# Darth Vader: A Compassionate Conservative **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516 "2005-05-19T01:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516/41 "2005-05-20T18:34:56Z")
It was all covered in _Star Wars Episode IV: A New (Place Called) Hope_. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516/42 "2005-05-20T21:34:56Z")
That article’s a pretty clear example of how someone can rationalize anything. I’m a pretty big Devil’s Advocate myself, but yecch. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516/43 "2005-05-20T23:35:38Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > That article’s a pretty clear example of how someone can rationalize anything. > > I’m a pretty big Devil’s Advocate myself, but yecch. Agreed. From the article: > [@](#): > > Make no mistake, as emperor, Palpatine is a dictator–but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet. Emoticons fail me. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516/44 "2005-05-20T23:40:45Z")
From the same article: > [@](#): > > Palpatine believes that the political order must be manipulated to produce peace and stability. When he mutters, “There is no civility, there is only politics,” we see that at heart, he’s an esoteric Straussian. Like that’s a **good** thing? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516/45 "2005-05-21T00:44:19Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > 1. Not to invoke Godwin, but The Nazi government was legitmate. Hussien’s Government was Legitimate. Both were pretty fricken horrible. And the US supported(in spirit, anyway) the french resistance and the iraqi opposition. The Nazi govt. was not legitimate in a way that you would recognize from a post-war western democracy. There were the beatings given to rival rallies, the slandering of the opposition, the trashing of offices of unliked newspapers, the total prohibition of rival parties… If you read “Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich”, it becomes clear that Hitler would (here’s a shock) literally stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He was willing to go down swinging, and everyone let him keep getting hits for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516/46 "2005-05-21T02:13:44Z")
Sigh. Well, it coulda been an interesting discussion. However, you were told what the topic **is** and what it **ain’t** … and couldn’t keep to topic. This is closed. Reopen in Great Debates if you want to discuss Nazis and what makes a regime legitimate. Reopen in the Pit if you want to analyze C3PO and R2D2 as right-wing and left-wing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darth-vader-a-compassionate-conservative/304516.md?page=2)