Good Week

First, young Davey Crocket shot the bear in Idaho. Now the security team of the Maersk Alabama has repelled an attack by Somali pirates. If the ship sounds familiar, it's because the same ship was taken seven months ago. It seems the ship's owners have learned a few things since then. Who'd have ever thought guns might help with that? Not this guy:

However, Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the international maritime community was still "solidly against" armed guards aboard vessels at sea, but that American ships have taken a different line than the rest of the international community.

"Shipping companies are still pretty much overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of armed guards," Middleton said. "Lots of private security companies employee people who don't have maritime experience. Also, there's the idea that it's the responsibility of states and navies to provide security. I would think it's a step backward if we start privatizing security of the shipping trade."

Basically, guns are bad, only the government should protect us. I know this guy isn't my countryman, and there is a reason for that. Still, his statement ticks me off on more than one level. Why the hell am I or any other American supposed to care what the hell the international community thinks about anything? I don't care what they think about guns. I've got a whole mess of 'em, with more on the way. I don't care what they think about global warming. Next time we have a real cold morning, I'm going to go out and start both of my three quarter ton diesel pick-ups and let them both warm up, just in case I decide to drive the other one that day. I may take a long shower while they warm up, because this is still a free country and I can do whatever the hell I can afford. I don't really give a flip what they think about anything, right up until they decide to impose what they think upon me. Then we're back to that first issue.

Expecting the states and navies to provide security? I'm real proud of the job our Navy did retaking the Alabama the first time around. The training that those sharpshooters went through was one rare instance of my tax dollars being spent on something I approve. But it's a big damn ocean out there, and there are only so many destroyers to go around. Fighting pirates on the high seas is like trying to hold the wind up with a sail. Stephen By-God Decatur demonstrated how to shut pirates down a couple hundred years ago. You've got to root them out like a wisteria vine, or else the vines just keep growing wherever you're not. The navy's hands are tied until one of those states that Middleton is so proud of decides to let them take care of things. Self defense is a fundamental human right. It can not wait on the convenience of a government. If the international maritime community doesn't believe that then that's just too bad.