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I have seen the latest Star Wars episode and must say that the libertarians and paleo-conservatives, as well as the liberals and leftists, are way off the mark in drawing parallels between current affairs and the latest George Lucas offering. Mainstream conservatives are also wrong in getting worked up about the movie, considering it as just more left-wing Hollywood drivel. Lucas is first and foremost a student of Joseph Campbell, famed for his vast knowledge of mythology. Campbell in turn was influenced by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, whose school of psychology dealt with archetypes and symbology. Jung and Campbell are major influences on the New Age movement.

While, as a Christian, I disagree with the New Age tenets espoused in the Star Wars movies, they are less offensive- and dangerous to Western civilization and Judeo-Christian morality than is the Marxist and nihilist bent of most mainstream entertainment: music, film, art, etc. Lucas is not influenced by a Christian worldview, as are other popular writers who dealt in mythological themes, such as Tolkien or C.S. Lewis. However, there are significant areas of congruence with traditional morality in the Star Wars films, such as the value of heroism, honor, and self-sacrifice. Christians and other supporters of traditional values should not reject the whole package to the extent that is necessary with most of the nihilistic, amoral cesspool of rock, rap, and hip-hop, or the leftist propaganda movies of Oliver Stone or Michael Moore.

There are no reasonable parallels between Chancellor Palpatine and George W. Bush, unless you want to resort to conspiratorialism and equate the Sith with Skull and Bones. Even Paul Craig Roberts does not go that far. Governments expanding their powers during wartime is almost a universal fact. Using wars as an excuse to expand domestic political power was a shopworn technique even in the days of Julius Caesar. If there is any parallel of Star Wars with actual history, it would be in the conversion of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire and the ruthless and corrupt emperors like Nero and Caligula who occupied the throne.

While there may have been a few throwaway lines of dialogue that were intended as attacks on President Bush, the overall theme of the movie is the conversion of a republic into an empire through corruption and merciless killing of enemies. Fallen heroes like Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, the selfless heroine (Padme Amadala), and the thin line between good (Jedi) and evil (Sith) are universal symbols that derive from Joseph Campbell's works.

The bottom line is that it is entertainment with a New Age spin, and not intended to be a political statement.