Mr. Fernandez,

Thank you for showing that video of Sir Winston’s funeral. I have many times read about the tribute paid by the London dockers in dipping their cranes to the vessel passing by carrying his coffin. Now I’ve seen it.

I’m saddened by the fact that both Sir Winston and those London dockers are both gone, never to return. They were better men than either their sons or grandsons have proven to be. We in the West desperately need a reawakening of the type of spirit they once had in facing dire danger.

Sir Winston called World War II “the unnecessary war.” I suspect he would have called our impending economic tsunami “the unnecessary fiscal crisis.” As in the earlier case, a combination of anger, revenge, sloth, greed and political/fiscal dishonesty have led us once more to the edge of the abyss.

I can hope that a man like Sir Winston might emerge to lead us. I have much less hope that the people he would need to lead have the brains or spirit to follow good advice. An American nation stupid enough to elect the current inhabitant of the White House is in very serious trouble, and the British are in worse shape than we are. We have some very hard times ahead.