Upon annabanna's suggestion ... An observation and a few Analogies

[The Animator]

This is a response to all the posts here implying that Obama has somehow betrayed us before even taking office because he hasn't immediately called for a Bush Admin War Crimes Trial, because he's got both right wingers and left wingers on his transition team, because he's not gearing up to yank this country hard to the left as soon as he's sworn in. It's easy to speculate but the truth is none of us know what he's going to do until January 20th. We all came to the Democratic Party for different reasons, Labor Rights, Reproductive Rights, Civil Rights, Civil Liberties... we all think our cause is the most important one, and naturally believe our chosen cause should be Obama's first and highest priority. This country however is facing several impending catastrophes at once. In addition to the wars, we are facing an economic crisis that has already rippled across the globe. The US economy is approaching a multiple market failure. If our economy collapses, it will have long lasting global repercussions. We should not be disappointed that Obama has put the needs of the Nation and by extension the world, ahead of our own individual priorities. It's not as complicated as some seem to think it is... fix what's broken first, hold the person who broke it accountable later. Stabilize the economy, end the torture, free the wrongfully imprisoned and give restitution, and pull our troops out of Iraq. Then and only then can we begin to hold Bush's feet to the fire.

It's time for some analogies.

First the long one...

You are the new captain of an ocean liner, or at least you will be in a little under two months when the old captain is Finally relieved of his command. Under the old captain, this once grand vessel has fallen into decay, the engines are leaking oil like a siv, it's taking on water, and in two months and three days months it is projected to plow directly into the arctic shelf because the old captain hasn't bothered to alter course in eight friggin years. The fact that it isn't already at the bottom of the ocean is more a testament to the resilience of the ship itself, and the resourcefulness of the passengers trapped on the lower decks... duct tape anyone?

You are completely powerless to affect any changes on the ship until you are officially declared captain, you also have no control over what the old captain does until you relieve him of command.

So what do you do?

Do you tell everyone that as soon as you're declared captain you'll throw the old captain in the brig and bring his entire bridge crew up on charges? That may rally the folks down in steerage but it won't win you any support from the upper decks.. the last thing you want is a class war on your ship in addition to all the other problems you'll soon inherit. Not to mention if word gets back to the old captain he may very well grab the only remaining lifeboat for himself and scuttle the ship. Pursuing retribution immediately after assuming command would surely spark a mutiny, you know as well as I that the old captains bridge crew would not go quietly. These pursuits though noble, and necessary would be a distraction your crew can ill afford when every resource needs to be directed at saving the ship and all the lives on board. The new captain would ironically be no better than the old if he let the ship sink for want of bringing the old captain to justice.

Or perhaps you've recognized that you can accomplish all you goals if you act responsibly, and approach each challenge in due course. You've got no control over the course of the ship until you are personally at the helm, and the stubborn old coot won't budge on the course. So you recognize that your first priority is to keep the ship from plowing into the huge fricken wall of ice that's looming on the horizon. You use the intervening two months to inventory everything that's broken on this rusting tub. For the time being, you and your crew will need to focus only on what will be absolutely necessary to keep the ship and it's passengers afloat, and moving. The new captain pairs his new crew with officers from the old crew. This causes some tension, because some members of the old crew were, in part,responsible for the mess in the first place. In the interest of self preservation, however someone on the old crew points out that the ship won't be able to change course because some years ago, the old captain had ordered the rudder welded into place. Various others come forward to reveal other acts of sabotage. Without the help of the old crew, the new captain would not have known of the treachery until it was too late.

Day one has arrived. The new captain is, at long last, at the helm. His first order is to slowly reduce speed, the engines have been running at all ahead full for eight years and is concerned that something as dramatic as a full stop could harm the engines. At least the speed with which they are hurtling toward the ice wall has been curbed. His second order is to the rudder repair crew, who for warned, are already in position to break the welds that have held the rudder in place. As soon as it is free he takes the helm and gently tests it, then gradually pulls the ship to starboard. It's a big ship, it's built up a lot of momentum, it doesn't turn on a dime. If he tried forced such a dramatic change of course too quickly, it would capsize, and the stresses on the hull would rip the ship in half. It is a very close shave, but fortunately, the new captain was able to act quickly by relying on the energy of his new crew, and the experience of the old. He wanted more than anything to hold the old captain accountable for nearly getting them all killed, but though the most pressing threat had been averted, the ship was still in grave danger. It was till slowly sinking, and the engines were close to failing completely. His next move would be to seal all the breaches, next to pump out all the water they've taken on, his last major task would be keeping the engines running until they could get into warmer waters. Once the ship was safely in the subtropics, the new captain ordered a complete overhaul of the engines. After that they would be in the clear. The once elegant and gleaming ship still had a long way to go to reclaim its former grandeur, but it's passengers were safe, and headed in the right direction.

Now it was time, their were still a million different things that needed fixing on this ship, important things, but now that they weren't all about to die it was time to right the wrongs. The old captain was back living on the upper decks, doing his best to isolate himself from the those riffraff on the lower decks who didn't like him and never hesitated to tell him so. Him and his friends were certain that if the new Captain had been planning to take any action against them, he'd have done it already. They had been ready for it, they had been ready for a fight since the instant they new the replacement captain wasn't 'one of theirs'. They all their officers privileges, and teams of lawyers from the upper decks lined up to fight tooth and nail. But the fight didn't come, the new Captain was more concerned with ripping the ship from the clutches of destiny, than he was about revenge. "If I were the new captain I'd be charging in guns blazing"
"I know you would Cap, now drink your juice." said his old first mate. That's when they got the knock on the door.

It was the new Captian, and he'd brought the master at arms. "oh Crap..." said the first mate.

"What the hell? We thought you were spineless. That's not fair!" whined the old Captain. "We're not ready, we were ready before but we thought you were just gonna let it slide."

"Now that the multiple clusterfucks you got this ship into have finally been averted," said the master at arms "it's time for a jury to finally decide."

"Decide what? Our guilt or innocence?"

"No, whether your evil, or just really stupid."

--end of analogy #1


....and now the really short one


You've got a plumber over to fix a leaky pipe in you basement. While in your basement this bumbling fool, let's call him Joe, somehow traps you both in the basement. Not even acknowledging that this is a problem, he starts to work on your pipes. He screws that up too, turns out he's not even a licensed plumber. the pipe bursts and your basement begins to rapidly flood with water. What do you do?

(a) call your lawyer so you can sue his pants off?

(b) call the better business bureau to report an unlicensed plumber?

(c) beat him half to death with you bare hands for being such an idiot?

(d) all of the above?

as satisfying as all those options will be you won't have time to do any of it unless you choose

(e) realize that your trapped in a small underground room that's rapidly filling with water and that you should figure out how the stop the leak before you both drown.

--end of analogy #2


Thus concludes my thesis... feel free the pick them apart, flame away... I've said my piece.

edit: Here have some complementary heating oil... ;P

[Buzz Clik]

1. This post requires reading, comprehension, thinking, and vision.

In other words, it will do nothing to sway those tearing their hair and sobbing about our impending doom.

Maybe if you offered them free heating oil...

[Shiver]

2. Excellent analogy. K&R

If you want to keep the attentions of the majority of other readers, though, you might want to throw in some insults against Hillary or a picture of a smokin' Tina Fey.