Re: SF Politics and Super Tuesday

Sea Wasp <seawaspObvious@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
news:47AAF920.2000907@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
>...
>      Fingerprints should work just fine, though. That would
>      naturally 
> break his cover ID, but then if we're postulating that he wants
> to be President his cover ID would be gone anyway;  you can't
> have the President disappearing for most of a work day, and even
> Superman's abilities would be, um, strained to say the least,
> trying to manage the appearance of simultaneity every day for
> weeks on end.

Naturally, Clark Kent would arrange to be assigned to the White 
House press pool.  Or take a leave of absence to work on his book.

> 
>      One could also point out the rather huge number of beings
>      and special 
> abilities and gadgets which allow ANYONE to be virtually
> perfectly imitated -- to the point that you have to pretty much
> accept people as who they claim to be unless you have excellent
> reason to suspect otherwise. If you don't, well, there's at
> least a couple dozen candidates for people who assumed your
> identity. Hell, the whole COURTROOM could be metamorphs,
> shape****fters, magicians, dire wraiths (no, wait, that's Marvel)
> etc., all thinking they're the only ringer in the courtroom.

True enough.  In any case, clearly mainstream superhero universes 
mostly have something that implicitly (or explicitly) allows supers 
to testify in their costumed identities, because the alternative 
would be frustrating for readers: "Yes, once again Superman was 
wasting his time catching the crooks, because the case was thrown 
out as soon as it got to trial.  Boy, that would be fun to read, 
over and over again.  (Though these days, jail has become such a 
revolving door in superhero comics that it might not make much 
difference.)

Mike