Joy Reid: Black Panther is real--and this is him:

[tblue37]

Link to tweet

[onecaliberal]

1. He deserves the medal of freedom and a promotion for protecting the Senate

[Dukkha]

18. some other form of recognition

Because the last guy totally tarnished the Medal of Freedom. Not worth the tin it's pressed on anymore.

[Bucky]

28. The Medal of Honor was also overused and misapplied for a while in the Gilded Age

It's respected now because it is, once again, being used sparingly for truly extraordinary acts of heroism.

The Medal of Freedom should be treated with the same respect. Maybe that can begin by putting an astrix by the names of all who received it from a coward or traitor.

[meadowlander]

25. He was promoted to Deputy Seargent at Arms for the House.

http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2021/jan/21/american-hero-eugene-goodman-receives-promotion/

[hlthe2b]

2. I want Biden to recognize him at SOTU. There are others, too, but especially him.

[StarfishSaver]

15. Biden won't get to do a State of the Union address until next year

That will be an eternity ...

[hlthe2b]

16. Indeed he will February 23, 2021

https://www.ap.org/live-and-location-services/events/state-of-the-union

[StarfishSaver]

17. My mistake

My recollection was that the new president doesn't normally do a State of the Union in their first year. Biden appears to be making an exception.

[ShazzieB]

23. It's not an exception.

New presidents do usually make an address; they just call it by a different name.

From Wikipedia: "Since 1989, in recognition that the responsibility of reporting the State of the Union formally belongs to the president who held office during the past year, newly inaugurated presidents have not officially called their first speech before Congress a 'State of the Union' address."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union

[BumRushDaShow]

32. They call for a "Joint Session of Congress" to deliver remarks

vimeo.com/3372329

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-barack-obama-address-joint-session-congress

[July]

22. Per Wikipedia, a new prez delivered a SOU address in 1953 and 1961.

Tradition (or “tradition”) has mostly leaned toward an outgoing president’s delivering either an oral or written SOU address, with the new president’s address occurring the following year, but a Biden SOU just after taking office is not without precedent.

[bdamomma]

3. He

certainly was. Thank God.

[lillypaddle]

4. Thanks

I see what you did there!

[tblue37]

7. I was echoing Reid's phrasing. I changed tenses, but not her colloquial use of "him."

[Docreed2003]

5. K&R

What an awesome tribute to a real life super hero

#WakandaForever

[philly_bob]

6. It wasn't muscle, it wasn't violence. It was fearlessness and situational awareness

that makes him a hero. He understood the psychology of his opponent(s).

[Aviation Pro]

8. Which he learned as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne

"All the Way!"

[philly_bob]

24. I didn't know that. RESPECT!

From Band of Brothers:

Soldier1: "...but then we'll be surrounded."

Soldier 2: "We're paratroopers. We're always surrounded."

[malaise]

9. THIS

[Bayard]

10. America needs more heroes these days

[cwydro]

11. He did his job above and beyond.

Good to see DU appreciate a law enforcement officer.

[obamanut2012]

12. And Captain America

He IS Captain America.

[Cracklin Charlie]

13. Wakanda forever!

[sarge43]

14. ".... and I never yielded." n/t

[Cracklin Charlie]

19. I love that movie.

Any chance the baby sister can be the new Black Panther? She’s my favorite.

[sarge43]

20. Me, too.

Well, in one comic book series she was, so maybe.

I'd like to see a back story. A young T'Challa, how he became the Black Panther and some insight into the other characters.

[calimary]

21. Sometimes heroes divert mobs up the wrong staircases.

I salute you, sir!

May you wear a magnificent medal of valor on the finest raw silk ribbon, as well as all our respect and gratitude. Your Superman cape may be invisible, but a lot of us know it's there.

And you deserve a promotion and a pay raise, too!

We can only guess how many lives this brave, nimble, quick-thinking man actually saved that day. Probably more than a few Congressmembers.

[DBoon]

26. and his mask gives him a superpower

it fights a deadly pandemic

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

27. Ben Cuckpiro on Tuesday: "Wakanda is not a real place!". Then on Thursday:

"Why are do we have to have black storm troopers and Jedi ladies?"

[Marcuse]

29. Somebody tell Benny that Krypton is not a real place.

[Blue Owl]

30. K&R

[BobTheSubgenius]

31. I recognized the EXTRAORDINARY act my wife and I saw in real time on the 6th.

I told her in that moment that a screen grab of that moment when he stopped at the top of the stairs, deployed what appeared to be a pretty feeble weapon* and squared himself to face whoever was coming - that that image would become iconic.

I couldn't believe that one man could have the stones to hold off a rabid mob by himself! When I later heard the back story - that he was basically performing a rear guard action to protect "his charges" - I was even more impressed. It didn't change what he did, but the context blew up to *enormous.*

He deserves whatever accolade that they can give him. And one thing that hasn't been mentioned, to my knowledge: look what an example he set for the rest of the CP and law enforcement in general. They will all be extremely hard-pressed to rise to that occasion, and hopefully it's unlikely they will ever have to, but I would now expect them to try.

My only regret is that it happened during a time of so much turmoil and strife that it will be overcome by events, so to speak. He should be a legend.


* I know it's a potentially crippling weapon, but I've only ever seen them in close quarters combat. One good rap on the side of a knee and the fight is probably over, but in that moment, it looked more like a conductor's baton than a serious weapon.