May 24th, 2005:

Well, after seeing the movie in the theatre, I can safely say that Episode 3 has turned out to be another metaphor for the War in Iraq AND a metaphor for the brewing "American Empire/Dictatorship".

Quotes from the movie:

"I think this war is destroying the principles of the Republic." - Anakin, before he becomes Darth Vader.

"Have you ever considered that we may be on the wrong side? What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists? And the Republic has become the very evil we've been fighting to destroy?" - Ambassador Padme.

"This war represents a failure to listen." - Ambassador Padme.

"In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the First Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society!" - Emperor Palpatine, proclaiming himself emperor.

"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." - Ambassador Padme.

Safety and security, at the point of a gun. Thats what George W. Bush's idea of "peace" is. An ironfist. Name your dictator... Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin... They all practiced dictatorships by promising safety and security for the "Fatherland", the homeland, or whatever brand of national socialism they fostered. And they all enforced it with an ironfist of military might, fear and propaganda.

And now George W. Bush, after five years in power, continues to do the same. Power has gone to his head.

Mark my words, before his term is over we will find ourselves in another bloody war which never should have happened had we elected a leader who "listened instead of simply burning bridges".

The sad part is that most Americans don't even seem to realize what a dictator is. Its a person with TOO MUCH POWER. And if ever there was an example of a man with too much power, its "the most powerful man in the world" right now, George W. Bush.

And even his guarantee of safety is not ironclad. What goes around, comes around. Children grow up (as Luke Skywalker did) and eventually seek to defeat the dictatorship.

By pursuing war instead of peace, George W. Bush has only created more trouble in the future when his "victories" now in oil-heavy countries will come back to haunt us.

Of course, we've all heard it before!

We've heard Bush being compared to Hitler... to Stalin... to Darth Vader.

We've also heard some very religious (and misguided) people claiming he was the messiah, the second coming of Christ.

I'm sorry, but a "Texan messiah" who likes war? That doesn't sound very "Christian" or "messiah-ish" to me at all. If anything, its quite the opposite:

If Jesus Was Alive, He'd Be Protesting the War!

Except he's not alive, so its up to the rest of us to protest.

Back to the "Revenge of the Sith", it is interesting to me that Lucas has demonstrated how easily a democracy-loving republic can so easily turn into a greedy empire ruled by a dictatorship.

All it takes is one man with too much power.