9/12/2004

Battlestar Galactica: The War in Iraq

September 11 th was a “threat” to our peace. It was the recognition of a war by terrorists “ who do not fight fair.” The same was said of the colonies in the revolution when we fought from behind trees and not faced each other on a formal “battlefield.” Women, children, unarmed men were killed by all sides, Indians, British, and revolutionary soldiers, too. War was not civilized. It never has been “civilized. The terrorist do not play by our rules, but theirs. They choose the battlefields. They fight with the weapons that they have. They kill their enemy whether soldier, innocent bystander, old, young, male or female or child. By any means, without warning, any place. They kill the defenseless. They do not care if they die in the process; many believe it is an honor to them and their family to die in battle. They are like the kamikaze in World War II.

In this war, I see George Bush as “Ben Cartwright-Commander Adama” protecting his family; his country.

In the television series “ Battlestar Galactica” Loren Green played Commander Adama. “When the 12 Colonies of Man are all but wiped out by a cybernetic race called the Cylons, Commander Adama and the Battlestar Galactica lead a ragtag human fleet of survivors in search of a mythical planet called Earth! “Lorne Greene, whose fame was the father in the long running television series “Bonanza,” also starred in this TV series. My late father Lawrence Menkin wrote many of the Bonanza episodes. He called this new series “Wagon Train” in space. He also wrote those, too, where Ward Bond was the star, but here we were in outer space. The wagon had become a space battleship. My father would have called the premise an “obstacle story.” They had to get somewhere. Someone was trying to stop them along the way.

These first three episodes were originally presented as a three-hour premiere subtitled Saga of a Star World. (Original airdate: Sept. 17, 1978)
The first one was when the Cylons trick the human fleet and destroys all its ships except the Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama gathers up the remaining humans on the 12 colony worlds and leads them in search of the legendary 13th colony. The premise of the series was the Cylons had decided to make peace with Earth with the condition that all weapons and space ships with weapons would be destroyed. Commander Adama believed it a trick. He believed there could be no “peace” without a strong military.

This theme has been strong since the founding of the United States. To protect itself, the first congressional meetings formed an army and navy to defend itself. President George Washington stated for the record the purpose was not to get involved in European wars. As the country expanded, and others who occupied the land did not want the United States to expand to Ohio, Florida, then Kansas, Oregon, California, Texas, Alaska, even Hawaii, we expanded our military bases.

The American people have never liked war, but were tricked into such actions in the 19 th century in the Philippines, Cuba, to name just a few. The country was against entering the first world war, and postponed for three to four years entering the second world war. While we financially supported Great Britain with lend lease and other “investments,” we did not want to get involved until attacked at Pearl Harbor. When we declared war against Japan, as the country being part of the “Axis,” Germany and Italy then declared war against us.

The philosophy of a strong military force was paramount after World War II, adding to the “cold war.” We did not want to sign peace with the Cylons in the USSR and any action we saw as a “threat” to our peace.

In the television series, Ben Cartwright was the father of three “boys,” and in Battlestar Galactica, he lead the survivors to the end of the television series when they re-discovered earth. George Bush sees himself in this role. He is leading the survivors of September 11 th in a journey to protect itself from terrorists.

For more about the original television series:

http://www.epguides.com/BattlestarGalactica/guide.shtml#ep001

http://www.jumptheshark.com/b/battlestargalactica.htm

Lorne Green, actor, was born on Feb. 12, 1915 in Canada. He attended Queen's University in Canada, where he studied acting. He was blessed with a deep, rich bass voice. His first job after graduating was as a news broadcaster on radio. And he soon became Canada's top newscaster.

However, Greene still had acting aspirations so he moved to Hollywood in the early 1950's. His voice and bearing soon resulted in regular work on California radio stations, on TV and in movies.

Lorne Greene hit the mother lode in 1959, at age 44, when he won the part of Ben Cartwright, patriarch of the Cartwright clan and owner of the Ponderosa Ranch on the NBC-TV Western series, "Bonanza". That show was one of the most popular shows in the world and ran through 1973.

In the 1960s he turned to recording, with his best known hit, "Ringo" (about a gunfighter), charting "number one" on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1964.

The original TV Cartwright family cut an album.
Front: Lorne Greene. Back, L to R: Dan Blocker,
Michael Landon and Pernell Roberts.

Lorne Greene underwent surgery for an ulcer, developed pneumonia and died on Sept. 11, 1987. He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park in, Culver City, CA.

for more information on Loren Green, go here: