My brother-in-law used to say that the Right wanted to control his morals and the Left wanted to control his money. I believe this is no longer true. The Left wants to control our morals too and replace them with no morals. The "anything goes" crowd will embrace anything except decency and those who wish to practice it.
I did too, though even then I didn't buy leftist thought, which I realized destroyed freedom. I just didn't realize that most so called "liberals" were really leftists. That's why I don't really consider "liberal" to be a fluid term. 100 years ago the term stood for individual liberty and limited government, today it's the opposite, it has become part of the Left and now stands for something approaching socialism. "Equal rights" or "equality before the law" has got to be one of the cornerstones of liberty and is in direct opposition to the socialist concept of egalitarianism. Equal pay I might agree with from a moral viewpoint, but do not think should be legislated, as wage and price fixing are very socialistic concepts.
All this came into focus for me while the Clintons were president, I put lots of energy (and still am) into trying to figure these concepts out.
LOTR, though, I have loved since I first discoverd it in my college years. I find my affection and appreciation for it growing with my age.
I think Samwise is a great character with his absolute loyalty and bravery, common sense practicality, his almost childlike sense of wonder at the elves. I'm really impressed at how well cast and played the movie version of him was.
Sorry, once again for rambling on.