Vanderbilt professor Dana Nelson hasn’t jumped on the Obamamania bandwagon or showed her support for John McCain. Not even Ron Paul can get her riled up.
 

For Nelson, it’s not the person who is president that is the problem with America, but rather the office of president itself. In her new book, Nelson dissects our need to see the president as a hero when democracy should really be in the hands of the people.
 

A press release for the book has this excerpt:

"The president-as-superhero myth promised all the democracy with none of the work," writes Nelson in her new book, Bad for Democracy: How the Presidency Undermines the Power of the People. "As such, it teaches citizens to admire rule by strong individuals and to abjure the messy workings - disagreements, slow debates, compromise, bargaining - of actual democracy."

Yes, we have left most of the messiness for Bush. And look where that got us.
 

But what exactly is the other option? As much as we worry about the less-than-intellectuals in government, would we really rather put power in the hands of Joe Shmoe with the beer bong in his hand? I think not.
 

So does Nelson have a valid point?
 

Not sure, but the out-of-stock notice on Amazon.com seems to suggest as much.