We need Vikings!

It’s good the Maersk Alabama episode ended well for Capt. Richard Phillips, with U.S. Navy snipers taking out three Somali pirates who were holding him after an attack on his container ship last week. The affair produced a national discussion, including some pretty clever posts over at the Exurban League blog, which originates in the Phoenix area.

The best was a spoof of what the Obama administration might produce in the way of a counter-pirate strategy: an appeal to the “moderate pirate community.” Mimicking President Barack Obama’s style, the blog produced a fake presidential pirate statement: “I have instructed Vice President Joe Biden to create a cabinet-level Czar of Pirate Outreach and Buccaneer Interrelation. In addition, June 1-7 has been designated Pirate Awareness Week, during which all federal buildings will fly the Jolly Roger and sponsor sensitivity training.”

After Phillips’ rescue Sunday, a follow-up pirate post suggests Obama deal with any future menace by enlisting the ideal counter-force: Vikings. “President Obama should immediately build a small fleet of wooden longboats capable of sustained littoral operations,” the blog says. “Supply routes are unnecessary since the Vikings simply raid unprotected coastal areas for supplies. And, powered by wind and oar, this truly green-water fleet should easily pass muster with the EPA and most environmental NGOs.”

Pretty good stuff.

Thank you for joining our conversation on ScissorTales. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.