Captain Ahab, Lt Kennedy, and Commander-In-Chief George W

In Moby Dick, Melville tells the story of Captain Ahab, a powerful man - a ship's captain, skipper of a whaling ship, master of his fate, and the fate of his crew. At sea, the Captain rules the ship. Ahab's rule, was, at best, autocratic. Powerful tho he was, Ahab was enslaved by his emotions and his lust for vengeance against a whale.

In the end he lost his ship, his crew, and his life to this rage at a whale.

Ahab's rule was an unmitigated disaster.

August 3, 1943, during W W II, the American Patrol Torpedo Boat 109 - PT 109 - was rammed by the Amagiri; the Japanese destroyer escorting the Tokyo Express in the Blackett Strait, south of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands, Lt. Jack Kennedy was the skipper of PT 109. He lost two members of his crew and his ship. However, he saved the lives of the other 10 members of the crew, towing one and leading all on a three mile swim to shore.

It is now known that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney entered the White House as President and Vice President maintaining the belief that Saddam Houssein posed a much greater threat to the security of the United States than an unbiased and critical understanding of the facts supported. They ignored several national security briefings and reports about Osama bin Laden and Al Queda before Sept. 11.

Whether the attacks of Sept. 11 could have been foiled by an alert and competant Executive Branch is an unknowable question. However, it is known that they misrepresented the facts of Saddam's involvement in Sept. 11 and launched a war against Saddam's regime which has turned into an occupation of Iraq.

In addition to the loss in life and limb of our brave soldiers who seek only to serve their country, this occupation has been a military, political, and economic disaster for the United States.

Some reverently call Bush their 'Commander-In-Chief', altho, in our civilian democracy, the President is only the 'Commander-In-Chief' of the Armed Forces. As Lloyd Bentson might say, “he is no Jack Kennedy.” More like Captain Ahab.