I don't understand how you can be a pretty high-information Star Wars junkie and then turn around and treat Ki Adi Mundi's line about the Sith 'being extinct' as factual when the audience knows he is wrong as he's saying it. Sidious didn't spring out of a hole in the ground.

pretty sure this is where Queen Amidala retook control of Naboo and struck "a new treaty" with the Trade Federation

ANDOR gets the "worn universe" vibe of Star Wars and its retrograde tech better than any recent Star Wars project

TBH seeing Boba Fett on screen for about 45 seconds is very on brand for Boba Fett

searing, emblematic image of dogs' love for their people

The Last Malarky

What nearly every person who grew up conservative or libertarian knows from dealing with leftists is that they don't distinguish between Charlie Kirk and you. They don't draw a line between Nick Fuentes and Mitt Romney. If you're not with them & their revolution, you're an enemy

Andor is a pretty explicitly leftist piece of art wrapped in the drapery of Star Wars & it works beautifully with very little complaint. Maybe I'm missing something, but the usual dumb political controversies are in lower supply, bc Andor is rooted in reality.

Quite large #HandsOff protest in Manassas VA outside the Social Security office

I really need the people of the internet to understand that this didn’t actually happen like this.

a ⭐️great ⭐️story of what must have been profound disappointment & a feeling of defeat for an actor, then turning into a massive triumph 20 years later #Andor

As the Republican Party continues its realignment in the Trump era, Ben Shapiro has grown into being the most crystal clear spokesperson for what the GOP is supposed to be. Free minds, free markets, and culture war fights that enable those two things to exist longterm.

A Star Wars theory: They're gonna do the thing where Qimir is the villain of the show & then in one final episode he's gonna get squashed like a bug by a real Sith Lord, whoever it is in this part of the timeline. Plagueis? Tenebrous? End of show. Qimir is a wannabe. #TheAcolyte

So a @StarWars thing. Dafne Keen was wrong about #TheAcolyte fight scene rivaling the choreography of Duel of the Fates in The Phantom Menace. It rivaled the beloved Old Republic game cinematics, in the best way. This was a whole episode worth of that energy.

I now know the pain of everyone who played this game and was screaming about this #JediFallenOrder

This single episode of #Andor was more Star Wars politics minutiae than we've gotten in live-action in 20 years. This is such a perfect show.

Qui-Gon knew how to open blast doors #JediFallenOrder

George Lucas has had a lifelong love affair with cultural anthropology. Watching #TheAcolyte’s so-called “Star Wars breaking” 3rd episode, I see nothing but more comparative mythology & perspective taking. Very standard SW, especially for prequel & Clone Wars fans. However...🧵

I've argued with "right to die" activists now for many years. They insist on framing the issue as being about seniors dying with dignity ahead of fatal illness. In reality, the practice is becoming a widespread solution to depression, autism & anxiety. thefp.com/p/im-28-and-im-sch…

The FTC case against Microsoft is pitiful. "It’s trolling on a multimillion-dollar govt budget, and while it’s beneath the dignity of an institution dedicated to a level playing field for businesses and consumers alike, it's on brand for Lina Khan." thehill.com/opinion/technolo…

Kylo’s ego centric delusion personal monologue about his great power being sensed is not the truth

I'm assembling a team

Some thoughts on ep 5 of #Ahsoka. She never got over the fall of Anakin Skywalker. Ahsoka's long carried guilt about not being there for Anakin at the time he was most vulnerable to the darkness. Similar to Obi Wan. At the beginning of episode 5, “Shadow Warrior,” Ahsoka has lost a duel and been cast into the sea to die. She wakes up in the World Between Worlds. Anakin is waiting for her there. Long dead, her old Jedi Master is softly smiling. He has a lesson for her. “I’ve come to finish your training,” “What is the lesson, Master?” Ahsoka answers reluctantly. “To live. Or die.” Anakin forces Ahsoka to fight. Then he takes her back into formational memories of the Clone Wars. When she was just a child, like so many others....Ahsoka was forced into becoming a soldier in a brutal civil war. The Jedi should not have been in this situation of leading armies into battle. But there they were. What would Ahsoka and Anakin make of it? I’ve felt that way. Surely you have also. I shouldn’t be here. This isn’t the way things were supposed to be. This is all wrong. Not the plan, etc etc. Yet, here you are regardless. This is what’s happening. How will you respond? For Ahsoka, Anakin taught her how to charge forward. In the Clone Wars, it was to charge headlong into battle with your wits about you and your lightsaber ready. The alternative was to linger behind in fear and be killed. To die in the sands of whatever battlefield you were on. You can debate the ethics of war when you're not actively under fire. Of course, Ahsoka did have a choice once she was off the battlefield. She could just not be a Jedi. And that was what she eventually chose. But in those moments of *do or die*, you can’t be stuck in the mud of fear, indecision, and doubt. Our world is littered with the bones of good people who couldn’t move forward from behind cover. We can’t live in the past. Our mistakes, our missteps, our lowest moments…they are not who we are. The act of living itself has unlimited potential to be the redemption we seek. Bowing out or lying down in our tears of regret is just too easy.

The best thing about the #Reva and Vader moment in Kenobi this week, is the same thing as when you face Vader in #JediFallenOrder as Cal. You think "Oh I made it to a boss fight, cool! This will be tough"....No....you need to run. There is no winning this fight. Vader is death.

I will never be able to unsee the empty seat at the table of which I now firmly believe belonged to our garrison deploying lord and savior, Director Orson Krennic; felled by the cruel, unjust, elitist hand of Grand Moff Tarkin.

SWT is a fine example of Upton Sinclair’s oft repeated quote “ It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it”

From @HannahDCox on FTC v Microsoft-Activision , "This isn’t about competition - It certainly isn’t about consumers - this is about control." based-politics.com/2023/06/2…

when the neolib goes out drinking with their leftist buddy from college

For gamers wondering why the FTC is trying to throw a wrench in Microsoft + Activision-Blizzard, its Lina Khan, and her ideological opposition to growth in all forms. Consumer protection is not her jam. New from @ConsumerChoiceC in @thehill thehill.com/opinion/technolo…

John Mulaney should get an Emmy for having LA Mayor Karen Bass on the show via phone, then having a side conversation while she was talking and then going “I’m sorry Mayor I wasn’t listening” #EverybodysInLA @mulaney 🤩🤩

Congrats to @Bloomberg for this A+ headline

Cassian #Andor has Nemik's manifesto in his possession, right? Granted it would be weird if he had it on him on his way to prison...it would be pretty awesome if he was reading in behind bars. Classic radicalization plot point.

that FDRs New Deal ended the Great Depression 💅

Harold Daggett is why every other episode of the 1990s Batman Animated Series featured a fistfight with "dock workers"

If Nikki Haley ever survives a Republican primary, she will be President of the United States

thats very very silly. Luke wasn't close with Anakin, nor did he ever have a chance to really know him. Yoda was his Master. Yoda and Luke were close. That is the only thing that would make sense.

sith acolytes pop up constantly. worshippers and wannabe followers. Jedi haters etc etc. But there can only be two legit Sith, and I don't think Qimir is one. Like the Knights of Ren. We're dealing with dark-side sith cultists. Not the real thing.

A reunion 50 years later with Christopher Robin, in the Hundred Acre Wood where their magical friendship first began ♥️

its so close

glad to see we take it seriously when Congress passes legislation and the Supreme Court upholds it....

So real

the Branch Covidians on the move ✈️

Based on the dismissive way Moff Gideon speaks of Thrawn, I am gonna go ahead and call it: Gideon will eventually be killed not by the Mandalorians, Bo Katan or Din Djarin, but by Thrawn in Ahsoka or Mando season 4. Love a good Imperial Remnant power struggle 👏

if such saving were actually on the menu as a certain thing, sure. that can never be proven though, so no.

I'll bite. Judges aren't immune to being arrested. "We believe Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject to evade arrest." We'll find out if that's true with 🥁 due process

If you are dialed into political discourse & esp 'decolonialist' theory, you will see what Acolyte showrunners wanted you to see. The winks are clear and the show has an anti-Western pov both in Jedi depiction and little things like mention of the strength of "one" vs "many".

And there it is….”it’s not a debate”

As I was leaving the Department of Education grounds, @SimonAmayaPrice and a group of detransitioner advocates exited the building. They say they met with Secretary Linda McMahon to discuss gender ideology, “the gender unicorn” and autism’s role in youth trans identification

This photo in The Free Press article about communist multi-millionaire Fergie Chambers captioned "Fergie's La Marzocco Linea Mini Espresso Machine on the counter in one of his homes," is just 👌

New from me in @thehill about the FTC's hollow case against Microsoft in their acquisition deal for Activision-Blizzard. Khan's efforts are little more than expensive government trolling and toll collection. Consumer interest does not motivate Khan. thehill.com/opinion/technolo…

Would be great if POTUS would faithfully execute the law on TikTok then we wouldn’t have this problem

Dear @robbysoave you are a king. Here is your 👑

For all of Qimir’s flair, Sol was clearly better at nearly every turn

Saw some silliness online about @benshapiro "defending" Andrew Tate. Checked it for myself and SHOCKER, wasn't true. Wrote a bit about my takeaway from Shapiro's spiel and the problem of "speaking without thought" as a substitute for truth (#GlassOnion) thisistheway.substack.com/p/…

weird that you equate expressing an opinion automatically as a hill one is dying on.

This has been on the fence post in the park in my neighborhood since before we moved in. The other day our HOA president texted me a photo of it, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS TAG IS??? GANG??!" All I could say was "Yes."

Does that betray or harm SW? We already know the Jedi as Arthurian/Samurai hybrids were not universally appreciated. They are one faction of a holy war with the Sith. Lots of other cultures and Force traditions get squeezed out in the middle. Lucas is the guy....

“The Jedi were the bad guys bruh” is nothing new or interesting. It’s just a perspective on events. Reverence for the Jedi lasted about as long as 1977-1983, then Lucas himself introduced complexity to the champions of “peace and justice"...

mmmm there's a lot there. one soul in the dark but at peace and one in the light, suffering under the weight of something. inauthenticity of some kind.

You know, I'm starting to the get the feeling that we're all caught in the middle of a holy war between two small, absolutist factions with big megaphones

I honestly didn't expect my most shared op-ed to be about the Federal Trade Commission and Xbox. But I accept it.

Enjoy your weekend cause next week is looking very likely to be an unhinged week in American life

I’m no political strategist but I have questions about this as an opening act to @SenSanders rally in Kenosha 👀

she is very articulate for her age. Going off my work in Scouts with boys and girls + having a daughter of the same age, the avg kid his age doesn't speak well or know how to put their thoughts into a coherent package. Bookworm kids w/o phones almost always are this well spoken.

you’re curious about shared cultural touchstones, mythical themes and clashing value systems based on your hemisphere. It's cool! The #Ahsoka show very notably drew on Western canon and Nordic myth with Eastern visuals. It's fine y'all.

well, we know how. SWT is actually much more thoughtful on net about these things than Nerdrotic. He frustrates me some days, but he at least wants to like Star Wars

who ironically called Disney ‘white slavers’, and we’re watching a story here with those familiar overtones of colonial & missionary activity in “new worlds”. We knew all of this already. It’s been part of fan discourse for decades.

Just living my best life as a Director of Operations 🎃

Related to this observation by @benshapiro and a foundation of Beyond Order @jordanbpeterson. Heroes can't exist without villains to call them to higher ideals.

wild

I have no doubt that longtime right-to-die activists believe this issue is about chronic pain and hospice. It's a well-meaning position and there are cases where it seems appropriate to me. But people are people. And it didn't take long for MAID to be monetized & corrupted.

Fans of different ideological stripes who like to cite SW’s mythological roots and Campbell’s “Hero With A Thousand Faces” give away their game when they lose composure over a face they don’t relate to or like. If you’re like Lucas...

Everyone, raise your lighter or phone flashlight for Skype today. We thank you for your service.

you can cram tons of politics into a show when it's done in a way that is truthful of the world as most people understand it. It's cheesy mainstream liberal script writing that tries to take shortcuts to messaging wins by repeating tired slogans. And people haaaate it.

the fact that it's marketing doesn't make it a great suit

Banking and finances in Star Wars #Andor content incoming: credit to @apgustafson who wrote the following: Why is Imperial payroll physically sitting around in a vault instead of the banking system?? 🧵

idk man seek help or something

case in point that Tony Gilroy actually reads the news and is following what's going on in the culture: Leida Mothma tradcon story and the inability of Gen X liberal Mon to support her daughter and share knowledge she'll need to succeed as a trad Chandrilan wife. Real.

what does this even mean?

you start getting called Nazi and fascist as soon as you attend a young Republicans meeting. Your views are described in murderous terms. You can't talk about reforming Social Security without claims of blood-stained hands and killing granny.

When you're no longer CURIOUS about the oddities of the Star Wars galaxy, maybe you've finally "grown up". And that's not always for the best. Unless you actually kind of ENJOY political & cultural bs, like I do, steer clear of the left-right baiting online. It's not healthy.

not just his transparency but his intentionality - Lucas had views, and you coooould argue that Disney just has no cohesive views by nature of its design.

One of the most beautiful, political, and relevant series on TV right now. And somehow, its a Star War.

This is a new world and I think it's beyond toxic for story-brands to let names like Star Wars appear as hobby horses for visiting activists & one-off directors. Am I advocating for a Filoni Symbolic Monarchy? Maybe. But what about fans....

Does Disney need to be more careful? Yes. They need to present a coherent vision & shrink the list of people who "speak for SW". This is not "shut up and dribble". Even Lucas was operating in a pre-mass social media world where every comment and interview was not made viral...

this is poetry tbh

need to take a deep breath. Defending the honor of Luke Skywalker might be a worthwhile cultural battle, but when you then turn to decrying lesbian witch covens and headcounting white males in The Acolyte, you're adopting their thinking. Don't.

kinda lame to invite people to try it and then turn off the feature hours later

Don’t speak to me or my son ever again

at some point, the progressive governments pushing MAIDs commoditization will have to reconcile their skepticism of capitalist incentive structures with the radical "compassion" leading them to believe suicide should be an on-demand product for people struggling.

Sorry to hear this. Use the bullhorn you have available to you to turn the culture away from total fear and paranoia. CDC guidelines are just suggestions. What people hear on TV and get second hand from friends and family, culminates in these kinds of reactionary policies.

Dr. Pershing's TEDTalk was one of the better ones I've seen in a while. A solid 'throughline' in his personal redemption narrative connects his story to how scientific advancement can redeem biological shortcomings. Great pauses instead of filler words, authoritative posture.

When we were young, these contextless video game sequences were total Star Wars fever dreams. Everyone loved em' that I knew. Required no context, no character knowledge. It was just cool. The Acolyte ep 5 group duel was just cool.

This was a bizarre interview. You get those rollicking victory lap from Jann Wenner about his role in the counter culture and being shaped by the deceptions Vietnam-Nixon-Iraq, and then a hard pivot to “yes more statism but with better politicians.” It will work THIS time 🤘

This was a really great scene

ok this is funny

Real world: soldiers deployed with bean bag guns & tear gas, forced to run from rocks and concrete projectiles in an urban landscape of burnt out cars Star Wars: protestors singing song get surrounded and indiscriminately slaughtered by live weapons So relevant.

"Against the power of Mordor there can be no victory. We must join with him....We must join with Sauron." "........."

I hate how hard this made me cackle