Editorial Columns Archive

The dark side of America
Staff Report
05-09-2008

I am a self-professed Star Wars fanatic. Revenge of the Sith is one of my favorite movies. My students even refer to me as “Darth Immel,” for my apparent predilection toward the aesthetics of the Dark Side of the Force. I admit I do prefer the perspective of the Sith — unlimited power and relentless energy to achieve unimaginable possibilities. Vader and Darth Sidious are far more appealing characters than the simpering Jedi. I respect Yoda; wisdom attained over centuries is a treasured thing. Luke and Obi-Wan’s whining lemming approach were as thrilling to me as Donald Trump’s comb-over. But at the end of the movie, even Yoda fled to exile to avoid certain doom from an all-too-powerful Emperor.

You may wonder where this is all going. Well, I am simply in awe of George Lucas. Not for his filmmaking abilities, but for his ability to channel Nostradamus and his prognostications. Suddenly, Lucas’ Star Wars fantasy has become an American nightmare.

America, a once dominant, powerful Empire, now resembles a fledgling Republic struggling to regain its identity, security and footing against seemingly incontrovertible scenarios. The state of the union is in dire straits, my friends. A trip to Wal-Mart to observe a gallon of milk at $4.22 makes me wonder if the cow’s udders were tipped in platinum. Gas prices are not at an all-time high; they’re ridiculously frightening. America’s addiction to oil is worthy of a first-class ticket to the Betty Ford Center for recovery. And what of the war in Iraq — a war that originated to combat terrorism has turned into a bloodbath of American casualties that resembles an agenda to control the world’s most fertile oil supply.

Let us turn to our presidential candidates. John McCain, a decorated prisoner of war, may be able to turn things around. Will he recognize 275 million of his own constituents who are prisoners of the trade federation in the oil industry who now must choose whether to drive to work or feed their families? Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are so concerned about beating each other and winning the Democratic Party nomination, that the platform of “change” that was once a resounding battle cry has deafened in a silence of nationalistic fear. And perhaps most pathetically of all, a Galactic Senate’s (Congress) inability to work together for the populace that elected them has them rearranging deck chairs on Titanic.

America, once a bastion of hope for foreigners, has defections among its naturalized citizens seeking survival across other countries’ borders. Many Americans flee to Canada and Mexico in hopes of obtaining medical prescriptions that have become astronomically prohibitive in our country. Most people are shopping in Asia and they are failingly aware of it — “Made in China” is no longer a clothing manufacturing notice; it’s a pledge of allegiance from our country to obtain electronics, automobiles and countless other necessities we can’t live without.

America — land of equality. A tantalizing dream that shatters when discussing American earning power. Hollywood actors and professional sports athletes make more than our president and Congress combined. Teachers who are supposed to shape the minds of the nation’s next generation and soldiers defending our country in time of war are embarrassingly underpaid. Is America’s stock plummeting? Globally, we had many allies that have since evaporated in recent times. A country that sat as the head of the superpower round-table now resembles a guest. Rebellion positions itself on the horizon of an uncertain and unfamiliar landscape. I remember a wise Jedi master saying to Obi-Wan Kenobi, “The shroud of the Dark Side has fallen.”
Yoda, you ain’t whistlin’ Dixie.