When Heroes Fall

It is disheartening when your heroes fall. This has been especially prevalent this election season, when people we admire turn out to be not quite what we thought they were. No one exemplifies this sad reality more than Ken Bone.

As every schoolchild knows, Ken Bone was in the audience of the second presidential debate as an undecided voter. He is a power plant operator in Illinois and according to Wikipedia, was born in the early ‘80s. At the debate, while wearing a red sweater, he asked the candidates a question about energy policy.

Notably, Ken Bone wore a red sweater. It was a zip-up sweater that appeared to be cable knit. Again, it was red.

All across the nation, we stopped to appreciate this icon, who stood in an audience and asked a question while wearing a sweater. A red sweater. Endorsement deals poured in, media appearances proliferated, articles by desperate journalists multiplied, and his meme exploded all across the screens of bored office workers nationwide. Ken Bone and his red sweater passed into myth. He was whatever archetype we wanted him to be.

Almost immediately, this Icarus came back down to Earth. A sad nation learned about his controversial comments on some kind of Reddit forum. Ken Bone had feet of clay after all, no more to be worshiped by an adoring public for his red sweater.

Are there no heroes anymore? Can any icon stay pure? I haven’t been so disappointed since Joe the Plumber turned out to be less than superhuman.