Posted 12:35 AM by Steve
Watching "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith":

Comments:

Some images and scenes are breathtakingly beautiful.

Most of the voiceover work is campy, silly, and just plain juvenile.

The lack of logic and planning by the Jedi make them seem more like smugglers in the vein of Han Solo rather than zen sci-fi samurai.

Comments towards the end of the film annoy:

"Only the Sith deal in absolutes"? Isn't that, in itself, an "absolute" statement?

Let's imagine the Jedi in a slightly different way:

They are a mysterious, exclusive and elitist society that meddles in all aspects of society: a sort of a intergalactic Klu Klux Klan. Let's look at this phrase one more time:

"Only (insert derogatory racial epithet here) deal in absolutes."

Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman lend real class to the film.

George Lucas muddled story is matched only by his muddled understanding of government and politics.

The script spends far too much time in exposition:

Weird Jedi guy: "What about the droid attack on the Wookies?"

Mace Windu: "It is critical we send an attack group there immediately."

Obi Wan: "He's right. It's a system we cannot afford to lose."

Yoda: "Go I will. Good relations with the Wookies I have."

Mace Windu: "It's settled then. Yoda will take a battalion of clones to reinforce the Wookies on Kashyyyk."

OK. WE GET IT! No need to repeat the point five times.

It's as if they are desperate to make it realistic that Yoda would be off Coruscant and "out of the way" so all the other plot lines can converge. Yoda's (and Obi-Wan's) mission gives them an "out" implying that Anakin would never have been turned to the Dark side had Yoda or Anakin been there.

Does anyone else feel as if these Jedi have been clueless and sitting around in councils while the galaxy falls apart around their ears?

Posted 10:48 PM by Steve
Folks, I'm getting a little tired of this so let's review one more time:

The places on this planet that enjoy the highest standard of living and have the highest regard for human rights are the most free.

Got that?

If you take power and put it into the hands of a small group of people (i.e., government) our freedom is reduced. When the personal economic power of an individual is diminished the standard of living is also decreased.

These are laws of nature just like gravity and the rotation of the planets.

This applies to America just like it applies everywhere else. It's not O.K. to keep compromising on these principles here and there because the "crisis of the day" demands government action.

It's time to put our foot down and demand that the executive and legislative branches of our government reassess what exactly it is they should be doing. It's getting to the point where the federal government is trying to micro-manage our lives in every respect.

In this, post-Reagan Republicans have proven to be nearly as dangerous as Democrats in the slow erosion of our economic freedom. My theory for the reason behind this is the hunger for power. The Republicans think they can cling to power if they legislate and govern in a "Democrat-lite" fashion. The problem is, they lose their base while gaining few true supporters from the other side of the aisle.