# The Maritime Lore Behind President Trump’s ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ Tweet - This is going in my Book of Confusing Analogies - **URL:** \ **Category:** Scuttlebutt\ **Created:** [April 16, 2020, 10:45am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009 "2020-04-16T10:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 10:45am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/1 "2020-04-16T10:45:17Z")
Some time ago I was explaining something to my son with what I thought was the perfect analogy when he interrupted me and said; “You should write a book”. I was very pleased to hear him say that but then he followed up with, “yeah, you could call it the book of confusing analogies”. Anyway, this should go in it. > **[This is Mutiny... Mutiny, I Say! The Maritime Lore Behind President Trump's...](https://gcaptain.com/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet/)** > > By Salvatore R. Mercogliano, Ph.D. – In the annals of maritime history and popular culture, the Mutiny on the Bounty holds a lofty place and remains relevant even today. The events that unfolded on April 28, 1789 in the South Pacific, when... ---
**Author:** ![freighterman1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/freighterman1/32/11176_2.png) [@freighterman1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/freighterman1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/2 "2020-04-16T16:55:42Z")
Bligh and POTUS45 are completely opposite in character. Bligh was supremely skilled, but couldn’t care less what his crew thought of him. POTUS45 is staggeringly inept, but dazzles his minions (though maybe a little less than a month ago…) ---
**Author:** ![freighterman1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/freighterman1/32/11176_2.png) [@freighterman1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/freighterman1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/3 "2020-04-16T18:56:30Z")
One last thing… What was the the first thing the guy did when he got up on Tuesday? Write thank you cards to doctors and nurses? Maybe, condolences to the bereaved? No. He writes a bizarre tweet insulting the governors who are holding everything together. _First_ damn thing, before the man has his corn flakes. Like it was on his mind, all damn night. Nothing else going on. Is that OK with y’all? Anybody want to back him up on that? ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Lee\_Shore](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Lee_Shore)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/4 "2020-04-16T19:47:07Z")
> [@freighterman1](#): > > Is that OK with y’all? Anybody want to back him up on that? I wouldn’t be too hard on the man. He might have fallen asleep in his tanning bed and had a nightmare that he had become invisible. ---
**Author:** ![Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Steamer](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Steamer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/5 "2020-04-16T20:01:17Z")
> [@Lee\_Shore](#): > > a nightmare that he had become invisible. His nightmares are a nation’s hopes and dreams. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/6 "2020-04-16T20:48:27Z")
Yes, but this is not like the game show Jeopardy where the correct answer (in the form of a question) is required, it’s more like the show Family Feud where the most popular answer, right or wrong is required. > **[Mutiny on the Bounty | Dramatic and documentary films; theatre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty#Dramatic_and_documentary_films;_theatre)** > > In addition to many books and articles about the mutiny, in the 20th century five feature films were produced. The first was a 1916 silent Australian film, subsequently lost. The second, also from Australia, titled In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), was the screen debut of Errol Flynn in the role of Christian. The impact of this film was overshadowed by that of the MGM version, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), based on the popular namesake novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, and The two s... As a mariner I know about the boat journey of course, but as to the movie; if a crew member refers to his captain as “regular Captain Bligh” he is almost certainly not saying the he thinks his captain has excellent small boat navigation skills. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/7 "2020-04-18T11:42:14Z")
Split this topic on April 18, 2020, 11:42am UTC 14 posts were split to a new topic: [Epic Small Boat Voyages from the Days of Sail](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/epic-small-boat-voyages-from-the-days-of-sail/55038) ---
**Author:** ![Hawespiper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ebca7d/32.png) [@Hawespiper](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Hawespiper)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/16 "2020-04-16T23:02:37Z")
Wait… Something’s wrong here… This started out as an anti Trump thread and is now on a maritime topic… How do I flag this? ---
**Author:** ![SeaEagle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/seaeagle/32/17788_2.png) [@SeaEagle](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/SeaEagle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/17 "2020-04-17T03:03:56Z")
Now I am completely lost. ---
**Author:** ![Hawespiper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ebca7d/32.png) [@Hawespiper](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Hawespiper)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:16am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/18 "2020-04-17T03:16:28Z")
> [@SeaEagle](#): > > completely lost. No need to be lost… Do you have comments on ‘The maritime lore behind President Trump’s mutiny on the bounty tweet’? If not, then seek another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Dutchie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dutchie/32/170_2.png) [@Dutchie](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Dutchie)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/23 "2020-04-17T14:41:25Z")
Mutiny on the Bounty was about the ruthless, unjust, tyrannical Captain Bligh of the HMS Bounty who shackled his own crew and tortured so many of his own men that they mutinied against him. It’s fascinating that Trump sees himself as Captain Bligh. It’s quite a terrifying thought as well. That Tweet is proper food for psychoanalysts I would say… ---
**Author:** ![SeaEagle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/seaeagle/32/17788_2.png) [@SeaEagle](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/SeaEagle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/24 "2020-04-17T14:57:44Z")
Trump is many things in his own mind. He is what we have right now,and does get shit done, if he wants to. As I said before, will vote for the least worse alternative. Not sure who that is , will let this play out. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalTrader](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/coastaltrader/32/71776_2.png) [@CoastalTrader](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/CoastalTrader)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/25 "2020-04-17T15:10:04Z")
> [@SeaEagle](#): > > Trump … does get shit done… He does?? Like what? ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 11:37am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-maritime-lore-behind-president-trump-s-mutiny-on-the-bounty-tweet-this-is-going-in-my-book-of-confusing-analogies/55009/27 "2020-04-18T11:37:47Z")
The issue I see here is the assumption that we all share the same meaning wrt the story of Capt Bligh and the Bounty. But we don’t. IIRC the real Capt Blight disciplined the crew more or less the same as his peers at the time. Capt Cook for example. But that’s not the meaning here because of the reference to the movie. So the question is which movie? Not so much as an attempt to decipher the tweet which I think would be a waste of time but just as a look about shared meanings. I thought there must be a word for this and metonymy\* and synecdote came to mind but neither is right. Then yesterday I came across enthymeme which I understand broadly means an implicit assumption. Don’t know if _enthymeme_ and _mimeme_ share the same root or not but mimeme \> Richard Dawkins \> gene \> meme \> internet meme. > metonymy: the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example _suit_ for _business executive_ , or _the track_ for _horse racing_ . > synecdote: a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in _Cleveland won by six runs_ (meaning “Cleveland’s baseball team”).