23 Comments

I’ve always felt the Donald hates who he is, especially recently. But he’s incapable of even acknowledging that, because that would mean giving in to the fight and he’d be a loser. But he was born a loser.

Trump will NEVER get over the DNC convention and what has come out of it. There’s a force that will swallow him whole.

I loved this article! Thank you, Sam.

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Thanks Gundy. It's pretty standard CNI philosophy & I think empirical psychology now that malignant narcissists pretty much by their very nature hate everyone including themselves.

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Aug 25Liked by Sam Ray

The Force is strong in you.

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May the force be with you!

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With all of us!

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Aug 25Liked by Sam Ray

My dad took me to see Star Wars in summer of ‘77 for my birthday. We lived in Pacifica then Lafayette but spent so much time in/around Oakland and SF. Your posts always bring back so many memories. Thank you.

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Love this!

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Aug 26Liked by Sam Ray

May the Force be with us on the 5th!

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✨An all-time Star Wars fan, I can say I LOVED this article !!! ✨

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Thanks Harry. It’s such an ingrained part of Bay Area culture for our Gen.

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Aug 26Liked by Sam Ray

This is fabulous, Sam Ray!

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Thank you for your kind words, Claudia!

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Aug 25Liked by Sam Ray

Loved this!

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George Cummings of the Substack “What Did Joe Biden Do Today” took a break from his usual fact based approach and wrote about Joe Biden representing Obi Wan. Of course, despite being so obvious to many, people seem to miss that Star Wars is a tale of fascism.

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I'd like to know what you base "Star Wars is a tale of fascism" on & it better be good.

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Hi Sam. Perhaps I was not clear, but the Empire represents fascism, not the rebellion. The imagery of the Empire in the movie reflects the imagery of Nazi germany, including the jodphur pants (tight from the knees down, puffy in the upper leg) worn by Moff Tarkin. Vader means father in German, (also, in Yiddish, father is “fader”) so Lucas was tying in another German reference (the Fatherland - the Vaderland). Vader is ruthless and obsessed with, and willing to use, horrible weapons to destroy anyone who confronts him. I see the willingness to destroy an entire planet a metaphor for the Nazis willingness to destroy an entire people (Jews). On a more subtle note, the German Stutka dive bomber made a siren sound as it dove into attack (an intentional feature built into the plane); the TIE fighters are given a similar sound effect (of course, sound does not exists in space, but it makes for good movie-making). Obi-Wan represents many things in the movie; a somewhat subtle representation is how he fought in a previous Great War (what I see as World War I), but then retreated for decades. The French and British, in a sense, retreated away into complacency after WWI and underestimated the rise of Hitler and the NAZIS. (No judgement from me, as the First World War was horrible, and people called it the war to end all wars in the hope it would not repeat). Obi-Wan retreats to Tatooine. The entire Empire relies of power and subjugation, just as the Nazis did.

The greeting Shalom Aleichem peace be upon you. Maybe I’m stretching here, but of course, the good guys keep saying may the force be with you.

I’ll stop here. Let me know if my thoughts satisfy your “this better be good”.

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I would like to know what possessed you to think it is acceptable behavior to say something as condescending, inflammatory and inaccurate as “people seem to miss that Star Wars is a tale of fascism,” when it is not a “tale of fascism” beyond elements you conflated, in the comment section of an article that is a local’s love-letter to Star Wars and meant to help people better understand the person who will hopefully save democracy from fascism?

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Same here. The past 40 years and especially the 10 -15 years have been like watching a slow motion train wreck that you can’t stop. But we can stop it - all together. Power to the people!

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I have never heard this but it sure makes sense!

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FYI, Lucas used elements from every useful human story & culture in history for Star Wars because that is what Star Wars is about. The human story. That is why it is so familiar and Mark's superficial conclusion appears to make sense.

I take great offense with his incorrect half-truth characterization that it is a "tale of fascism." Psychologically, all the behaviors of fascists & nazis existed 10s of 1000s of years before they did.

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I feel very connected to Star Wars as a family member of mine worked for George Lucas up until he sold to Disney. Lucas is a caring humanitarian. He gave full year’s salary to his employees so they could have time to transition to another job. My whole family are major Star Wars fans even down to the 3 year old who favors baby Yoda. And she pretends flying the millennium falcon around the house. My other family member is also one of the women of Oakland that you describe in awesome terms and I agree totally w/your description. I am glad you set that guy straight about his malarkey about star wars!! Haha. The force obviously is NOT with him! Your explaining of Oakland and Bay Area culture is spot on. Thank you for sharing. 🛸

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"Indeed you can usually tell which side is evil by their cruelty, sadism and use of fear, anger and hate to justify their often genocidal behavior." zionism/netanyahu

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I would like someone to tell me just how sorrow and regret can be evil.

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