VICTORY AT SEA

Which topic prompted the most extensive conversations at Propeller this week? That would be the capture of the Alabama by Somali pirates, and the eventual rescue of Captain Richard Phillips. "American captain rescued, pirates killed, U.S. official says," racked up 58 props and 260 comments. For ADAGUY, the rescue was a clear rebuff to Republicans who doubted the new president's ability to deal with crisis: "Three [pirates] killed and a fourth in custody! Now let's see just how many of you have the balls to commend Obama on a job well done!" Replied libsRfunny: "I'll commend the military on a job well done and criticize Obama and his giggling Secretary of State for showing zero leadership in the matter."

For tanglang, the most crucial part was how the president planned to deal with the scourge of piracy going forward: "If Obama has since given the navy the authority to seek out and kill every one of these terrorists in the region, he has done the right thing." But it was sonofreason who took the middle course: "Congrats to everyone involved with that mission. I seriously doubt that this is going to act as a deterrent for pirates intercepting American ships, so I hope there is some follow-up action planned."

Meanwhile, a related story, "Right Wing Bets Against U.S. in Pirate Standoff," generated 95 props, 24 drops, and 286 comments. For gamahuche, the naysayers were downright ludicrous: "Wankers of the first magnitude! Like many of our more extreme posters on Propeller, these folks are on the border of treasonous in their insane lust for Obama to fail."

This slapdown elicited a protest from b-happy: "Maybe I was watching the wrong video or something, but I didn't hear anyone 'bet' against Obama. They asked why Obama wasn't discussing the situation, and why he hasn't done anything to stop the pirate attacks." To which Tangent001 replied: "There was definitely an assumption that Obama was either doing nothing or doing the wrong thing, and that the situation was going to end in failure, or at least a Carter-esque dragged-out hostage ordeal lasting weeks or months." And even Georgia50, who has expressed major reservations about the new president in the past, was willing to admit that Obama had confounded his critics this time: "While I'm a little hesitant to break out the pom poms, one or two similar foreign-policy wins like this one, and there will be no doubt as to Obama's effectiveness against foreign adversaries. There is no other way I'd rather be proven wrong about Obama."

TEA TIME

The organization of nationwide tax protests, known as "Tea Parties," also got the community talking. "Tea Parties Forever" notched 67 props, 24 drops, and 162 comments. One member, quackpot, didn't think much of the protesters. Bush, he argued, created massive debt "for the sole purpose of making the ultra-rich a bit richer. Now that deficit spending is essential to repair the economy, the Republicans are upset about debt? What a joke." But capecoralM spoke out against wasteful spending: "With the nation in economic distress, it makes sense for Congress to act constructively to stimulate the economy and create more jobs. But with the nation $10.7 trillion in debt, it doesn't make sense to add nearly another trillion dollars to the national debt for many things that are unnecessary, wasteful, or even unconstitutional." To which hamy replied: "And wasn't one of the things that Republicans found to be 'wasteful' volcano monitoring? And didn't a volcano erupt right after Jindal's stupid comments? And weren't people glad that we had been monitoring that volcano?" Meanwhile, tadair919 denied that the protests were specifically partisan to being with: "There were indeed liberals and progressives at my Tea Party. I admit that the vast majority of them were Republicans, but this is not a right or left issue."

A related article, "Anti-Obama Taxpayer Tea Parties Steeped in Insanity," generated 91 props, 23 drops, and 176 comments. The member who posted the article, cowboygrandpa, seemed to agree with the headline: "The party with no clue has boiled itself dry." DarkWizard seconded that emotion: "Right now the GOP has become the party that acts like a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum. What they haven't figured out yet is that THEY LOST!" But beavith1 urged the liberal contingent to curb its triumphalism: "Let the tea people do their thing without snide commentary--like most libs here. Frankly, I think they feel threatened that the consensus put together to elect Obama may be coming apart." To which berkeley responded: "I prefer the 'Billionaires for Bush' group."

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

"Faith Groups Losing Gay Rights Fights" rang up 40 props and 85 comments. Said pokydoke: "Religious groups need to get over their irrational fear of gays and lesbians." DaneL put up some regional resistance to gay rights: "God's greatest gift to man is a woman, not another man. We don't have much of a homosexual community here in Wyoming." Replied Ciera-Marie: "Yes, you do. You just choose to ignore that cowboys can be straight and gay. Same with cowgirls."

Elsewhere, "Recession Fueling Right-Wing Extremism in U.S., DHS Says" rang up 105 props, 18 drops, and 248 comments. There was some lively debate about exactly how to define modern conservatism. Said Beau7890: "In 1976, today's mainstream conservatism would have been considered right-wing extremism.... Only over the past 30 years has what is now known as "mainstream conservatism" shifted into an extremist, party-first, far-right organization that Lincoln, Eisenhower and Goldwater wouldn't recognize." Another member, lonejim, suggested that such "extremists" were actually defenders of democratic (and capitalistic) tradition: "There are still real Americans that want to protect our rights and preserve our way of life. We don't want to another socialist state."

The same story also inspired some debate over whether Obama intended to enact strict gun-control measures. Broadcasting live from Fayetteville, scott4261 noted: "I live in Arkansas and I can tell you with certainty that my congressional delegation would vote against any restrictions in gun laws. And to tell you the truth, anything more than a reinstatement of the Brady Law would be a waste of Obama's time." But MisterX still feared that the president would use the judicial branch to confiscate America's weapons: "We have a Supreme Court that upholds the 2nd Amendment by a 5-4 vote, and our far-left president will soon have the opportunity to replace a few of them." (Replied djn3nunez3: "Obama has been moving towards the center since he got the nomination.")

Yes, folks, the partisan battles raged pretty hard over the last week. Wasn't there some uplifting story the Propeller community could get behind without regard to political creed? That would be the post about frumpy, 47-year-old Susan Boyle blowing the minds of the cynical panel on Britain's Got Talent. Whether you're a fan of American Idol-style pageantry or not, it's hard to resist this demonstration that the young, pretty, and vapid have no monopoly on actual talent.