The ship of state is navigating in dangerous seas, tacking among submerged rocks and swamped by storm-tossed waves.  The captain’s skill is being put to the severest of tests. The challenge he faces demands his total concentration.

This would be the worst possible time to fire the captain.  Especially when the replacement crew has a completely different destination in mind – and different charts to guide them.

It takes time to turn a big ship like this around, to head for a different destination. Trying to do that now could mean disaster. You don’t pause to change course when you are in imminent danger of running aground. 

OK, so America is not a ship.

It is a patchwork of diverse states, all with different histories, traditions, goals and beliefs, with a combined population of more than 300 million, each individual with unique needs and hopes and dreams. You tell me how you would balance their interests, protect them from each other, and from disease and natural disasters… how you would ensure prosperity not only for them but for their children and grandchildren as well. 

Tell me how you would maintain America’s dominance in a changing world, with emerging nations jockeying for advantage and powerful rivals challenging your leadership.

Tell me how you would keep the peace in the Mideast, shield the Arab protesters from their oppressors and Israel from its neighbors… how you plan to rescue the victims of famine, drought and tribal war in Africa, stem the flow of dangerous drugs and weapons around the globe, police the scamps who are tampering with the global financial system to steal billions from it…

I bet you don’t want the job.

So, who would you give it to?

Mitt Romney? Rick Santorum? Ron Paul? Newt Gingrich?

Be serious.

I’m sure you have a bone or two to pick with President Obama. I do, too.

But I wouldn’t take America’s tiller out of his hands.

Not now.