"We must send down the main-top-sail yard, sir. The band is working loose and the lee lift is half-stranded. Shall I strike it, sir?"
"Strike nothing; lash it. If I had sky-sail poles, I'd sway them up now."
"Sir!- in God's name!- sir?"
"Well."
"The anchors are working, sir. Shall I get them inboard?"
"Strike nothing, and stir nothing but lash everything. The wind rises, but it has not got up to my table-hands yet. Quick, and see to it.- By masts and keels! he takes me for the hunchbacked skipper of some coasting smack. Send down my main-top-sail yard! Ho, gluepots! Loftiest trucks were made for wildest winds, and this brain-truck of mine now sails amid the cloud-scud. Shall I strike that? Oh, none but cowards send down their brain-trucks in tempest time. What a hooroosh aloft there! I would e'en take it for sublime, did I not know that the colic is a noisy malady. Oh, take medicine, take medicine!"
Starbuck, ever even-minded and cautious, tries to convince Ahab on a safer course of action--pulling down the sails, anchoring the ship in the storm. Ahab, Moby Dick-crazed and unhinged, refuses to see reason. Full steam ahead, even into the eye of a hurricane or mouth of a typhoon. Reason plays no part in his decisions.
Over the last few days, I have watched the Brett Kavanaugh hurricane in Washington, D. C. I'm not going to get political here. I'm going to try to be like Starbuck--discuss the best course of action for safety and sanity. I believe that the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is one of the most important decisions that occurs in the United States, more so than the election of a President of the United States. This is a lifetime job that affects the lives of everyone who lives in this country.
Brett Kavanaugh is interviewing for a job. A really, really important job. I don't know about you, but, when I've gone into job interviews, the prospective employer takes everything into consideration--my past job performance, personality, police record, community involvement, education. Sure, I try to put forth the best picture of myself as I can. I WANT the job.
If, during the course of an interview, my prospective employer discovers that I have accusations of sexual assault or misconduct leveled against me, I'm sure my application and resume will go into the rejection pile, especially if there are tons of other people qualified for the position. Plain and simple. The decision is easy. Safe and sane.
What happened this week in Congress was the strangest job interview I have every witnessed. Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault, by more than one credible person. If he's innocent, he should have agreed to a polygraph test, as his accuser did. He didn't do that. (By the way, Dr. Ford passed that polygraph with flying colors.) The employers interviewing Judge Kavanaugh, instead of asking him the hard questions, spent their time DEFENDING him. Again, I don't know about you, but, if I admit to taking illegal drugs during a job interview, I don't think the person interviewing me is going to defend my character. It's not going to happen.
So, again, let me be Starbuck in this moment: Brett Kavanaugh is interviewing for a job. He's a prospective employee, who will be working for me and everyone else in the United States. He has proven this week, over and over, that he is terrible under pressure, cannot control his temper, and is unable to be fair and impartial.
Bretty Kavanaugh's resume and application should go into the rejection pile. I would say this whether he was Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal.
Saint Marty is thankful this afternoon for sanity and reason. Things that seem greatly lacking in the capital of the United States right now.
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