Eleven days into the government shutdown I decided to enjoy a distraction in the form of the movie “Captain Phillips,” based on the April 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates. It was the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in 200 years. Sadly, it has only been 18 years since the last government shutdown, which like the current one was also engineered by political pirates.
I am not going to lay blame on the Republicans, the President, Tea Party, or Democrats. Goodness knows there is enough blame to go around and taking sides will only stop some, on one side or the other, from reading on. Rather than choose sides and forward anyone’s objective, I would prefer to refocus the issue in a way that all of those truly being hurt by these shenanigans – and by that I mean ALL Americans at the moment or in the near future, regardless of your political persuasion, and likely many more across the globe eventually – can rally around. Or as Captain Phillips told his crew upon his ship being boarded by armed pirates, “Stick together and we’ll be alright.”
The movie metaphorically highlighted the fact that it is time that we all, together, simply say, “Enough!” to what is going on with our federal government and insist that they move on with the business at hand. About a third of the way into the movie, and the third time or so that I heard someone in the film say “Enough!,” I was hit hard with an overwhelming realization of the parallel between our current political crisis and the artful dramatization of those hellish, real-life five days endured by Captain Richard Phillips. Throughout the movie, the pirates kept repeating “Don’t worry. Everything gonna be okay.” And yet, it was pretty clear to the viewer - as I am sure it was at some point to those involved in the piracy and hostage-taking - that the events were on a collision course to disaster. The pain inflicted on Americans, their economy, and their reputation with the rest of the world, in the past 11 days, to say nothing of the coming inaction and continued pointless bickering, is likewise an obvious disaster in the making.
Captain Phillips is the face of the American people being held hostage by pirates, by those with only their personal goals and ideology, which they no longer understand nor any longer fits their needs or current circumstances, in mind. A very prophetic line in the movie comes from the pirate leader Muse, “It was supposed to be easy. I take ship. Ransom. Nobody get hurt.” Perhaps all of our leaders need to stop faux-gallantly standing their ground, showboating for the media, and take time to watch this movie, and perhaps see a bit of themselves in the pirates. If nothing else this exchange between captor and hostage might ring a bell:
Muse: You talk too much.
Captain Phillips: You’re problem isn’t me talking, it’s you not listening.
The current political path results in nothing more than a self-absorbed, inalterable outcome, which some would ignore at their own and everyone else’s peril. The pirate Muse demonstrates this very damning trait when he states, “I’ve come too far, I can’t give up now,” even as he knows that he can not win. In case there is any question in his mind on the issue, Captain Phillips warns him, “The navy is not gonna let you win! They would rather sink this boat, than let you win.” We don’t yet know who will be the Navy Seals in this hostage taking of the American people, but they are coming and the politicians need to consider the consequences if they choose to simply dig their heels in no matter what as the Somali pirates did. It would be a shame for our country if the American people or our liberators have to sink the boat to make the madness stop.
In the end, the hero off the Somali coast in 2009 lived to see another day. Hopefully, the American people will survive as well. It should also be noted that Captain Phillips, even after his harrowing experience, wrote the book “A Captain’s Duty” which is the basis for the film and he actually even returned to duty in July 2010. The pirates did not fair so well. Three were killed by Navy Seals during the captain’s rescue. The leader was captured, convicted of piracy, and is currently serving time in U.S. Federal prison.
During the latter stages of his ordeal, Captain Phillips said to his captors, “There’s gotta be something other than fishing and kidnapping people.” To which Muse replied, “Maybe in America. Maybe in America.” Maybe in America indeed, but certainly not for long; not unless the American people choose to stand up to our political pirate captors and say, “Enough!”
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