Obama is not "fishy to the backbone"

Obama is really cut out to be the first mate, not the captain of our rapidly sinking ship.

Reading the account of the sinking of the Whaleship Essex, In the Heart of the Sea, it struck me that Obama's style of leadership is the "social" and not the "authoritarian" style.

According to the author, Nathaniel Philbrick:

'The captain was expected to be the authoritarian, what Nantucketers called a fishy man. A fishy man loved to kill whales and lacked the tendency toward self-doubt and self-examination that could get in the way of making a quick decision. To be called "fishy to the backbone" was the ultimate compliment a Nantucketer could receive and meant that he was destined to become, if he wasn't already, a captain.'

'Mates, however, were expected to temper their fishiness with a more personal, even outgoing, approach.'

'Nantucketers recognized that the positions of captain and first mate required contrasting personalities. Not all mates had the necessary edge to become captains, and there were many future captains who did not have the patience to be successful mates. there was a saying on the island "It is a pity to spoil a good mate by making him a master."'

It is becoming clearer by the day that Obama is not a fishy man and we have spoiled him by making him a master.