The Cain Scrutiny

Nice play on words- this reminds me of the movie in more ways than the sound of the words.  For example, let's look at the plot of the movie.  There's a mutiny onboard the USS Caine, which is being led by a mentally ill captain.  His officers and crew suspect that something is wrong when he makes a series of bizarre decisions.  Finally, they get into a typhoon and the captain appears indecisive and his first officer takes over.  The first officer justifies his decision based upon the captain's infirmities.  A trial ensues, due to the mutiny, and the officers are exonerated.

How does that compare with our situation today?  We are in a typhoon of sorts with a leadership who cannot agree upon a way to do anything about it.  In a year there will be an election which will decide upon keeping the "captain" or relieving him of duty.  Not exactly a mutiny, but analogous to it.  A mutiny is illegal, but justifiable if a captain is unable to continue. 

We have a black president who got there largely upon the basis of race.  We have a black candidate for the Republican nomination, who threatens to lessen the symbolic significance that the Obama presidency represents.  Cain is also a threat to the Democrat party, which has become dependent more and more upon the racial polarization that they need in order to continue to succeed electorally.

Our situation also entails risk.  If Cain isn't able, the risk is defeat when this becomes all too apparent.  There are those who claim that this is already apparent, but these folks are jumping to conclusions.  Let the voters decide.  But if the voters make a mistake and Cain is too flawed, and gets the nomination anyway, we are stuck with an ineffective and flawed president no matter what happens.  Hence the attempt to influence voters away from Cain and towards Gingrich.  But Gingrich can't address the issue of race the way the Cain can, so that opportunity could be lost.

So those of us who defend Cain are engaging in our own little mutiny.  Why do this mutiny?  Why not trust the establishment?  Well, the establishment hasn't been doing too well over the last decade or so.  It gave us a flawed presidency in Bush and a second flawed presidency in a row with Obama.  This doesn't even include Clinton, who had his own flaws.  Yet Clinton's flaws didn't seem to endanger the republic.  Bush's didn't either, but the voices got louder.  Now the voices are getting louder still.  The polls are saying consistently that we are on the wrong track.  Somebody needs to pay attention.  This can't be allowed to go on as it always has.  Somebody has to put their foot down and say enough.

Let the mutiny continue.