The Beginnings of a Beautiful Frakkin' Friendship
It isn't the weekend, but I must indulge myself: My first post at skye's blog. A one-year blogcommentiversary. Skye's been a fun blogging buddy; an invaluable resource; a dependable moonbat slayer; and politics is just one of her many passions. The other is Lee Adama's arms on the new Battlestar Galactica series, on SciFi.
As my tribute post to the grand opening of skye's repackaged, refurnished, revamped, reinvigorated MidnightBlue blog, I shall discuss some BSG, and lace it with political fun.
I actually started this post at 2am on August 16th, thinking of BSG after listening to Dennis Kucinich on O'Reilly. His statements reminded me of President Adar in the original BSG series. I forgot what Kucinich said, now, but it was along the lines of an appeaser and peace fascist. What he said was a reflection of today's Democratic Party and how they want to approach the war on terror; basically, they just want to wish it away. To not even acknowledge that we are in a war. I'm reminded of Hugh Hewitt's warning: until the Democrats get serious about terrorism, the answer to national security isn't to put more Democrats in office.
The backstory of BSG was, that after a thousand years of constant warfare between the Cylon Alliance and the human colonies, the Cylons decided to initiate peace agreements. Aching for peace, as only humans can, this is how President Adar "led" his people:
Each battlestar had a compliment of 32 fighters, bringing their fighter escort total to 384 Vipers. The ships were under the command of President Adar, who made several precautions so that the fleet would be as unaggressive as possible. There was no fighter screen and the ships travelled under the loosest of precautions.As you can guess, the Peace Conference was a trap. And it was Adar's pacifistic naivete that enabled the destruction of the 12 Colonies. Skyebuck, here's a toast to you, and a lesson to why Adama's "peace through military strength and preparedness" is a much wiser policy than Adar's "peace through appeasement and pacifism":
Watch Part One
Watch Part Two
Take the time to watch these 15 minutes from the pilot. Pay attention to Adar's dialogue; and then tell me that Adar isn't a space cadet Democrat whereas Adama is the definitive military space-age Republican.
Don't forget to tune into the new season 3, beginning this October. It's been a long wait.
While I'm at it, I might as well remind another favorite blog-buddy, Miss Chatterbox, to check out another favorite TV series of mine: Space: Above and Beyond. Here are a couple of clips:
Opening credits:
Boot Camp:
Angriest Angel not making nice with his Maker:
Fans of "24" will recognize James Morrison; but it was his role as Col T.C. McQueen that should have launched his career into superstardom:
Go pay skye and Chatterbox a visit....and tell 'em Wordsmith sent'cha.
UPDATE 02/01/07:
Longer version of McQueen's finest moment:
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 9/26/2006 11:01:00 PM
16 Comments:
Whoa! I watched BSG the first season (but have not since - too busy for tv) and I thought the same thing!!!
Don't you also get that same sense from Lord of the Rings? Look at Sauron's army... they look Arabic!
You mean BSG the original series? Or the new one?
I remember when I read the Lord of the Rings as a youngster, that I did get the sense of west versus east, just as you can definitely draw parallels between Calormen and Saudi Arabia in the Chronicles of Narnia. I think it unfortunate when people read racism into these works, because they really do themselves a disservice. When we watch a movie like "The Last Samurai" or "Dances with Wolves", as someone of white European ancestry, don't we still align ourselves with the samurai and Indians in the films?
as someone of white European ancestry
For the record: I'm a Malkinized twinkie.
Hey, "Malkinized Twinkie" I am now able to watch videos. I watched the two parts of Battle Star Galactica. There is definitely a very scary parallel there with what's going on now. These "peaceniks" are infuriating!
wordsmith:
I meant the first season of the new series, not the campy original.
In Lord of the Rings (the films) do you see some of Sauron's soldiers? They are from the East. And Aragorn addresses his soldiers as "men of the west".
Okay, I'm ignorant. What's a "malkinized twinkie"? I know about Malkin, but a twinkie? Is that just white?
I meant the first season of the new series, not the campy original.
What did you see in the new series when you said that you "saw the same thing"?
Skye can talk a lot about the political undertones she sees between the new series and current events.
but a twinkie? Is that just white?
Lol. I'm a "twinkie" the way Michael Steele is an "oreo".
Gayle,
I'm glad you are having fun watching vids. Opens up a whole new world of resource for you on the internet.
There is definitely a very scary parallel there with what's going on now. These "peaceniks" are infuriating!
Gayle, it crops up again in the middle of the pilot episode. The ruling council once again places the remnants of the colonies in danger, as they celebrate on the planet Carillon; and order all Colonial warriors to attend, unarmed. If not for Adama's foresight in secretly not having all of his warriors on R&R, the will of the peace fascists would have gotten them all killed. Instead, he sends stand-ins to the celebration, dressed as Colonial Warriors.
Thanks Word for all the effort u put into yer posts!..well done ! :)
Right back at you, Sparky!
Wow! I am truly honored by your outstanding post on the politics of BSG. As dark and compelling this series is, the political undercurrent is hard to ignore. The webisodes are proving to be no different:
Webisode #6 is Ron Moore's indictment of the US foreign policy that liberated Iraq. Ron and misguided liberals disagree.
In addition to this show having a kick-ass storyline - the series is a visual explanation of why appeasement is a good thing. The writers are using this platform to make their appeasement case and are failing miserable - thankfully, the storyline hasn't suffered from their efforts.
BTW - as much as I admire the physique of Lee Adama - the actor that portrays him has no love for President Bush and has made comments to that fact at Cons he has attended.
Oh, I'm going back to Tower Records to pick up the complete S:AAB series that I spied on DVD when I picked up BSG Season 2.5 this past weekend.
Thanks again, Sparky for such high praise :))))
Skyebuck, here's a toast to you
Oh, I'm going back to Tower Records to pick up the complete S:AAB series that I spied on DVD when I picked up BSG Season 2.5 this past weekend.
skye,
Please let me know what you think. The show had so much unrealized potential. And it was just finding its sea legs when it was cancelled. Not all the episodes are stellar, but by the time you get to the two-part "Angriest Angel" (and the episode before it, that sets it up), it is excellent. James Morrison's character is the warrior-scholar archetype.
I do love the R. Lee Ermy clip. I wish I had a "motivational" tape of him telling me to get out of bed some days. Me,and my buddy used to watch just the first half of Full Metal Jacket a couple times a day when we were younger,and he was a riot in Saving Silverman. Also I used to watch the Original BSG series,but haven't gotten to watch any of the new ones,maybe if it had a cheesy robot dog like the original I'd give it a shot
Wordsmith, the idea that democrats are unwilling and unable to fight terrorism, doesn't make any sense. It is knowledged even by the White House, as it should be, that to disagree with their views doesn't mean that the person is unpatriotic or lesser American. It is as valid for an American to contemplate other ways to deal with this menace as your, somewhat unsuccesful, stay the course. Surely, it has not come to this, that the only one voice should be heard in any democracy and especially in the one such as yours.
There is no doubt in my mind, that most of whom oppose your involvement in Iraq is caused by the lack of any couraging signs of an improvement. Every year, things just seem to get worse than year before, without anybody expaining how the trend could be turned around. To me, the circular logic that passes for a White House rationale is the main culprit. It does look bad when; The invasion of Iraq has created a new army of terrorists who will be inspired by an American withdrawl. Therefore, the U.S. has to stay indefinetely and keep battling those terrorists. Using this logic, the more the U.S. fights, the longer the war lasts. Wordsmith, this is the reason why I don't wonder that so many of your fellow Americans are despairing. Please, don't dismiss them as traitors!
Speaking of Iraq and BSG.....
....With frequent discussions of the human "insurgency," "Battlestar Galactica's" new season directly derives from issues surrounding the War on Terror and the U.S. presence in Iraq. One Cylon, played by Dean Stockwell, indirectly evokes the liberation of Baghdad by remarking, "They didn't exactly welcome us with, well... ." The show may not overtly oppose the Iraq War, but the writers clearly want their audience to consider the consequences of current geopolitical decisions, like detaining and abusing prisoners without charge.
Cylon Majority
It is also a valid strategy to question the motives and outcomes of those who propose a more cut-and-run method to destroying terrorsts and their organizations.
These people who question the government's successfull liberation of Iraq call themselves patriots...I question them - that must make me a SuperPatriot.
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It is as valid for an American to contemplate other ways to deal with this menace as your, somewhat unsuccesful, stay the course.
Great tribute!! Skye is definitely a great buddy, an invaluable resource and an awesome moonbat slayer!! I always call her in when liberals descend on my blog :-).
And yes I know I still need to check out your Space: Above & Beyond show :-)))!! Thanks for the link!!
Pekka...I can't believe you wrote all that out for this post. Lol. Relax, junior. It's a frakkin' tv show. I'm ribbin' the Dems. I'm generalizin' and stereotypin'. I'm having a bit of fun. I drew no parallels between the original BSG, with the clips in my post, to current events today. Nowhere did I accuse Dems of behaving unpatriotically. At least not here in this post.
Now objectively and hypothetically speaking, just for kicks, tell me: If President Adar (in the OBSG clips I linked to) were either a Democrat or a Republican, which do you think he'd be? Be truthful now! Based upon what you saw in the film, what is the likelihood that he would be a Democrat? Republican?
Superpatriot skye....if they make links to the Iraq War any more overt with the liberal perspective, I'm going to start rooting for the Cylons.
I've said it before: I can still enjoy BSG, even if they blatantly allegorize the Iraq War with the liberal perspective; because in the universe they've created, it works; their interpretation of what should be "the correct response" and the "moral action" would make sense. Their model, though, would be flawed if applied to the real world and the current situation, because it makes flawed presumptions.
Chatterbox, you really, really need to get those dvds of S:AaB.
Angry American, the new series needs to be appreciated on its own merits. I'm still irked that they decided they had to make a "reimagining" of the original rather than a continuation, a sequel spin-off series, or just don't call it BSG altogether.
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