Now I Get It
Rick Santorum, the number-three Republican in the Senate, was out on the campaign trail in his home state of Pennsylvania, and finally came clean on the administration's thinking behind its policies in Iraq.
Apparently no one at the event asked him if he really meant to compare the United States to Mt. Doom, which readers and movie viewers will remember was deep in the heart of Mordor, a barren and wretched waste populated exclusively by evil creatures of all sorts.
(Full Geek Analysis Moment: Yes, it was the very fact that hobbits were travelling right into Sauron's front yard that made distracting the Eye important, and we must not forget that the "distraction" wasn't merely a side-show, but was composed of various desperate nations fighting last-ditch defensive efforts to save their homes from the massive invading armies of Sauron's orcs. The whole analogy shows he understands neither the Lord of the Rings nor our current situation. Of course, if you want to 'strongly interrogate' a metaphor, referring to a small hapless party of weaklings on a mission into the heart of their Enemy's territory, striking a massive blow by stealth and luck while those in charge of the territory were distracted thinking about making war elsewhere seems like the last metaphor an administration supporter would want to bring to mind.)
Still, if Mr. Santorum wants to put himself with the Hobbits on Mt. Doom, that would make sense. He does, after all, bear quite a resemblance to Gollum.
LEVITTOWN - Embattled U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said America has avoided a second terrorist attack for five years because the "Eye of Mordor" has instead been drawn to Iraq.Santorum did not explain the curious absence of the name "Sauron" in the report of the 9/11 Commission.
Santorum used the analogy from one of his favorite books, J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy classic, "Lord of the Rings," to put an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq into terms any school kid could easily understand.
"As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else," Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.
"It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S.," he continued. "You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States."
The 12-year Republican senator from Pennsylvania said he's "a big Lord of the Rings fan." He's read the first of the series, "The Hobbit" to his children (he has six).
Apparently no one at the event asked him if he really meant to compare the United States to Mt. Doom, which readers and movie viewers will remember was deep in the heart of Mordor, a barren and wretched waste populated exclusively by evil creatures of all sorts.
(Full Geek Analysis Moment: Yes, it was the very fact that hobbits were travelling right into Sauron's front yard that made distracting the Eye important, and we must not forget that the "distraction" wasn't merely a side-show, but was composed of various desperate nations fighting last-ditch defensive efforts to save their homes from the massive invading armies of Sauron's orcs. The whole analogy shows he understands neither the Lord of the Rings nor our current situation. Of course, if you want to 'strongly interrogate' a metaphor, referring to a small hapless party of weaklings on a mission into the heart of their Enemy's territory, striking a massive blow by stealth and luck while those in charge of the territory were distracted thinking about making war elsewhere seems like the last metaphor an administration supporter would want to bring to mind.)
Still, if Mr. Santorum wants to put himself with the Hobbits on Mt. Doom, that would make sense. He does, after all, bear quite a resemblance to Gollum.
posted by Paul at 9:29 AM |
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