A meaning of “apotheosis” is awarding the rank of a “god” to a human. In my morning bicycle ride, I listened to the last tape of lectures about Voltaire.  The professor’s last lecture was about how, at death and from that time forward, Voltaire was even accepted by the Catholic Church as eligible for burial in consecrated ground and was deified by the French and certainly lauded throughout the world of letters and has been assured of immortality.  The lecturer compared the output of Voltaire’s far ranging and life-long production of literature with the Bible. His volume of words dwarfed those in the Bible and his impact on the liberal revolution in America and later in France and Europe was incalculable.

Few human personages are rewarded by their compatriots with the appellation of “god”.  Voltaire was one and perhaps he deserved it for he may have done more good than evil during his long life.  His impact on the notion of toleration in a time when religious intolerance for beliefs other than a litany of specifics resulted not only in wars but also in torture, immolation, exile and in condemnation ending in a body buried in a dung heap.  Voltaire managed to escape this last, his reputation seems to have grown through the centuries, and he does have a place in a pantheon of the “greats” in literature.

I have a problem with awarding the rank of a “god” to a politician – any politician. For instance, the apotheosis of George W. Bush is misapplied, desperate and politically correct for those who will benefit for his continuance on the world stage as a valid player.  It is interesting to listen to and read the paeans to the magnificence of a puny personage.  His managers, family and all those well-wishers who will benefit by his continuance as a “war president” and as the anti-ecology, anti-worker and the arch protector of the rich, need to place him on a pedestal.  He does not belong there and looks less and less the accidental hero of 9/11 because that murder of thousands happened on his watch.

What the U.S. needs now is not to reward Mr. Bush with a second term. He is president through elevation by the Supreme Court and that was shameful and in its singularily is enough to deny Mr. Bush any accolades or a repeat performance.  Mr. Bush does not deserve a pedestal. Similarly, the misplaced admiration of a Ralph Nader should be outsourced. His reckless entry into a serious and crucial ritual of democracy bespeaks of a wild card, a brilliance diminished and a political innocence free of the workings of parties and a lack of concern for outcome.  Democracy does not require gods or peculiar heroes.  We need sober and experienced leaders, offering plans that help, not hurt people.