She is a real beauty, and I’m more than happy to have been on-board her thrice, but the time has come for the SS Independence to be towed away to the breaker beaches of Alang, India. According to two to three sources, the boat has not only been sold by Norwegian Cruise Lines, but she’s also going to leaving the U.S. this coming Thursday.

I am saddened by the fact that this is happening. It seems like such an incredible waste of an incredible piece of history. The ship has held Ronald Reagan and other notables on-board. It’s the last remaining American Ocean Liner besides the SS United States (which is in much, much worse condition).

The SS Independence could easily return to service. She could easily be turned into a floating hotel and resort in a U.S. port. She could even be put back to her Hawaiian cruise tour.

Perhaps in another economic era, when Americans felt a bit more frivolous and were able to travel a bit more, the SS Independence would be a viable enterprise. I don’t know if it could now, but that doesn’t mean it would be prohibitively expensive to preserve. All she would need is a place to float and a bare-bones crew to keep her clean. Richmond seems like a good place, as that’s where a historic Victory ship is floating as I type this.

The SS Independence was built with our money. She was a subsidized liner. She is owned as much by us as she is by Norwegian Cruise Lines, who promised to preserve her or put her back into service as a contingency of their purchase. In this case, it’s another instance of broken promises and lies — and toxic cleanup being shipped off to a developing country so we don’t have to deal with our asbestos-laden past.

I encourage Bearings readers to submit an email or letter to their local media making them aware of this historic ship and telling them of the environmental and human costs associated with shipping her off to Alang. She could still be saved, if we move swiftly, though chances of that happening are slim.

Bearings has always been an apolitical blog… but, as they say, no compendium of words can ever escape the reality of subjectivity. When I write with a particular stance on a subject, I can only hope that it’s very clear my opinion is being injected into a story. This arises quite often, despite how much I originally intended this blog to be neutral on all matters political, religious, and cultural. It’s important for this blog to act as a mere observer, and for you — dear readers — to form your own opinions, which I hope will undoubtedly be strong (just the pinings of a creative type who is a tad too self-absorbed).

The previous paragraph really means to say that I will follow through on my promise made on the “About Bearings” section; however, when I have a strong opinion on a subject, I will precede the piece with an editorial alert, like so:

It’s cute as a button — literally –and it tells you that you’re likely to read a driveling, ranting, manfestoish heap of dreck. This will put Fox News to shame, folks.

So, here’s drivel #1. Bearings has announced its endorsement. Surely, I don’t pretend to be nearly as important as Ted — or even Caroline — Kennedy. Surely, this endorsement may even be something for which the lucky recipient will not exactly be proud to advertise. But here it is.

Like so many Bearings readers, I watched the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I heard Barack Obama speak, and it reminded me of the great speeches of so many inspirational men and women who have come preceded this generation. I have supported him, with caution, from the very beginning of his presidential run.

Despite the fact that his accent has changed, seemingly to suit all of our subliminal affinities for MLK (I was relieved to hear it hadn’t for the South Carolina victory speech); despite the fact that he’s a smoker (thanks Fox for making that point so abundantly clear); and despite the fact that he has little experience, I still see his idealism and it’s like a sprig of mint in a — well — a mint julep.

Hillary is qualified, yes, but she’s been in politics too long to offer any new ideas. We need another JFK (is it just coincidence that some of our greatest presidents have been young?). And I hate to be blunt, but we really do need a Black president. I know I will receive reams of messages on how I shouldn’t base a presidential election around racial issues, but this is an issue that will change the dreams, outlook, and hope of a very large portion of America that has been disenfranchised and ‘de-facto’ segregated to this day.

The kicker for this lowly blog Editor was when I read his Technology Document [PDF] summarized in one of my regular reads, Ars Technica. In it, Obama proposed five basic steps he’ll take in the realm of technology. I have yet to see Hillary say anything salient and specific about technology, clean energy, or the Internet.

In the past, I have railed against the government control of radio during World War I, and the kickbacks made to Sugar Magnates in Colorado. I’ve talked about the vast underground silo complexes — which, seemed to me to be a perfect example of the massive waste of resources inherent in such sites. Despite all of my opinions on these places I realize that history would not have been the same without them. I also realize that threats once existed that I couldn’t even wrap my mind around in this post-industrial consumer comfort pillow we call modern American living.

Believing in conspiracies and a Machiavellian strategem in the government is easy to do — and I’m guilty of it more than once over. What Obama seems to be doing is stepping away from this pessimistic outlook to a more positive future with the potential for a “New Manhattan Project” of clean energy and a comprehensive litany of protections against infringement of freedom on the World Wide Web.

Bearings Wholeheartedly supports Barack Obama. If you are a registered Democrat, I hope you will consider putting a check next to his name in your state’s primary.

Imagine cutting through the Atlantic waters while admiring the bright lights strung across the dual smokestacks of an opulent ocean liner — one of the best of its time. Hundreds of stewards wait to serve you in starched white jackets and bow ties. Caviar and coho salmon up in the dining lounge. At the promenade, money passes on the felt green poker tables while the sound a muffled trumpet passes through the cabin. You are on the SS Oceanic Independence.

The Indy was not only posh — she was powerful. A massive self-sustaining steam system burned 1,500 barrels of fuel oil per day, had 120 miles of electrical cable and 75 miles of piping. The four generators on the 683-foot-long ship were capable of powering a city of over 20,000. She could travel at 26.8 knots and was heralded by all who were intimately aware of her as the “Speed Queen of the American Merchant Machine.” Beyond the story of her power, though, is the story of her decline. When she was built, in 1950, the Independence was a first-class ship.

Long before cruise ships took people to exotic two-week vacations to feed on second-rate fare, they transported people on 52-day sojourns across the Atlantic. They entertained with the best live music, prepared the finest food, and featured an architectural wonderland specially designed to feel at home hundreds of miles out on sea.

The Indy was no ordinary ship. She was an exclusive conveyer that also had the privilege of being American built. She was an ocean liner that excelled in her luxurious offerings — Presidential suites with panoramic views of the sea, two mosaic tiled pools, three themed bars, ballrooms, lounges, theaters. All of it meant to entertain a rising class of the American elite. Ronald Reagan took a sojourn on this ship. So too, did the Prince of Saudi Arabia. Lucille Ball and Grace Kelly rode aboard her sister, the SS Constitution. The food on both ships — but especially the Independence — was considered to be excellent.

In her final days, this great white whale of a liner spent her days ferrying between the Hawaiian Islands and entertaining middle-class tourists to margaritas, mai-tais, and Hawaiian hospitality. Her glory days had since receded — the classes of the cabins removed in an earlier 70s-era refitting (to accomodate what were then known as go-go cruises, God love the 70s), and the rooms given a generic Hawaiian theme. You walk from cabin to cabin seeing much the same thing — save the ocassional appearance of a personal letter left behind by a crew member, or a few boxes of hotel toiletries stuffed in a corner.

Guests were treated to macadamia nuts and leis. A grass hut heralded “Aloha!” to oncoming passengers. Museum-like installations describing the history of the Hawaiian Islands dominates the grand lounge, where passengers had once entered an art-moderne hodge-podge of intersecting and dancing geometry — a meticulously waxed wooden floor.

Just before returning and becoming in all senses of the word a Hawaiian “Cruise Ship” rather than an Atlantic “Ocean Liner” — she had briefly flirted with a life of noble philanthropy. She conveyed refugeees from decolonized Angola, but such a life was ephemeral; tourists in Hawaii beckoned for an inter-island Hawaiian experience and the Independence, one of only a handful of American flagged ships could do so without circumventing U.S. Maritime law.

The Atlantic run was in its last era of great profit and high popularity. in the late 40s the commercial jet was a very distant threat and post-war travel to and from Europe was expected to increase. All of that had changed in the early-to-mid 60s. By 1970, sales had declined. The new Italian liners built with Marshall Plan money, Andrea Doria and Cristoforo Colombo, were bigger and more luxurious. The Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, both behemoths in comparison to the Indy, had been christened.

In the era of fast movement and cheap eats, jet travel and high-speed Internet — the Indy just fell by the wayside. September 11th was the nail in the coffin. She was a ocean liner that could no longer serve a changing culture. She once served a total of 160 pounds of fresh caviar for each voyage. Today, she sits awaiting a precarious future.