With the the inauguration of President Obama for a second term, we now look ahead to the many daunting problems facing this country in the next four years. One of the most pressing of issues is the growing polarization within our nation. Partisanship and division in U.S. politics and within the public have grown ever more intense in recent years. Progress is becoming hindered by political deadlock, civility and decorum are fast becoming scarce, and the public continues to lose faith in the effectiveness of their elected officials and the system.
Of course the one image that really sums up the current challenges of our modern divided society is the cover of one hit wonder Joey Scarbury's 1981 hit album "America's Greatest Hero" featuring his #2 hit "Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" (and yes, no mention of that song can be complete without a mention of George's answering machine message). How did Mr. Scarbury predict the fractured political climate between red and blue states in 21st century America all the way back in the early 1980s? Alas, no one seems to have bothered to seek him out since then to ask.
One additional observation: someone with absolutely no prior knowledge of Joey Scarbury might assume, just based on looking at the cover, that this was some kind of spoken word album of Mr. Scarbury's political views (it sort of reminds me of Johnny Calhoun's unsuccessful spoken word album of his right-wing political views "These Things I Believe").
