Resuming the Safe Voyage

 He was a shrewd, charismatic ship captain. He promised special cruise deals which would enhance the wealth and status of all passengers. He and his crew enticed the naive and uninformed to join his luxury cruise. Aboard ship they spoke his language of untruthful, shallow rhetoric, self-centeredness, and hypocrisy. 

Anticipating disaster, you had wisely avoided his cruise. You were skeptical of an inexperienced yet boastful captain. You could not place your trust in the oppositional, defiant behavior of a boy sailor— a child despot. He was a tyrant obsessed with building personal power. His ship encountered many storms, failed to reach port, and was lost at sea.

You are the resident wisdom— the soul of the nation. You have survived and learned from many intense, unique, and character-building life experiences. You have survived world warfare, Vietnam, and near-anarchy of the turbulent sixties. You nudged civil rights into closer congruence with the Bill of Rights. You’re a seasoned veteran of many conflicts and profound societal changes.

The U.S.S. America will sail in 2024. You will again express your informed choice of a captain who is guiding us to a better life. You will trust and have confidence in a captain who demonstrates virtue, ethics, and competence. A captain of exemplary character who brings civility, experience, maturity and wisdom. A captain who brings social stability through collaborative, evidence-based, progressive reform. A captain who shares the people's values of freedom and justice.

In 2020, he righted our ship to a more even keel. He continues to guide our seaworthy vessel of good will toward the promised shore of a truer democracy.

 —Will Walsh   2023