A Voice for Freedom

Star Wars: Episodes IV, V, and VI were classics, as we all are aware. But did you know they were also a grandiose political statement against the Vietnam War? I sure didn't, but apparently George Lucas believes his first trilogy to have been written in protest to Vietnam and the Nixon presidency. Wonderful, isn't it, the miracle of revisionist history?

To the best of my knowledge, Lucas never said anything of the sort back in the day. Oh, and for his enlightenment, Kennedy got us into Vietnam, not Nixon.

All this new information about the original trilogy is being spewed at us as a precursor to the dropping of the much larger second shoe: Revenge of the Sith is also a grandiose political statement, this one aimed at the person and politics of one George W. Bush. Hmm, a Hollywood mogul spouting annoying, yet ineffective anti-Bush propaganda? Wait, I think I've seen this episode before.

According to Lucas, the final (for now) installment of the Star Wars…hexology?…is a "wake-up call to Americans about the erosion of democratic freedoms", and a statement against Bush's hegemonic somethingorother (I may be paraphrasing). So we have the Emperor playing Bush and the brave freedom-fighter Jedi playing Saddam Hussein and the Taliban? Is there something wrong with this parallel in anyone else's mind?

We've had an incredible number of liberals crawl out of the woodwork (or sludge, whatever) in the past few years intent on making a statement in whatever forum they can, whether their listeners are interested in hearing it or not. The Dixie Chicks have to stop in the middle of a performance to express their admonition of Bush or their hatred of Toby Keith; a dozen or so musicians team up to tour around the country raising awareness of Bush's status as the Great Scary Boogeyman; recently, my father was complaining to me about a speaker at a conference he was at who decided to pander to his audience of mostly-Canadian ivory-towerites by starting his presentation with "how could we have elected George W. Bush??" or something to that effect. It's the dream of every liberal to have a place in which they can throw off some anti-conservative hate speech without threat of retribution. And so now we have this same free-stupidity-with-purchase-of-show scam happening in what is probably the most famous set of movies in history. Far be it from me to call Lucas a moron for intentionally alienating half his audience, but…well, actually, no, not far be it from me: he's a moron.

I'll still watch the movie, of course - and he knows that - but I might write him some hate mail afterwards. Not that it'll change his mind (especially since I'll likely use a good many words he doesn't know), but it'll be fun.

The above quote was left to us by Benito Mussolini. Its relevance to Canadians today is obvious; the results of the recent Confidence vote have, to my mind, buried not only Canadian democracy but all hope for Canadian democracy. Our nation has been reduced to a joke, a badly (and barely) cobbled-together federation of regions that are every one (even Ontario) subjugated to a corrupt oligarchy which is concerned only with power. While I have been a separatist for some time, I have always believed there to be hope to turn Canada out of its downward spiral; that hope is now gone. I know the vote was close (tied, in fact), but the mere fact that not one Liberal dared to vote against the party line in favor of morality would be the death rattle of the Canadian government when taken on its own. When one adds the fact that Martin cannot be impeached by the courts or the very idea that he can be allowed to stay in power when his support - in a group that includes his own party! - is exactly 50%, the sound goes from rattle to tolling bell. Ding, we are done.

I'm torn between two life paths at this moment: do I high-tail it to the USA and set up housekeeping for good, or do I stay here, join the Separatist Party, and fight the good fight? Whichever I end up choosing, these are the only two options I have left.

Rest in peace, Canada.

Okay, finals are over and all I have to say is "oy, vey"...I am growing to hate May.

What it does mean, though, is that A Voice for Freedom is returning to normal operation, so if I actually have any fans out there, you can rejoice! One small change around here, though: focus is going to be mainly on Canadian news these days, partially because there's (keep your fingers crossed) an election coming, and partially because I'm going to be out of the States for a few months and their news is bound to take a back seat in my brain. So, without further ado, to the news of the day...

More stupidity from the East, and (surprisingly) intelligence from even futher east today.

In Ottawa, Harper has offered to stop blockading Parliament. In other words, he's extending the Liberal Party the olive branch. Mark my words, they're going to take it and thrash him with it. We're finally making gains in the government, and our fearless leader (that was sarcasm, by the way) wants to make nice with the sharks?

We may as well get it over with and stamp a big crimson "RED TORY" marker on Harper's forehead now, because this guy is looking more and more like he's just the lesser of two evils. You do not cooperate with lying, swindling bastards. You tear them down with as much violence as you can manage. What part of this is lost on people?

Think we can get Ralph to move for the Tory leadership? Or maybe we should kidnap Condi Rice, smuggle her across the border, and put her in charge. That would get us somewhere.

And further eastward in the great and majestic (again, sarcasm) province of Quebec, a new poll says that separatist sentiment has reached a 15-year high in the wake of AdScam revelations. Good for them - the only smart thing the Quebecois have ever done as a group is push for separation. That large but shrinking portion of Albertans who are still federalists (alternative words for that spot would have included "cowards" and "idiots") could learn a thing or two from our francophone neighbors. Wow, did I just say that?