Literary allusions

It seems that in an interview with the Bucks County Courier Times, Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who is apparently in a tight race to hold onto his seat, has seen a parallel between the war in Iraq with J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." According to the paper, Santorum said that the United States has avoided terrorist attacks at home over the past five years because the Eye of Mordor has been focused on Iraq instead.

Two thoughts…

First, as seems to be the Republican habit these days, Santorum has perverted the meaning of Tolkein’s masterpiece to suit his own ends. The folks who drew the Eye of Mordor’s attention was a voluntary coalition of nations --- Rohan and Gondor --- that had already been attacked by Mordor. The Iraqis, who he apparently thinks are the ones drawing the Eye of Mordor (presumably the attention of terrorists like al Qaeda) away from Frodo and Sam (who he equates with the U.S.) did not volunteer to be our surrogates in the so-called fight against terrorism. Indeed, it was not the terrorists (Mordor) who first attacked Iraq, it was us.

Second, Santorum might want to be careful with literary analogies, as that sword can cut both ways. For example, in the Star Wars films, a deceiving politician --- Senator Palpatine --- works with allies in the intergalactic banking and trade guilds to foment a war on the Republic under the guise of which he gets himself “elected” Supreme Chancellor. Then, using the alleged war threat, he suspends the Senate and the freedoms the Republic has enjoyed for centuries and installs himself as Emperor. Sound at all familiar?