Sarah Palin: The Political World’s Samus Aran?

The release of Metroid: Other M for the Wii this week inspired me to write something that’s been swirling around the ol’ noggin for a while now.

Is Sarah Palin the political world’s Samus Aran?

Samus Aran is the heroine of the Metroid series of Nintendo exclusive video games.  From Wikipedia, “Metroid chronicles the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran who protects the galaxy from the depredations of the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of fictional organisms such as the eponymous Metroids. It is noted for having one of the first female protagonists in a video game, and for its nonlinear gameplay.”

You can find the basic Metroid series info here.

This observation about Governor Palin and Samus Aran, although based upon the entire series, is most influenced by the later games, Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.

The core comparison comes from the general themes of the Metroid games.

A) Samus comes to a strange place (planet or space station) that needs exploration to figure out what is going on.

B) Her armor and weapons, for the most part, are destroyed, taken away, or become limited at first.

C) Through exploration, both new & old weapons & armor upgrades are found and put to use, allowing further exploration and firepower against stronger foes, ultimately resulting in the abilities necessary to defeat the final boss/antagonist.

How does this compare to Sarah Palin on the national level?

Think about it.  She is raised in one of the most rugged and independent states in the union.  Some would even posit Alaska may represent another world.  She is called, much like Samus is called to go on missions, to head to a new and unfamiliar place to explore (her VP selection resulting in exploration of the grand stage of national and presidential politics).  Upon arriving at full power, something happens to destroy or limit Samus’ abilities, much like the Katie Couric & Charlie Gibson interviews (along with a ridiculous media narrative) did to Sarah Palin.

This is happening much like in Metroid Fusion, where the X-parasite nearly kills Samus on a space station, resulting in most of her Power Suit being removed (hence, losing most abilities).  She is saved when researches create a vaccine made from the DNA of the baby Metroid (the X-parasites natural predator) Samus discovers at the end of Metroid II. The vaccine not only stops the X-parasite from harming Samus, but it now allows her to absorb it to power up her energy and weapons.

Couric and Gibson initially did the damage to the Palin Power Suit.  Then, just as the X-parasites and Space Pirates nearly destroyed Samus, the leftist media organizations and those in her own state, saw the opening and attacked mercilessly until Sarah Palin was nearly destroyed…at least in the eyes of the broader electorate.

Then came July 3, 2009.  That day Governor Palin declared she would no longer be held hostage and slowly buried alive by an avalanche of false accusations; that her state should be allowed to move on without the media parasites and the local “space pirate” hacks slowly trying to drain the life out of her, and by extension, paralyze her state.

Her resignation as Governor did what was thought politically suicidal, but in reality was just her getting back on her feet and using the DNA of freedom to start to recoup and, eventually, fight back.

Now, she’s in the exploration and upgrade phase. 

Missiles are one of the first upgrades to be found in a Metroid game, and a larger capacity can be carried as the game progresses via additional “tanks.”  Governor Palin has been acquiring missiles all along…that would be those who happily call themselves Palinistas, mama & papa grizzlies, and just plain supporters.

Sometimes missiles are just not enough and a Super Missile is required to progress in the Metroid universe.  These would be her endorsements; in particular, the one’s who win.

Another weapon Sarah Palin has acquired is the Power Bomb.  Samus can use these to clear entire rooms of enemies (Super Metroid) and gain access to previously unreachable areas (Super/Fusion/Zero Mission).  Palin’s Power Bombs are called Facebook notes.  Is there any doubt that with, as Tammy Bruce states, “Type, Type, Type, Send,” the entire complexion and timeline for Obamacare passage was changed with the simple Power Bomb of “death panels” (still a misunderstood phrase to this day)?

The Ice Beam upgrade allows Samus to freeze enemies in all of the 2D series games.  This device allows her to use enemies to stand on, when frozen, to access further areas, or, just to be shattered with another weapon (usually a missile).  The mere presence of Palin, and in some cases, “Palinistas,” causes most politicos and pundits to, at the very least, pause, if not outright stop, to asses as she zooms on by.  A recent example is when two New Hampshire Democrats had their aspirations for higher office “frozen” after making statements to suggest their pleasure had Palin been on the airplane that crashed resulting in the death of the late Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens.

The Grapple Beam is used primarily to access new areas in Metroid.  Sarah’s Grapple Beam is SarahPAC: “Dedicated to building America’s future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.” This allows her to spread her influence and access to previously thought unreachable areas.

In the Metroid series, the Plasma Beam is normally the last weapon one acquires.  It is the most powerful weapon in the game, and in the later series games, it is required to defeat the final boss.  Sarah has actually had her Plasma Beam this whole time; her unwavering belief in doing what she feels is right for this country.  Nothing thrown at her has caused her mission to waver.

Lastly, in the comparison realm, the Varia Suit is the most famous and recognizable armor upgrade that greatly reduces the damage Samus takes from enemies and environments.  Sarah Palin’s Varia Suit is her pure and unshakeable faith in God and his purpose for her life.

More interesting to note, is not so much upgrades and their comparison, but how the freedom from her office has allowed her to absorb media attacks like the Metroid DNA vaccine absorbed the X-parasite. There is a quote on texas4palin.com that states, “Every time a Democrat mocks Sarah Palin, an independent gets its wings.”  This is the freedom vaccine at work.  The parasites in the media can’t help themselves with her.  They attack relentlessly, all the while telling us how irrelevant she is.  This solidifies her supporters, and helps others to look into her and, at the very least, sympathize for her against such attacks (especially personal or family related), but potentially rethinking things and becoming full-fledged supporters themselves.  This only makes her stronger.

Is this analogy perfect?  No.  Samus Aran is a video game character who has unlimited chances to eventually reach her goal.  Samus’ next big mission also starts August 31, 2010.  Sarah, like you and me, is a real person.  Her next big mission (should she choose to accept it) is not coming for two more years.  Will she have explored her surroundings enough?  Will she have acquired all the upgrades needed to win?  Will she be ready for the final battle?  No one knows the answer to these questions, but I have a feeling she will have found 100% of the available power-ups/upgrades.  Will you be one of them?

–Jason

P.S. If you search for Sarah Palin as Samus Aran, you will find at least one, really bad picture.  I’d be interested if there are any aspiring artists who could do better.  Shoot them my way via politics4nerds.com.

Notable Quotable…er…Story

I’m not sure how many of you have read this (via chain email), nor the validity of the actual event.  However, I think the point the story tries to make is one worth consideration.  Enjoy and react:

Albert Einstein wrote a book titled God vs. Science in 1921. This is a quick story about Albert Einstein’s Conviction. Interesting …Well worth the entire read.

“Let me explain the problem science has with religion.” The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes sir,’ the student says.

‘So you believe in God?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Is God good?’

‘Sure! God’s good.’

‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’

‘Yes’

‘Are you good or evil?’

‘The Bible says I’m evil.’

The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment. ‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’

‘Yes sir, I would.’

‘So you’re good!’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. ‘He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?’

The student remains silent. ‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. ‘Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?’

‘Er..yes,’ the student says.

‘Is Satan good?’

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’

‘Then where does Satan come from?’

The student falters. ‘From God’

‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?’

‘Yes, sir..’

‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’

‘Yes’

‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’

Again, the student has no answer. ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?’

The student squirms on his feet. ‘Yes.’

‘So who created them?’

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them?’ There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. ‘Tell me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. ‘Yes, professor, I do.’

The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’

‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him.’

‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’

‘No, sir, I have not..’

‘Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’

‘No, sir, I’m afraid I have not.’

‘Yet you still believe in him?’

‘Yes’

‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?’

‘Nothing,’ the student replies.. ‘I only have my faith.’

‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.’

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. ‘Professor, is there such thing as heat?’

‘Yes.’

‘And is there such a thing as cold?’

‘Yes, son, there’s cold too.’

‘No sir, there isn’t.’

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.

The student begins to explain. ‘ You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can go down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.’

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’

‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are you making, young man?’

‘My point, professor, is that your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.’

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. ‘Flawed? Can you explain how?’

‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought.  It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it. Now tell me, professor… Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’

‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.’

‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. ‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.’ The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’ The class breaks out into laughter. ‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.  So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?’

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I Guess you’ll have to take them on faith.’

‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?’ Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.’

To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’

The professor sat down.

PS: The student was Albert Einstein.

Notable Quotable

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.” — First Amendment to the United States Constitution (emphasis added)

Is this being followed today, or can you think of any subtle infringements on this amendment?

Notable Quotable

“Mr. [Peter] Sylvester [of New York] had some doubts….He feared it [the First Amendment] might be thought to have a tendency to abolish religion altogether….Mr. [Elbridge] Gerry [of Massachusetts] said it would read better if it was that “no religious doctrine shall be established by law.”…Mr. [James] Madison [of Virginia] said he apprehended the meaning of the words to be, that “Congress should not establish a religion, and enforce the legal observation of it by law.”…[T]he State[s]…seemed to entertain an opinion that under the clause of the Constitution…it enabled them [Congress] to make laws of such a nature as might…establish a national religion; to prevent these effects he presumed the amendment was intended….Mr. Madison thought if the word “national” was inserted before religion, it would satisfy the minds of honorable gentlemen….He thought if the word “national” was introduced, it would point the amendment directly to the object it was intended to prevent.” — August 17, 1789 from Annals of Congress June 8, 1789 to September 25, 1789

I recently started a book titled “Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion” by David Barton.  This quote (found in said book) was notable because, when trying to understand the meaning of the Constitution, it is always good to get as close to original sources as possible.  This quote, obviously, is about as close as one can get.

The issue of how our Constitution is interpreted by current courts versus how it was in the first 150 years of our Republic is a very interesting research project.

What are your thoughts?

It starts in Omaha

The mother of a 14-year-old boy accused of making bombs out of dry ice appeared in court Tuesday.

The woman, 39, is charged with possession of a destructive device and child abuse. She was arrested over the weekend and released on her own recognizance.

Police were called to a home near 137th Street and Z Circle on Saturday. Police found and detonated an ice bomb in a plastic bottle.

Assistant Douglas County Attorney Eric Wells said the boy admitted to making the bomb and that his mother knew he was doing so. The boy was set to appear Tuesday afternoon in juvenile court, accused of possessing a destructive device.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100629/NEWS97/100629602

Society needs to figure out that it can’t have it both ways. You can’t desire educated kids without giving them the freedom to explore, particularly so long as the damage they do is limited to their own lives and property. Train collectors are scared to take pictures of trains and rails. People get harrassed taking pictures of bridges or public buildings. Parents are harrassed and children are being told that having curiosity and the desire to learn things is wrong.

If over pressurizing a container until it explodes is a felony, make sure your kids don’t:

1) Blow up a finished juice box and stomp on it.
2) Blow up a plastic bag and hit it.
3) Blow up and pop a balloon.
4) Pop bubble packaging wrap.
5) Blowing and popping bubble gum.

Those are all variations on the same theme. Now I get it, dry ice “bombs” can cause injury if used without a tiny bit of common sense. But then again, a staircase can be deadly if used incorrectly. But yes, I see the “safety” factor, but a felony? Are we serious?

I think one of the key issues here is the term “Destructive Device”. That’s the weak point of this particular law. It’s one of those “vague, let the officers interpret it” laws, so in reality, the law isn’t determining if what you are doing is illegal, the officers are, and that’s not how the legal system is supposed to work.

If they wanted to drag this out, I’m sure their lawyer could mount their main attack on “destructive device” and pull a win, because it would be trivial to show that the term could apply to a wide variety of things that no reasonable person would consider unlawful. Once you show a law can be used to convict even one innocent person, the law becomes unenforceable in court.

They probably will simply get the charges dropped, because the cops usually like having vague laws like that on the books because it allows them to make more flexible judgement calls. (which can be good OR bad for the public, and that’s the problem) They won’t want this to go to court because they’ll lose their bad (but useful) law if it does. Or at least get a precedent set against it on the books.

Notable Quotable for June 8th, 2010

The 30th anniversary of PacMan was marred by the deportation of Mario and Luigi. What they were doing in Arizona is still a mystery.
–adam (site contributor)

First, I would like to apologize for missing last weeks quote. As a person who works two jobs, my free time to contribute to this site is not what I would like it to be. I will do my best to continue the NQs on a more correct and timely basis. Now, time to expand on that quote!

I’m a big believer that people’s personal rights are slowly being eroded. The law that passed in Arizona is just one small way. Do I think we need to protect our borders? Yes. Do I think that those people here on Visas/Permits should keep a copy of their Visa/Permit on them (as is already required by law)? Yes. Do I think the cops have the right to stop a person walking on the street and ask to see their ID because “they look suspicious”? No. You see, here in American, a person can legally walk down the street with no ID in their possession. In fact, you only need to have an ID on hand if you are doing something that requires you to be able to prove that you are doing something you are legally allowed to do, such as drive a motorized vehicle, purchase a controlled substance such as alcohol or tobacco, or to even purchase an iPad. You are not required to have an ID on hand to walk or ride your bike down to the store to buy groceries. To me, this requiring of carrying an ID is strangely familiar. I wonder if I can remember which country it was that kept asking for “papers”…

No, before you get all riled up, realize something. I’m not against the idea of the law, just the enforcement of it. I do believe we need to protect our borders. We also need to start protecting our rights. Just because a Hispanic person is in Arizona at Home Depot, that does not make them an Illegal Alien that should be stopped and asked to provide ID. That is profiling and harassment, and that is what is going to happen.

Perhaps if we actually enforced laws that fined companies for hiring Aliens, this would not be an issue, but then again, how many of those companies would just open plants in Mexico or somewhere else.

01JUN10 Palin’s New Stalker

Happy International Towel Day

For those of you familiar with the works of Douglas Adams, I am sure you would be familiar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. For those of you that might need a refresher, to quote from the 3rd Chapter.

A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Maybe if we as a people were more prepared in our lives, and were better at helping strangers, we would be able to pull our Country out of the mess that it is in. Now, if we could just get the members of Congress to start carrying towels with them.

Need help keeping track of Congress?

Congress is an Android app that allows users know more about what is going on in the United States Congress. It allows a user to browse current laws, as well as laws that are about to be voted on and laws that have recently been passed. Using GPS as well as user lookup, you can find your representatives and get information about them just by clicking on their name.

KEY FEATURES

shows new laws, laws in the voting process, and their current sponsors

can find legislators by location, state, last name, or zip code

ability to setup Twitter account within app to reply to legislators

representatives profiles with links to all of their given information as well as what they have been working on

Read tweets and watch videos from members’ Twitter and YouTube accounts

read the latest news about bills/laws/Congressional Members using the Yahoo News API

More information can be found at the official Congress App page, or you can use your Android phone and get it via the QR code below. A quick screen shot is also included below. Do you know of a similar app for the iPhone/iPod touch? Let me know and I’ll get it linked as well.
             

Notable Quotables

All your base are belong to us
–English translation from the Japanese game Wing Zero

First off, let me say thank you for this quote. It was the fist submitted quote I have received, and not the one I was planning on using. I actually had a nice article written on a different quote, that by next week might be outdated, so I might publish it tomorrow.

Although I could talk about how the different sides are viewing take over differently with this quote, I’m going to try something a little different. This quote came from a person translating speech from one language to another and not having a proper grasp of both languages in question. In gaming/literature/movies, we call these localization errors. In politics, we call these mistakes blatant attempts to sabotage the other side.

Gaming companies, as well as publishers, have learned that it is worth the effort to properly localize something you are going to put out to people who may not speak your language. Look at the Harry Potter/Twilight/Xanth books. Would they be near as popular if they were not localized?

If localization works, and it helps people, why don’t politicians learn to localize their points. To many politicians use $1000 dollar words, which when strung together in an odd order, often cause the original point to go missing. Perhaps, if politicians could learn to give us the facts, without the opinions to go with it, we might just end up better informed.

What are your thoughts?