Greatest American Hero

As Siva Vaidhyanathan once said in this space, "Libraries are considered to be dangerous places and librarians are our heroes... A library is a temple to the notion that knowledge is not just for the elite and that access should be low cost if not free, that doors should be open." So forget the $39.99 George W. Bush action figure, here's a more fitting hero for John Ashcroft's America: The Librarian Action Figure! Modeled after real librarian Nancy Pearl, the figurine comes with "push-button shushing action"--and hopefully Patriot Act–defying nerves, paper-shredding motion, and record-purging powers as well. (Via Mother Jones.)

Click here for other action figures: Freud, Rosie the Riveter, Shakespeare, Einstein, Jesus, and the, um, Albino Bowler.