Young hero refuses photo op with President Bush

The young hero of the bridge tragedy in Minneapolis is back in the news. We reported here how he kicked out the back doors of a school bus that was the bridge when it collapsed and started handing out children to be rescued -- 62 in all. And it turned out that Mr. Hernandez had to drop out of auto mechanic school due to lack of funds. And that the school has offered him a scholarship in thanks for what he did. All good news

And we reported how King George did a quick fly over the bridge collapse in order to secure a photo op looking compassionate. Vulture! Now the New York Times reports that Mr. Hernandez not only was swamped with letters of thanks from around the country. But the White House called as well. They wanted to get Mr. Hernandez to be photographed with President Bush. But apparently Mr. Hernandez turned them day and said, "Nope." I personally think more people who do courageous and good things should tell the politicians to F off, perhaps in nicer wording, when they try to muscle in on the goodness of others.

Mr. Hernandez's heroism was not a Bush program. It was not government at work. It was one young man doing what needed to be done because it needed to be done. He didn't do it for glory or praise and he most certainly didn't do it to give third rate politicians (and there are no first rate politicians) an opportunity to get their mug in the media. Good for Hernandez. And one other indication of his decency: he has left Minneapolis for awhile. He says the attention is too much and he really thinks some of his fellow employees at the youth center deserve more attention then they have been getting. He's the polar opposite of the self-seeking, media-hound Lucy Caldwell.