14 February 2008

Pass the Rum

Here's a very good article on our ship of state, for the more stalwart among you. For the rest of you, fear not, I have saved the day and done your reading for you. The tasty bits:

America can be likened to a cruise ship that is taking on water faster than it can be bailed out. If the issue in your mind is whether the ship’s captain is female, or black, or is willing to offer more free services while on your cruise, or wants to mount more machine guns on the deck to deter terrorists, you are completely distracted from the imminent crisis that confronts America. The ship’s captain may continue to issue assurances from the helm, but not only is the boat taking on water, it is headed for an iceberg! The news media is akin to the public address system on the ship. Keep the people distracted from the real danger that lies ahead. No sense panicking the customers.

The article goes on to point out the icebergs: $60 trillion of unfunded obligations for Medicare and Social Security, the military state costing us over $1 trillion a year (some estimate $2.65 trillion when you figure in debt payments for prior wars), and the nonsensical way we circulate increasingly copious amount of Monopoly money. The point is that we damn well better look at the things that matter when we're deciding for whom we should vote. If we don't, if we instead allow ourselves to be concerned with gender or color or ideologies that have no constitutional basis within the executive branch or the myriad of other items we're told to worry about, then the article's conclusion will hold true:

Go ahead, vote for your favorite candidate. Sink the American ship of state for sure. You have now been informed. To continue to ignore this deception makes you a party to the crime. Pirates have boarded the ship and taken the helm and you are aiding and abetting them.

Avast, ye scurvy dogs! Hoist the mainsail! Man yer posts, or Davy Jones' Locker be waitin' for ya by rights! And I'll warrant ya, the deep sure not be choosy.

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