Nurse Jackie, the title character of Showtime's new dark comedy, is not going to be anyone's first choice for a role model. Or second. Or third. But she is so much in tune with the times -- so close to what Americans need right now -- that even her serious flaws can be mostly overlooked.

And does she ever have flaws. She snorts cocaine, pops pain pills, gives her kids junk food treats, cheats on her husband and bends hospital rules as if they were so many Q-Tips.

So why then are you almost certain to sympathize with her once "Nurse Jackie" begins its 12-week run on Showtime this Monday? I mean, apart from the fact that Edie Falco, one of the best actors around, has breathed life into the role.

I suspect that a lot of Nurse Jackie's appeal has to do with the very same reasons that, according to polls, most people support President Obama and his performance in office. Both the nurse and the president represent a change in what we value most in a professional. In times of insecurity and great uncertainty such as we are experiencing, we yearn for people who are competent and pragmatic. If and when we find them, we're willing to cut them some slack when it comes to personal behavior.

Of course, we ask something in return. In exchange for our tolerance of their personal peccadilloes we ask that they not flaunt them. In the case of President Obama, that means keeping his cigarette habit hidden even from the seemingly omnipresent cameras. Nurse Jackie, meanwhile, takes great care to conceal her addiction to narcotics and largely emotionless adulterous sex.

Paul Schulze as Eddie Walzer and Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton in "Nurse Jackie."

Photo Credit: Ken Regan/Showtime.

"E.R." just completed an incredible 15-year run. When it started, during the optimistic mid-'90s, it too was right for its time.

"E.R." brought to TV a quick pace and a limitless idealism. Outside the emergency room, there was prosperity and very little conflict. Global warming, which we now know threatens the planet, was not part of the public consciousness. Hope and optimism flourished.

"Nurse Jackie," on the other hand, swims in an ocean of cynicism. On "E.R.," the unfortunate souls who entered Cook County Hospital were assured of the best and most energetic care available. Things are different at Nurse Jackie's All Saints Hospital, where a faulty diagnosis by a self-important doctor is all too common. Thank heaven, then, that there is a Nurse Jackie, warts and all, to do what she can to fix so much incompetence.

Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco) does her best to comfort and save a patient in "Nurse Jackie."

Photo Credit: Ken Regan/Showtime.

"Nurse Jackie" also differs in tone and temperament from "House," also a reflection of its time. While Dr. House is competent -- he has the most brilliant mind of any doctor -- he doesn't empathize with his patients. Given a choice, he's just as soon not be bothered by them.

When "House" premiered, that was the leader we wanted, a reflection of the zeitgeist. Americans voted for a president who promised a minimal government, one who considered government part of the problem and not the solution. Twice, we gave an electoral majority to a candidate who promised to simply manage things without getting involved in our lives.

After eight years of that, we wanted change. Above all, we want competence and compassion and we want it now. If that means electing an African-American candidate whose father was a Muslim, so be it. And if that means getting behind a nurse who puts the Hippocratic Oath ahead of her marriage vows, then bring it on.

Barry Garron is a freelance writer and TV critic who has covered the industry for more than 25 years for The Hollywood Reporter and The Kansas City Star. You can contact him at tv.critic@yahoo.com.