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Posted December 28, 2001
Huxley
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of December 24, "Sauron in Washington":]
I'm in no position to judge Tolkien's prescient ability. However if he is tied with Orwell then he is far below Aldous Huxley. For Huxley is light-years ahead of Orwell. We live in Huxley's universe more than Orwell's. In Brave New World, published in 1931, Huxley describes the "cradle to grave," secular, consumerist, Super-Nanny, socialist state. Everything about Reproductive Rights, cloning, drugs, and the collision with Christianity are all in that story. 1984 was just a variation of the Soviet Union of 1949. In Brave New World Revisited, Huxley reviews not only his own work, but Orwell, Vance Packard and others. First Huxley admits that he thought that the world he wrote about in 1930 was 300 years away. Now in 1953, Huxley believes that the state could take over control of Reproductive Rights in his lifetime. In Brave New World Revisited, Huxley demonstrates where Orwell is naive. Huxley has a much larger view of the world than Orwell.
The Shire
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of December 24, "Sauron in Washington":]
I thought your libertarian Lord of the Rings column was a bit loopy when I first read it. I just saw the movie today, and now I'm positive that the column is loopy. Like you, I loved the LOTR trilogy as a preteen. Like you, I enjoyed the movie (a bit melodramatic, but well-done overall.) However, I found it difficult to find any overt political themes in the movie, although your column had me looking for them. I think that's the appeal of fables, fairy tales, and fantasy – you can find whatever you want to in them. The U.S.A. audience that's making LOTR such a high-grossing film is also giving Bush sky-high approval ratings and eating up the propaganda on the network and cable news. I don't think they're flocking to the movie for its libertarian themes... if anything, I can picture an "average Joe" seeing the hobbits and The Shire as a metaphor for the USA – a peace-loving people in an idyllic land who never did anyone any harm is suddenly thrust into a war that they never desired, and only they can fulfill their destiny and stop the evil ones, etc. etc. As ridiculous as it sounds, I think that's how many, if not most, USA citizens view the September 11 situation and its subsequent fallout.
Race
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of December 24, "Sauron in Washington":]
Excellent article, but I think you'll find Smeagol was of a race closely related to hobbits, and was not a dwarf.
Power Corrupts
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of December 24, "Sauron in Washington":]
I went to see The Lord of the Rings last night, largely because of your recommendation. I have never read the book. Justin is absolutely right! The movie is a powerful allegory/argument/demonstration for how power corrupts its possessors, always and every time. Tolkien's plot is subtle, and the movie, according to friends of mine who have read it, honors the nuances in the original. The movie is starkly relevant to the world of 2001. Long and complex arguments I have read in political treatises are clearly displayed by a single character in a few scenes. It is so good, I think I'll go see it again soon. Can't thank you enough. I guess I'll have to read it now.
Let's Hope
Justin Raimondo's [column of December 24] "Sauron in Washington" is another great contribution – especially at year's end. Happy holidays everyone, let's hope that next year there is less need for this website, although I doubt it. Keep it coming. One of the few sources of real information.
Geraldo
I really like your web site. I've been reading it every day since 9/11 and it continues to be one of the best sources of news. I write songs for a living. Here's one you might get a kick out of:
Geraldo Rivera where are you now?/you're such a brave man, you're in Afghanistan/Geraldo Rivera where will you go?/goin' where no other newsman's gone./Let me sing a tale to you/every word I swear is true/great heroics pay-per-view/on the TV cam-era/you can have your Errol Flynn/I'll take the man with the iron chin/gonna get that old Osama bin/it's Geraldo Rivera./I remember how your ratings rose/when those neo-nazis broke your nose/it was only a stunt I suppose/but it made all the front pages/now you're out there where the goin' gets rough/gonna call those bad people's bluff/show 'em you got the right stuff/you're the newsman of the ages./I remember Al Capone's vault/it was empty but it wasn't your fault/it was media spectacle gestalt/and we loved you anyway/now you're dodging sniper fire/sending stories on the wire/can your ratings climb up any higher?/come on, make my day!/You can beat 'em off with your mustache/that'll give 'em whiplash/then you make a mad dash/to pull up your socks/goin' hand to bare hand/with the dirty rotten Taliban/they ain't half the man/as the mighty man from FOX./Some kids want to make it be rich/some just want to dig in a ditch/it's hard to scratch that itch sometimes/ when life just don't prepare ya/some kids watch too much TV/got no sense of reality/and that's what happened, it seems to me/to Geraldo Rivera.
~ Jim Page
Squaring Off
Lets see, in today's edition: Japan and North Korea about to square off, Israel and the PLO about to square off, India and Pakistan about to square off, Iraq and the US about to square off, the clergy and Israel about to square off, Britain and the ship owner about to square off, the Pope and the Mullahs about to square off, Burundi army and the rebels about to square off, the US and Al Qaeda have squared off. Somehow I don't think your message is quite getting out.
~ DB