What Would Columbus Think Of America Today?

Imagine, if you can, 1492.  Wow, it's not as though it was just the other day, or even a 4 hour cruise with Gilligan.  The Santa Maria,  Nina and Pinta, must have been some cruise liners.  Picture it - No running water, buckets for human waste, rough seas, rats, cholera, disease,  and slabs of salted meat that could give Paul Bunyon high cholesterol.  No where during Columbus' journeys, were there fictional LOVE BOATS, complete with a Captain Stubbing, or a cruise director, friendly steward and over eager bartender going by the name of Issac.  Oh, there may have been booze on the journey but I doubt John Jameson would have any part of this.  Maybe Johnny Depp as the crazy, compass challenged Jack and the Black Pearl just  may have been upon the seven seas.  Alas, no one can say.  Disney Corporation has made the Black Pearl almost real.  MGM made sure that Mutiny on the Bounty had the eye candy of Clark Gable to go up against the staunch, sea crazed Capt Bligh, portrayed so perfectly by Charles Laughton.

Sailing the open Atlantic in 1492, towards the New World was not a 3 day journey, and many before Christopher Columbus tried, meeting their final fate like those on the ill fated, virgin journey of the Titanic in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic in the wee hours of 1912. Big clue here as well, Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio were not on the only journey of the Titanic. 

Nope, Christopher Columbus was the brave one, not to mention the smart one, making his first port of call in the Bahamas.  Geez, right about now, the Bahamas sounds really good.  But you have to hand it to a man who had ships supplied for his expeditions via a Queen, and then is lucky enough to navigate his ships in to the Bahamas.  Hey, maybe Barack Obama was really born there, instead of Kenya, Hawaii or outer space.

So, looking around this country, what would Columbus think?  Better yet, what would the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower think about America in 2012.

Native Americans, the true first people on this land, suffer from severe levels of alcoholism, obesity and often times live in true poverty.  During my drives to my beloved Utah, California and Arizona, I am continuously dismayed at the outer limits where reservations are located.  Usually, they can be found in desolate locations where nothing grows but the dust storms, desperation and plans on how to escape the treatment they have received at the hands of the United States government.  Take a drive through Cayenta, Mexican Hat or Tuba City and place yourself in that scenario, if only for a day.  It's not pretty.

These same people greeted the Pilgrims with curiosity, and thus the fairy tale of Thanksgiving began.  What would Columbus think about that?  His vision was for a new world, and to prove the world to be round.  To embark on such a journey must have taken courage and conviction.  Sadly, those qualities seem lacking in today's society, where people believe that the Government OWES them something.

If you watch the news...preferably FOX NEWS, the most accurate, non biased news outlet on television, you will hear the arguments for and against entitlements.  What's this catch phrase, "entitlement"  really all about?  Republicans are against it, Democrats love it.  Lines are drawn in big bold colors of Red and Blue.  You bloody well never step across enemy lines.  It's like a turkey shoot...with innocent little elephants and donkeys just trying to meek out some sort of existence.

So, the question is - What would Columbus think of all of this?  He's got himself a National Holiday.  Banks, schools, the post office all close in his honor.  What would he think of that?  Since history  shows us as somewhat of an adventurous spirit, I get the feeling that a day off might rub him the wrong way.  We have managed to destroy the once pristine America that Columbus came upon or that the Pilgrims later made peace with.

I believe Columbus would be disappointed.  I know I am.