Card #150. I thought about saving this for last, but I feel like instead, hitting card #150 is like where Phase 2 kicks in. This isn't the end, this is very much the beginning of part 2. (I wanna shout out
@Ru1977 who has let me use him as a sounding board for MONTHS about when to do Cobra Commander's card.) And yeah, this is more of a dossier than a file card.
Code Name: Cobra Commander
File Name: Lewis, Rexford (alias); DeCobray, Adam (alias); Broca, Fred (alias); Kessler, Frederick (alias)
Primary Military Specialty: Intelligence
Secondary Military Specialty: Ordinance (Experimental Weapons)
Birthplace: Springfield, Illinois
Rank: Commander-in-Chief
Rexford Lewis is the embodiment of the American Dream. Rising from humble beginnings as a used car salesman in his hometown of Springfield, Lewis faced the ups and downs economically and emotionally that so many of his fellow Americans face every day - job insecurity, mounting debt, and even the tragic loss of his son William while still a child. When he tired of seeing the leaders of this great country fail to step up and create a better world, Lewis decided he need to take action and make change himself. His meteoric rise to political fame and power was fueled by a populist movement and an ethos that echoed with so many of his countrymen:
Building the America we deserve. Rumors abound of a darker past, but these cartoonish stories - that Lewis harbors a secret history as a masked terrorist and warmonger - are too far-fetched to even be considered offensive. Instead of focusing rumors and hearsay, he has built a coalition of world-class scientists, financiers, war heroes, and legal experts to begin the process of ushering America into its new golden era. His first acts in office have been to dismantle the barriers and topple the sacred cows that stand in the way of progress so that his administration can nimbly, effectively, and swiftly bring this great country into the future.
"In all honesty, Cobra Commander belonged in politics in the first place. He was never an effective terrorist. The man's heart wasn't in it. He has no ideology other than wanting to wrest what he perceives is his away from everyone else. To be a true terrorist you need some kind of ideology. You need to believe in something. He never has. His motivations were the accumulation of capital and power. His acts of terror were only a smokescreen for the things he really wanted to do. He may have drawn madmen and extremists to his banner, but it was never about what they wanted - they were tools for him to use to build the financial and military power to make the kinds of moves that would enable him to build a new identity, rewrite history, and convince America to hand him the keys without a single shot fired. And that is what he does best, and always has - he convinces people that if they give him what he wants, they'll get what they want.
"Sadly, this has proven true more often than not. His followers - who have ideologies, they are driven by things they believe in, whether it is science or honor or hatred or nihilism - have access to the financing and toys they desire, the power and influence they want, and in return they have enabled him to crown himself king. And to do this he's built the illusion of a real man. He's mythologized his past, rebuilt his face into a telegenic, white-toothed mask far more false than any chrome faceplate or blue dish towel he's worn as Cobra Commander. He's turned Billy's betrayal into a tragic myth. Even his 'wife' Betty is built to appeal to a target demographic - she's a Crimson Guard wearing a movie star's face and blonde hair, her name chosen by committee, her voice by focus group.
"Without him the whole thing falls apart. He's a cipher for the dreams of monsters, and he weaves those dreams together into a sword to strike at the heart of liberty and truth. He does not want to rule this world. He does not want to destroy it. Cobra Commander simply wants the satisfaction of winning, of being able to look down on a world that he felt never respected him and say he won. And then he'll walk away and leave the rest of us screaming toward the abyss."
