It’s not because he’s photogenic. And, while tragic, it’s not because Billy Mays died so young. It’s because he’s the best representation of what we love about America. It’s what we feel is slipping away from America.

We’re in a downturn, but it’s more than that… people left and right feel depressed about the loss of our capitalistic spirit. We feel like we’re loosing our ability to be the best innovators and decision makers out there. Even if it was crud, Billy Mays could innovate it into something fantastic. He didn’t just have the gadgets, he had the enthusiasm, the passion down better than anyone else.

One can only imagine if GM and Chrysler had such great pitchmen back in the ’90s… because they sure need them right now. American car makers are outpacing their foreign counterparts left and right… good luck getting anyone to take even a free test drive and find out.

Even Dell is about to lose in raw sales to Acer.

This is not a post mourning the loss of a superhero. It’s a post saying that America will fight to keep its freedom, its freedom to innovate, to chose… whatever it wants, whenever it wants. Sure, Billy Mays’ death seems like an odd time for a rally cry, but it’s exactly the reason that people are so fired up about his loss.

We’ll miss you Mr. Mays, but don’t think for a minute we’re going to let America go quietly into the night.