very clearly communicating in matters of government, imho.
"Here's what Superman gets up to, in the pages of Superman #1:
Savagely beats up a man who's abusing a woman
Prevents the state from executing a wrongly convicted prisoner
Torments a corrupt Washington lobbyist (by hoisting him over his super-shoulders and leaping between the many towering skyscrapers of 1939 Washington, D.C. – hey, it's comics)
Forces a greedy munitions manufacturer to experience the horrors of war on the front lines as his own products explode around him
Prevents a second execution, this time via firing squad
Cold-bloodedly murders a soldier for torturing a prisoner
Traps a wealthy mine owner and his high-society friends in his own mine to demonstrate how the mine's safety equipment doesn't work (look I know things are getting a bit more baroque, here, but stay with me), and
Disguises himself as a college football player to expose a crooked coach (see above, in re: hey, it's comics)."
"Here's what Superman gets up to, in the pages of Superman #1:
Savagely beats up a man who's abusing a woman
Prevents the state from executing a wrongly convicted prisoner
Torments a corrupt Washington lobbyist (by hoisting him over his super-shoulders and leaping between the many towering skyscrapers of 1939 Washington, D.C. – hey, it's comics)
Forces a greedy munitions manufacturer to experience the horrors of war on the front lines as his own products explode around him
Prevents a second execution, this time via firing squad
Cold-bloodedly murders a soldier for torturing a prisoner
Traps a wealthy mine owner and his high-society friends in his own mine to demonstrate how the mine's safety equipment doesn't work (look I know things are getting a bit more baroque, here, but stay with me), and
Disguises himself as a college football player to expose a crooked coach (see above, in re: hey, it's comics)."
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