Posted on 05/16/2005 2:07:19 AM PDT by Savage_Nation
Out of curiosity, was the 'spice' in Dune actually supposed to be a metaphor for 'oil' in the middle east
Very good points. Special effects are what caused me to almost work for his company. I left that industry completely about 10 years ago. Special effects are why I saw the first 5 and will see this one once its available on DVD. I would not however send a child to see this final episode. Confusing childrens sense of good and evil is probably the worse thing you could do for them.
Whenever I have trouble attributing a quote, I always go with Joe Biden.
Well, I believe Stalin was one of the first users of cinema to brainwash the masses.
That would be a great tagline.
The general theme of how a form of goverment can be destroyed by cynical leaders exploiting wars is not necessarily one that lends itself to a leftist critique of Republicans, though. After all, the leftist FDR did far more to destroy our Constitution than did any "right-winger" in American history, and he did it under the cover of war. The war may have been necessary, but the destruction of the Constitution wasn't.
FDR and LBJ are who I was thinking about when I watched Episodes I and II.
Star Wars movies are drivel, a bad joke, and a wasted afternoon.
I do not think any society as diverse as ours can remain a healthy republic regardless of its literacy or education. Except that a good historical understanding of democracy and the ideas it rests on, might give some intellectuals pause. I think most people are deluding themselves by insisting that Stalin and Hitler are mere aberrations on the road of democracy. If they were, how could Plato outline the course of democracy to tyranny so exactly.
Your point that we helped arm Hussein and are therefore responsible for his crimes is not a very strong one. I've already mentioned that Iraq received the great majority of its arms from Russia and France. The fact is we help arm a lot of countries to a greater or lesser extent. That in no way justifies the recipients of our arms the right to mistreat or murder its citizens or to invade other countries. We've sold arms to many countries, but how many of them have invaded other countries or started wars like Hussein did? If you sell me a gun and I go rob a bank with it, are you to blame?
'Hidden Meaning' is just another way of saying subtext. Andy Warhol eh? Art has been political roughly since Homer.
It is not only good, it is the correct state of Creation. However, Creation is fallen and this state can not be achieved until it is restored.
Shalom.
You make my argument for me. President Bush's statement didn't translate as, "Those who are not with us are ideologically aligned with our enemies." It translated as, "Those who are not with us are helping our enemies."
At some point you care. When push comes to shove you can't afford to.
I will agree with you on one point, the rhetoric does not serve unless lives are believed to be on the line.
Shalom.
Agreed. IMHO this has been aggravated by the rise of Television. Instantaneous images reduced to the basest level of humanity has done more than anything to remove the requirement of careful thought from the political process.
Shalom.
That I disagree with. It is true that Government is mostly a necessity because of The Fall, but it's clear to me God always intended hierarchies of authority. At the very least human biology argues for it in the form of the family. I would say rather that society's right to censure or punish defaulters through the auspices of government and its laws is the specific result and effect of The Fall on natural authority.
So it is your contention that he should have elaborated. I don't see why there needs be any "translation." The logical implication behind the statement is that states which do not support us are theoretical enemies. His speech implied some kind of action he was going to take. Your translation is to simplistic and obvious, if thats all he was saying the retort is, "yeah, whats your point?"
When I watched that speech I was in a room with some fellow conservatives and some democrats. At that line, it wasn't the conservatives who where pounding their fists on the table it was the dems. One of them grabbed me and said, "thats what we need to hear," and then something about being Christian but still believing in revenge or words to that effect.
Perhaps they are looking for some ideal simplicity in a world never meant to be simple. Man seeks elegance and symmetry, but symmetry need not be simple.
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