More on our leaky sinking ship of state

dr. elsewhere here

Could we say here that this ship of state may well sink, rearranged deck chairs and all, precisely because the Captain and crew have been deliberately besetting it with leaks?

But this would be only one of a thousand other means of sabotage they’ve employed, such as – to push this metaphor, er, from stem to stern – tossing all valuables (including people and their advice) overboard, jury-rigging every single government agency, ignoring warnings from below and aloft, forcing anyone with good sense to walk the plank, sailing us into dangerous waters, cutting us away from our Constitutional anchor, steering us off our moral course, running us aground, leaving us swamped, in the doldrums and feeling quite rudderless and adrift, like no one is at the helm, or really, like we’ve been collectively keel-hauled. All because these pirates in Captain’s quarters have been drinking not the kool-aid, but sea water.

As evocative as metaphors can be, they can also hide important details. Just so, our hopes can shape how we read information. So much of what we do here on the web is invest in a kind of wild speculation, to quote the leaker in chief (though surely ours is far more educated than his might be from “hearing the voices and reading the front page”). What we do is gather information and try to discern its meanings in order to forecast what might happen next. Or soon.

But I would like to submit that, good forecasters – as good leaders and investigators and sailors – are, above all, patient. (Making Johnny Depp and Fitz oh so sexy, and W so not.)

After finding several posts online after asserting my own “wild speculation” about the meaning of Wednesday’s wacky workover, I then ran across this very sage cautionary piece by none other than Jane Hamsher, who warns us that the presumption that Rove is soon to be indicted might be foolhardy, as she finds not enough evidence to call this either inevitable or imminent.

The only thing she admitted as convincing was David Schuster’s point that every “Official A” Fitz has ever named in a primary indictment has himself ultimately been indicted.

That being said, we must look beyond the possibility that John Ryan’s recent trial in Chicago, by our own heartthrob Fitzy (down girls, we must be patient enough to share adulation; you know who you are), explains the recent relatively quiet Scooter front in DC. Ryan’s convictions on all 18 counts took eight years to bring to closure. And Fitz is still at it, going after Chicago Mayor John Daly and several others.


Likewise, Larry Johnson gives us some background and inside poop on the agent who was fired for leaking the US foreign prison story to Dana Priest. Certain questions raised there, as well, so again, we must be patient, and diligent, in our watch on these matters, as well as the suggestion that Condi, too, has those leaky loose lips that sink ships.

I’ve never been lost at sea, and I hope this is the closest I ever come to experiencing anything like that feeling. But from this metaphorical vantage point, I can see that that circumstance will force one to consider outright mutiny, as well as finding other leaders who know the ropes, watch the signs, and remain steady throughout the storms.

And above all, show patience, and faith in their vessel.

So let us all await the fair wind blowin’ out the south over our shoulders. Then we’ll set our course and go….