The auspicious portent and revitalizing symbolism of Flight 1549

soupkitchen

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Sun Jan-18-09 04:34 PM
Original message

The auspicious portent and revitalizing symbolism of Flight 1549

Edited on Sun Jan-18-09 04:47 PM by soupkitchen

Face it. The country's been flying with damaged engines for some time now. The GOP birdbrains managed to get themselves sucked into the turbines of government, flame out predictably ensued, with total disaster imminent.

And then on the eve of a new administration, an administration which, if it is going to succeed in avoiding that disaster, must immediately restore America's belief in and respect for competence--so thoroughly decimated by the other guys--along comes Capt Sully Sullenberger to remind us what competency is all about.

Certainly, Capt Sullenberger is our Lindbergh, deserving of a ticker tape parade down the heart of Broadway. But he's also represents a personification of what happens when Government, Industry, and personal initiative meld perfectly together. The good Captain received his education at the Air Force Academy. Flight Training from the Air Force. Further training from the private sector. And he had the inherent curiosity (and love of flying) to pursue the hobby of gliding. And then one day, every last ounce of this training is called upon and he has the imagination and the skill, the awesome competency, if you will, to glide his damaged bird right into the Hudson River saving every life on board.

So Captain Sullenberger restores our respect for competency just at that juncture when the new President could easily say. "We have nothing to fear but our lack of competency.

So, in that sense Captain Sullenberger's heroic landing augurs well for the New Administration. What competency can accomplish, what a melding of government, the private sector, and individual initiative can accomplish, has been presented to the American people. Make a commitment to train our citizens properly, to educate our citizens properly, to develop a competent and effective health care system, to develop efficient green energies, or more simply, restore the belief that we solve our problems by improving our own competency as individuals and as a government, and we can safely land this damaged
airship of state.

But then, where this symbolism gets almost mystical is when you realize the portent was delivered right to the doorstep of the financial markets. I mean, if you're talking about a blown economic engine caused by a bunch of stuffed geese, Wall Street's the place to find it. Wall Street, still sucking as much of America's economic wealth into its greedy maw as possible. An economic engine deserving to self-destruct, if only if it weren't for all the innocent people it would bring to the ground with them. And then here comes the Airbus, Captain Sully at the helm, gallantly and competently splashing down on your doorstep, proving to you, the country, and the world, that competent men can avoid disasters. Because they care about what they do and how it effects the lives of others. And the deeper message to the financial markets, and the country, should be: trust your new pilot, trust your new President. For, if he is anything, he is a man whose whole life has been a pursuit of competency. And only competency can save us. As only Capt. Sullenberger's supreme competency could save his passengers.