Fearing that our Ship of State had listed dangerously to port, a cabal of passengers and crew hired a new captain. Grasping the wheel, trimming the sheets, sailing into the wind, the new skipper employs all means at his command—some he doesn’t—to reverse course to safe, familiar water.
More than half those aboard are alarmed by this abrupt list to starboard, this frenzied struggle to change course. Since turning back is never an option, we search for a stable-minded captain. Before turning keel-up or hitting an iceberg, we need someone to chart a forward course, adjust the rudder and balance the cargo. Most important, we need a skipper to muster all of us amid ship, pass out the grog and lead in an ol’ sea chantey. With storm-tossed water ahead we need a commander who can deliver us and the cargo to distant, uncharted shore.
Abraham Lincoln knew, “The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.” It’s a challenge to cross Captain Ahab’s eyes.
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