Posted by
JDComments on Friday, November 24, 2006 4:21:52 PM
I love the movie "Independence Day ", the scifi story about an Alien invasion. When it came out 10 years ago I went with my daughter to see it repeatedly-neither one of us seemed to get tired of it. Not being an intellectual critic, I thought I liked it because it was entertaining, never lagged, and was almost mythic in its message. I still get thrills listening to the President's " We shall not go quietly into the Night" speech towards the end, and if Bill Pullman ever ran for the office I would be tempted to vote for him.
However, watching it today is a vastly different experience for me. Back in those "innocent" days when some philosophers proclaimed the end of history and the triumph of the West, I , like most of us, basked in what seemed the ultimate victory after we had defeated the Soviet Union without firing a shot. The world seemed , finally, like a benign if not benevolent place to raise my young child, and the future glowed rosy.
Now when I watch the movie, I view it through the prism of 9/11, as I do so many things, and while I still enjoy it, now I take a precautionary message away from it. When the young JFK-like President is standing before the captured alien, still trying to reason with it, still holding to his obvious liberal belief that negotiations and understanding can stop an enemy that is decimating the world, I cringe. And when the alien's answer to the question of what they want us to do is a simple "die!", I watch as the President loses his innocence as he realizes his Liberal beliefs are pie in the sky, and in his place a Conservative is born, a man who understands that against some enemies only force will work, for evil exists and is not just a figment of a theologian's medieval mindset. And as he prays for God's forgiveness when he orders a nuclear attack, I see the understanding that sometimes you must do things you regret because they must be done to protect your loved ones and your world. None of the high minded certainty that a Liberal wears like a mantle as he attempts to engineer the world, but rather the humility before God that Conservatives all share as they attempt to do the right thing in a world with no signposts.
Today we face those aliens, beings who just want us to die, and while instead of having superior technology they almost seem to be primitive in some of their weapons and strategies as they wage their jihad, they are no less lethal for it. And as we confront them I pray to God that our leaders and our people will understand the nature of what we face, and not be blinded by Liberal relativism which seeks to "understand" the enemy [who according to the ultra leftist Rosie O'Donnell are just mothers and fathers like us. Wow, I'd hate to see her family get togethers.] even as he kills us. If we could truly see through their eyes we would be looking down a gun sight at ourselves, and that is what we must never forget. Maybe "Independence Day" should be required viewing for Congress.