This entire episode with pirates is just way to cool. Everyone can relate to this story because pirates have been a part of all our lives. Some of us grew up with Treasure Island and Long John Silver. Others envision Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates captivate Americans of all ages.

The coolness does not end there because the recent incident of the attempted taking of an America ship had thrills for everyone. First, you had the Captain, Richard Phillips, exchanging himself for the freedom of his crew. All Americans want to claim him as their own. The Republicans were thrilled as the Navy Seals took out the captor pirates – Bam, Bam, Bam – and freed the Captain. The Democrats loved that their man, Obama, stepped up to the plate and authorized the Navy to do what it had to do. So for now we are all experiencing a high from this episode and waiting for the inevitable books and movie to come out.

Unfortunately, this story does not end here. That is because this story does not begin here either. Everyone, even the current generation which is unsure that anything occurred prior to their births, knows we have had pirates around for a long time. Most everyone assumed that they were creatures of a time gone by. Mr. Obama can learn a lot from how President Jefferson dealt with this issue, but so far his administration may be heading down the wrong road.

Secretary Clinton has called for a conference of interested parties to discuss how to handle this issue. Mrs. Clinton needs to read up on American history. Our friends will not do what is necessary to protect their own interests because they have never done so in the past. Before President Jefferson defined the United States as different from our European friends, they spent centuries paying off the Barbary pirates.

The sole difference here concerns the coast of Africa from which the pirates are attacking ships. Our allies have allowed an estimated 260 people to be held hostage, an estimated 20 ships to be taken and hundreds of millions of tribute to be paid. The only thing we do not know is whether the pirates have made the hostages into slaves as they did two centuries ago. Continued...