America isn't like a car skidding off the road, it's far more like an oil tanker headed toward reefs

[Fumesucker]

America is an oil tanker due to inertia, oil tankers are the heaviest man made moving objects on our planet, as such they have more inertia than anything else.

America right now has a great deal of inertia to starboard and is rapidly heading toward the reefs that will hole it and sink it.

When an oil tanker is headed toward a reef to the starboard, the captain doesn't tell the helmsman to steer gently to the midship, since the reefs are to the starboard the helmsman will be ordered to put the rudder hard to port and set the engines to all astern full or possibly the starboard engine to full ahead and the port to full astern (I used to work on a tugboat, some of you would be surprised how often the engines are used against each other in order to maneuver more rapidly).

Like an oil tanker, America is going to take a long time to significantly change course and for the same reason, half measures aren't going to cut it, we can see the waves breaking on the reefs to starboard all the way down here in steerage.

Once we have the ship headed away from the reefs to the starboard we can then take the time to worry about the reefs on the port side.

[lurky]

1. I always thought we were an out-of-control garbage truck

barreling towards a sidewalk full of pedestrians...

:shrug:

[NOW tense]

2. I think it is more like Evil Knievel

jumping at Ceaser's

[lutefisk]

3. And we have our own Captain Hazelwood at the helm in the form of Junior Bush, unfortunately...n/t

[Fumesucker]

4. If only things were that good...

Hazelwood didn't *deliberately* steer the Exxon Valdez on to the reefs.

Bush on the other hand has done just that.

[lutefisk]

9. Good point. We'd have been better off with President Hazelwood!...n/t

[Loki]

5. We are the f**king Exxon Valdez

what a horrifying visual.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Good analogy, Fumesucker.

:thumbsup:

[asteroid2003QQ47]

7. A far better IMO analogy, Fumesucker.

SHIP OF FOOLS by Ted Kaczynski
http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001IRm

[Fumesucker]

10. I was just countering the "skidding car" analogy that was posted on GD earlier..

Apparently by someone who has never driven a front wheel drive car. :)

The "Ship of Fools" post was entertaining though, thanks for the link.

[wartrace]

8. No, America is like a sucker who signed up for a sub prime loan.

We signed up for a loan with a low teaser rate. We went out & furnished the place using our credit cards. We are still paying off our HUGE student loan & JUST found out we are losing our job next month.