Tonight’s episode of Heroes focused on a future 5 years after a catastrophic nuclear explosion (in the form of a radioactive hero) in NYC. The world is a dark place, and the “heroes” are about to be subjected to a government sponsored euthanasia/genocide program. We watch a number of the good guys get killed brutally by a government run amok and an evil hero.

However, even in this dark tableau was a moment of optimism. In this future, the government was able to erect a monument to the dead within five years of the tragedy. In our world, run by George Pataki, Michael Bloomberg, and George W Bush, we still don’t have a national memorial to the dead.