A Disquisition on Damon Weaver.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why our collective sweetheart Damon Weaver, who scored some big interviews at the inauguration but not the biggest one, is so compelling. Sure, he’s adorable. But lots of children are cute, and it normally takes an extra something to warm the icy cage around my heart.

I suspect a lot of it has to do with how perfectly Damon fits into this particular moment. Damon’s a ten-year-old who believes he can interview the president. I’m going to gag on my own cheesiness here, but if there is a spirit of hope and possibility in the air, then surely a kid who asks heartbreakingly guileless and relevant questions of important people who lovingly and respectfully give their time to him and his school captures that spirit well. His triumphs, on a smaller scale, mirror the triumph of Barack Obama’s presidency.

And maybe that’s why it’s ok that Obama hasn’t given him an interview yet. Damon would kind of disappear.