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Here's the problem with Van Jones' Titanic Captain Obama metaphor - the rich still get the lifeboats
Former White House green jobs "czar" Van Jones told progressive activists and bloggers yesterday at NetRoots 10 that, rather than bash President Obama for not changing the country as fast as they'd thought, they should maintain hope and help him with his agenda.
"I can't stand it. President Obama volunteered to be the captain of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg," Jones said at Netroots Nation while being interviewed by journalist Ari Melber of The Nation.
Well that's a nice metaphor, but think about it for a moment in the context of the Wall Street recovery and what continues to be the longest and deepest period of long-term joblessness, foreclosures, and structural decline in most small business sectors since the Great Depression.
Under "volunteer Titanic Captain" Obama, the rich are still getting all the lifeboats. Meanwhile, the 3rd Class passengers in steerage, and much of the middle-income people on the 2nd Class decks, are just as doomed as they were under White Star Line Capt. Bush.
Before the cheer-leading section makes metaphors into history lessons, they should consider what actually happened. A lot of people drowned unnecessarily because of bad decisions, both before and after that big iceberg loomed up in the mists.
P.S. - Oh, yes, for those who might say that ships Captains can't produce life boats. Who could have imagined that all the wooden decking, ropes and axes might make a bunch of serviceable rafts? But, no, we wouldn't want the rabble desecrating all that lovely teak in the First Class bar. Just like you can't break up financial institutions that are "too big to fail" - you can only refloat them with bags of money.
And, the lifeboats didn't even bother to turn around to pick up the survivors floating in the freezing water after the ship went down.
Last thought, all the Titanic's life boats weren't even launched and of those that did, they were only 80 percent filled to rated capacity. Talk about poor management of resources . . .