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Health & Fitness

A Ship With Two Captains

  As I listen to all sides of the current political nightmare we now live I can't help but think of an old story my grandfather told me. It's a story about a ship foundering on the rocks in a storm.

  The ship was sailed by two different crews. On even days crew A had charge of the ship. On odd days crew B. As time passed and the ship came closer to land, each captain and his allied crew argued with the other. Each thought that their team should be considered the premier crew and garner all of the laurels of their successful voyage. 

  The captains and crew grew increasingly antagonistic towards one another. Eventually, the passengers became involved in the dispute and were just as divided as the crew. As the tensions aboard grew, neither side bothered to notice the nor'easter that was bearing down fast on them. Even after the storm slammed the ship as none had ever before, the crew didn't notice until some of the passengers pointed out that the ship was heading for the rocks along the coast. Still no one paid attention to the imminent peril. The only action the crew took was to throw the intrusive passengers overboard for interfering with the operation of the ship's crew. The arguing continued until the ship slammed onto the rocks. As the jagged rocks ripped the side of the ship open and angry water poured into the holds, a new argument broke out.

  Who was at fault for this unfortunate turn of events?  
 
  Each captain, with his allied crewmembers blamed the other. While frightened passengers tried to sort fact from fiction buried in the subterfuge of the warring crews, the ship settled lower in the water. As the water rose higher inside the ship the passengers ignored their common sense and held tightly to the words of their favorite crew.

   "This was nothing more than a small bump on the route to a safe harbor."

  And, as the water started to seep into the passenger staterooms a meaningless wink by an incompetent crew member calmed the nerves and quashed any other meaningful questions.

  The ailing ship became a battlefield. Insults abounded and anyone who bothered to ask pertinent questions was labeled a trouble maker and  ignored. And so, on went the argument and finger pointing. Who was responsible for this mess? The arguing continued until the ship finally broke completely apart and sank taking all aboard with her.

  To this day if you were to stand at the shore where the ship wreck occurred, and a storm is causing the sea to boil and roll, you can still hear the arguments of the ship's crews and passengers.

Never mind that all was lost on that voyage. Apparently nothing can be settled until blame has been established.

 A maritime tragedy caused by the greedy and incompetent, leading the ignorant. 

  If you truly love our country please take the blinders off. Stop listening to the political captains of our ship. Americans used to be free thinkers.
Now we are like the mindless passengers of that doomed ship. 

  The Republicans believe in a trickle down approach to governance. The Democrats believe in a free lunch form of government. They are both wrong.

We, as Americans, are the governing body. They work for us.

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