Rick Santorum Compares Iraq to Mordor

[JPhillips]

I guess all the good analogies have been used already.


Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) explains the Iraq war by citing Lord of the Rings: “As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum told a newspaper editorial board. “It’s being drawn to Iraq and it’s not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don’t want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”

[rkmsuf]

What a hipster doofus.

[cartman]

I guess ole Santorum forgot all about "The Scouring of the Shire", which was left out of the movie.

[cthomer5000]

WTF

[Suburban Rhythm]

I personally know very little of the LOR series.
But I thought for sure Santorum would be one of the wackos spouting how a movie like that is anti-God/Christian/whatever.

[bosshogg23]

Santorum is like Jim Bunning in that they make totally ridiculous statements on a regular basis. Santorum has made negative comments about working women and gays in the previous months.

[Warhammer]

I personally know very little of the LOR series.
But I thought for sure Santorum would be one of the wackos spouting how a movie like that is anti-God/Christian/whatever.


The irony is that the books were very religious, but you don't get that from the movies.

Heck, the movies completely changed many of the themes of the books.

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

Why do politicians have to try and be so slick? This is about as good as listening to our govenor in Michigan, Jenny " I pee standing up" Granholm, comaparing the 2006 Tigers to the Economy in Michigan, whish I could find that quote.

If you folks in Pen dont Santorum, send him up here to Michigan. We will give you Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin and a Senator to be named later.

[ISiddiqui]

The books were very religious?

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Bye Bye Rick Santorum. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Why do politicians have to try and be so slick? This is about as good as listening to our govenor in Michigan, Jenny " I pee standing up" Granholm, comaparing the 2006 Tigers to the Economy in Michigan, whish I could find that quote.

If you folks in Pen dont Santorum, send him up here to Michigan. We will give you Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin and a Senator to be named later.

:eek:

Uh, thanks but no thanks. Santorum can stay far, far, far away from Michigan thank you very much. Maybe we could ship De Vos down there as well.

[Crapshoot]

I find nothing particularly interesting about Casey, other than his stance that "he's not Santorum". And that is good enough. :D

[Kodos]

Mordor, He Wrote.

[bosshogg23]

I find nothing particularly interesting about Casey, other than his stance that "he's not Santorum". And that is good enough. :D

Its a popular position for Casey to take :D

Last I saw he was up 13 points on Santorum and the RNC stopped funding to Santorum.

[rkmsuf]

Maybe he's going for the effeminate hobbit vote.

[larrymcg421]

What a stupid analogy. Does he realize he's comparing the United States to Mount Doom?

[Warhammer]

The books were very religious?

They weren't bash you over the head religious, but they was a ton of allegory and symbolism throughout Tolkien's works. I wrote a term paper on it back in high school. There is also a fair amount of documentation on this from when the books were released on the subject.

I can't remember all the different allusions and allegories, but Aragorn, Gandalf, and Earendil (The Silmarillon) are all Christ figures. Morgoth and Sauron are both Lucifer/Satan figures. There is more to it then that, but I think you can get the picture from that.

Tolkien was a devout catholic. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that he was part of the reason why C.S. Lewis became an ardent Christian. Obviously Narnia had more of an over the top religious tone, but that was one of the areas where the two differed.

[Mustang]

Maybe he's going for the effeminate hobbit vote.

I don't think Janeane Garofalo would vote for him.

[rkmsuf]

I don't think Janeane Garofalo would vote for him.

ah but evangeline lily would. the plan is working perfectly.

[Honolulu_Blue]

What a stupid analogy. Does he realize he's comparing the United States to Mount Doom?

No, I think he's comparing the United States to two hobbits. Iraq would be Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf, Legolas, and what was left of Rohan and Gondor.

In effect what he's saying is that by invading Iraq the U.S. created such a target rich environment/hot bed for terrorists that instead of trying to attack the U.S., the terrorists are taking the path of least resistance (thanks to the U.S.) and blowing up hundreds of Iraqis and dozens of U.S. troops every month.

Uh... Yay us? :(

[ISiddiqui]

They weren't bash you over the head religious, but they was a ton of allegory and symbolism throughout Tolkien's works. I wrote a term paper on it back in high school. There is also a fair amount of documentation on this from when the books were released on the subject.

I can't remember all the different allusions and allegories, but Aragorn, Gandalf, and Earendil (The Silmarillon) are all Christ figures. Morgoth and Sauron are both Lucifer/Satan figures. There is more to it then that, but I think you can get the picture from that.

Tolkien was a devout catholic. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that he was part of the reason why C.S. Lewis became an ardent Christian. Obviously Narnia had more of an over the top religious tone, but that was one of the areas where the two differed.

I know The Silmarillon had more of a religious tone, but I don't consider them part of the books of The Lord of the Rings (with I consider to be only Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King). True Gandalf died and was sent back, though I don't necessarily see that as Christian (it's a popular myth story). I'm not sure how Aragorn is a Christ figure, but perhaps there is something. And true Sauron is a Satan like figure, but he is the uber villan.

[st.cronin]

I do not agree with the characterization of Lord of the Rings as a religious work. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, true, and some of that worldview is bound to be evident in his work, but mostly what we see in LotR is powerful images which lend themselves to multiple symbolic readings. It was actually widely considered a political allegory upon first publication. It is a canvas upon which the reader can project his own longings and desires; that is it's strength.

[rkmsuf]

I do not agree with the characterization of Lord of the Rings as a religious work. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, true, and some of that worldview is bound to be evident in his work, but mostly what we see in LotR is powerful images which lend themselves to multiple symbolic readings. It was actually widely considered a political allegory upon first publication. It is a canvas upon which the reader can project his own longings and desires; that is it's strength.


meh, you give Tolkien too much credit. guy probably got tanked one day and decided to write a story about hobbits, wizards and a cool ring.

[st.cronin]

meh, you give Tolkien too much credit. guy probably got tanked one day and decided to write a story about hobbits, wizards and a cool ring.

That's pretty much exactly what happened.

[larrymcg421]

No, I think he's comparing the United States to two hobbits. Iraq would be Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf, Legolas, and what was left of Rohan and Gondor.

In effect what he's saying is that by invading Iraq the U.S. created such a target rich environment/hot bed for terrorists that instead of trying to attack the U.S., the terrorists are taking the path of least resistance (thanks to the U.S.) and blowing up hundreds of Iraqis and dozens of U.S. troops every month.

Uh... Yay us? :(

But what is the United States (two hobbits) doing in Mount Doom that is going to destroy Sauron (Al-Qaeda/Bin Laden/whoever)? I thought what we were doing is going to Iraq. Which is where the eye now is?

So the eye isn't on the home folks, but it is on our troops. And at the same time we have no plans to destroy the eye. So it's like that final battle in Return of the King, but instead of it being a diversion, it's an endless battle in front of the eye with no end in sight. Yep, sounds like Iraq to me.

[Warhammer]

I do not agree with the characterization of Lord of the Rings as a religious work. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, true, and some of that worldview is bound to be evident in his work, but mostly what we see in LotR is powerful images which lend themselves to multiple symbolic readings. It was actually widely considered a political allegory upon first publication. It is a canvas upon which the reader can project his own longings and desires; that is it's strength.

There was a lot of debate on this as well. Tolkien even addresses it in the forward of the version I have. He stated that if he had gone the political allegory route, than Saruman would have developed the ring, and that Sauron would have been enslaved or something. I'll have to look it back up. I think the forward with this was first used in the 1953 release of the books.

The argument for Gandalf is that he was a divine being sent to Middle Earth by Manwe to help Middle Earth overcome Sauron. Gandalf was to use his power to inspire others to follow, not use brute force, etc. In this regard, Gandalf is very Christ-like. In fact, he even dies, and returns from the dead. If you look in the appendix, I believe his "fall" and his return to "life" was a 3 day span (although his fall did not indicated his true death, as he fought with the Balrog during this time).

The argument with Aragorn is a bit more stretched. First, Aragorn is prophesied as the Dunedain that will re-unite the kingdom. Basically, Arnor and Gondor would become re-united. Additionally, he would be a healer, in addition to a great warrior, etc. He would lead his people from the shadow. Think of him as Judas Maccabees who many thought was the Messiah. Plus, he was also a big believer in Gandalf and thought that his teachings should be followed, you could make the case for Manwe, Gandalf, and Aragorn being the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Again, this is stuff from 15 years ago, don't take me to task too hard. Its there though, if you look for it.

[Surtt]

That's pretty much exactly what happened.

He started writing his stories in 1920 and continued to work on them tell his death in 1973.
hxxp://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html