Martin Sheen for President!

Remember West Wing?  Remember what a kick-ass president Jed Bartlett was?  We should call Martin Sheen right now and see if he'd run for president, and I'll tell you why.

Our president should be funny.  Maybe not stand-up-comedian funny, but have a sense of humor for cryin’ out loud.  Jed Bartlett quotes:

• When his aid wanted to date his daughter:  “Just remember these two things – she’s nineteen years old, and the 82^nd Airborne works for me.”
• On a particularly rough day:  “I’ll take the Indian ambassador in the Oval Office.  And then if you could just ask the Secret Service to step in and kill me.”
• “I came to this hallowed chamber one year ago on a mission, to restore the American dream for all our people as we gaze at the vast horizon of possibilities open to us in the 21^st century.  Wow, that was ambitious of me, wasn’t it?”

Our president should be smart and capable, yet know when to ask for help.  Jed Bartlett had a PhD and called shots from the situation room without breaking a sweat.  He also called the Butterball Hotline when he wasn't sure about cooking his stuffing.

Our president should be kind.  Jed Bartlett granted presidential pardons to two turkeys on Thanksgiving when he was only required to pardon one.

To quote Mike McCurry, a former press secretary for the Clinton administration, our president should possess "the compassion and integrity of Jimmy Carter, the shrewd decision-making and hard-nosed realism of Richard Nixon, the warmth and amiability of Bill Clinton, and the liberal passion of Teddy Kennedy."

Jed Bartlett was all that and a bag of chips.

But in all seriousness, to break it down in body parts…

• Our president should have guts, because we have no idea what the next presidency might face.
• Our president should have heart, to show compassion and understanding in the direst of circumstances.
• Our president should have legs, to go the distance when the race for peace and prosperity has been long, and the finish line is still in the distance.
• Our president should have eyes.  New eyes.  Not the same old way of looking at things.  Not the "tried and true" ways that have led to conflict and separation.  Our president should have eyes that see all people as one, all nations united, all dreams for peace a reality. 

And so should we all.