A banana republic is one metaphor that’s entertaining but a far better metaphor for the Trump saga is Moby Dick.
Trump in real life perfectly emblemizes the behemoth that is the white whale. Like Moby Dick, Trump is larger than life, he’s ungovernable, he won’t be tamed, he exists outside of nature (with nature in this case being traditional political norms) and, to the endless chagrin of his detractors, he characterizes the unrelenting and justifiable fury of those he claims to represent.
Ahab, monomaniacal and obsessed as he is, could not represent more perfectly the ravings of American elites; the Democrats, the establishment republicans, the press, the globalists, the punditocracy, academia and the bureaucratic courtesans who loyally serve their betters. Moby Dick robbed Ahab of his leg; Trump never robbed America’s venal elite of anything. But Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick wasn’t about revenge for a leg; to Ahab, the whales existence was intolerable because Moby Dick’s existence negated his own. To Democrats and their fellow travelers in hatred, the mere existence of Trump is a virtually identical existential challenge.
So, like Ahab, our elites pursue their prey; from impeachment to impeachment, from grand jury to grand jury, from inquisition to inquisition. Their credo comes straight out of the Stalin era, “Show me the man and I will show you the crime.” Never stopping, even for a moment, to reflect on whether the source of their obsessive preoccupation might be the rot in their own souls.
As for the rest of us, we’re like the crew of the Pequod, free to observe the unfolding yarn but apparently powerless to play a major role in shaping it.
My favorite scene in Moby Dick is Chapter 9 where Father Mapple ascends a rope ladder to the pulpit in his church to preach the story of Jonah. Do yourself a favor and re-read it.
The story is about vanity. Disobeying God to follow his own lights, Jonah searches for a place where he will be free from God’s scrutiny. Of course, there is no redemption for Jonah until he acquiesces to the words uttered by Father Mapple.
“And if we obey god, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists."
The vanity and wickedness of American elites will destroy them and may destroy our country in the process. They are desperately in need of redemption but like Ahab, hatred fills the spot where their soul would more properly reside.
I don't remember the part where the whale lies ceaselessly about Ahab to maintain power, then sinks the HMS Peaceful Transition after foreshadowing it.
That was one ship, and the smallest one mentioned. A larger one in the article carried 60,000 tons. Apparently several million tons of wheat are stuck there, which would require some hundreds of ships, so we're looking at more of a "faucet starts running" situation than a "dam breaking" one.
The largest ships that can get through the Suez Canal are about 160,000 tons, so ships can get somewhat bigger but not
Brilliant edition, as usual. It feeds my infovore traits all too well 😀👍
So pleased!
There's almost too much ... but not quite!
A banana republic is one metaphor that’s entertaining but a far better metaphor for the Trump saga is Moby Dick.
Trump in real life perfectly emblemizes the behemoth that is the white whale. Like Moby Dick, Trump is larger than life, he’s ungovernable, he won’t be tamed, he exists outside of nature (with nature in this case being traditional political norms) and, to the endless chagrin of his detractors, he characterizes the unrelenting and justifiable fury of those he claims to represent.
Ahab, monomaniacal and obsessed as he is, could not represent more perfectly the ravings of American elites; the Democrats, the establishment republicans, the press, the globalists, the punditocracy, academia and the bureaucratic courtesans who loyally serve their betters. Moby Dick robbed Ahab of his leg; Trump never robbed America’s venal elite of anything. But Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick wasn’t about revenge for a leg; to Ahab, the whales existence was intolerable because Moby Dick’s existence negated his own. To Democrats and their fellow travelers in hatred, the mere existence of Trump is a virtually identical existential challenge.
So, like Ahab, our elites pursue their prey; from impeachment to impeachment, from grand jury to grand jury, from inquisition to inquisition. Their credo comes straight out of the Stalin era, “Show me the man and I will show you the crime.” Never stopping, even for a moment, to reflect on whether the source of their obsessive preoccupation might be the rot in their own souls.
As for the rest of us, we’re like the crew of the Pequod, free to observe the unfolding yarn but apparently powerless to play a major role in shaping it.
My favorite scene in Moby Dick is Chapter 9 where Father Mapple ascends a rope ladder to the pulpit in his church to preach the story of Jonah. Do yourself a favor and re-read it.
http://www.melville.org/diCurcio/9.htm
The story is about vanity. Disobeying God to follow his own lights, Jonah searches for a place where he will be free from God’s scrutiny. Of course, there is no redemption for Jonah until he acquiesces to the words uttered by Father Mapple.
“And if we obey god, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists."
The vanity and wickedness of American elites will destroy them and may destroy our country in the process. They are desperately in need of redemption but like Ahab, hatred fills the spot where their soul would more properly reside.
I don't remember the part where the whale lies ceaselessly about Ahab to maintain power, then sinks the HMS Peaceful Transition after foreshadowing it.
The thing you don’t realize about Moby Dick and the MAGA religion is that they’re both works of fiction, Matt. That’s the correlation.
Anyone who believes trenches are obsolete has never been shot at.
Yep. There are a lot of epitaphs being written prematurely.
Not 12 tons
12,000 tons
Okay, I knew I had to be making a mistake somewhere. Thank you.
Unfortunately, it still seems like a drop in the bucket.
That was one ship, and the smallest one mentioned. A larger one in the article carried 60,000 tons. Apparently several million tons of wheat are stuck there, which would require some hundreds of ships, so we're looking at more of a "faucet starts running" situation than a "dam breaking" one.
The largest ships that can get through the Suez Canal are about 160,000 tons, so ships can get somewhat bigger but not
Need roughly 100 such trips a month.