Big Picture

Captain Ron is the father of a true Friend of mine. He has ties to motorcycle gangs with my uncle (Captain Joe) back in the 70's and was also the meanest king crab fisherman in Alaska for many years after that. He drives big rigs now.

When I was a kid and came to over to hang he would say, very matter-of-factly as I approached:

"Joe Joe was a man who thought he was a loner..."

A recent run-in with Captain Ron left me quite embarrassed. They were fixing his truck and we were catching up.

"Joe, what do you think about Libya?"

I knew the headlines and the skeleton of the story, but not enough to accurately comment on, or discuss it. I apologized that things were a little hectic on the home front these days, and that I'm a little backed up on World Affairs at the moment. He chuckled and let it slide.

But it stuck with me these few weeks. You can't just pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist, no matter how hectic bills and taxes get.

So I took to the People for unbiased news. I took to Wikipedia:

-Gaddhafi has been in charge since 1969.

-In 1979 he relinquished the title of "Prime Minister" for the more flashy "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya"

-Assassination. Nepotism. Terrorism. Etc...

The history books paint a pretty clear picture. This statistic sealed the deal for me:

"With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon (June 8, 2009) he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders..."

Anyone who follows sports realizes that streaks like that don't last long once you reach the top. They are more like a bulls eye on your back. Just ask Mr. Bongo.

Muammar Gaddafi, this Bud's for you. It was quite a run. One that I think Captain Ron would admire, in a certain way. I'll have to ask him.