Leave it to me to somehow tie Don Imus & Rutgers to an obscure Star Wars reference

Here’s why that matters to me.  Calling sin a sin is “insensitive.”  Preaching Jesus Christ is, by its very nature, “inflammatory.”  If we begin to go down this road (and it seems we’re already speeding down the highway), how long before preachers become targets of the Thought Police?  Yes – I was thinking about my own self-preservation.  How long before I am told I cannot speak publicly or post anything on MattDanTodd Land because I could have said something that offended someone (you know…like, “God loves you and wants to have an intimate relationship with you,” or “Jesus is God’s Son,” or something culturally insensitive like that)?  Maybe I’m being alarmist.  If you know me, you know that I’m not like usually like that, so I don’t think I’m just over-reacting here.

I don’t think I’m too off-base, though.  Tom DeLay is already leading the charge, calling for Rosie’s firing from The View.  Keith Olbermann seems to have a hit list of who should “be next” (they talk about it halfway down this transcript…conveniently, it’s all right-wing talkshow hosts…how lovely).   Why do we feel like we need to shout everyone else down?  Are we already so far down the road that we can’t even have civil dialogue with people with whom we disagree?  When will it end?  I don’t like this road we’re on.  Someone stop the bus!  I want to get off!

Ironic, isn’t it?  Sixty years ago this weekend, Jackie Robinson faced more than a stupid, off-handed, ugly remark when he shattered the racial barrier in Major League Baseball…years before the civil rights movement began to take shape.  He literally put his life on the line every time he put on a ball cap for the Dodgers.  Is this why he broke through that barrier…so we can beat down an arrogant jerk who said some pretty stupid things?  How is this episode fostering any type of unity?  How far have we really come in sixty years? 

I have a lot of questions.  Most of them will remain unanswered, I’m afraid.

Today, after Imus’s fate was sealed with both MSNBC and CBS radio, the Rutgers women’s team announced that they had accepted his apology.  I, being the Star Wars nerd that I am, couldn’t help but think of a scene in Empire Strikes Back.  You can’t push this analogy too far…none of this was any fault of the Rutgers ladies.  Imus set himself up for this.  The timing still struck me as odd. 

Anyway…

Captain Needa’s ship was pursuing the Milennium Falcon.  They suddenly lost track of the Falcon.  In a stroke of considerably bad luck, Darth Vader asked for a report on Needa’s progress in the pursuit of their prey…right after the Falcon disappeared from all of their scanning devices.  Out of nobility (maybe it was stupidity), Needa boarded his shuttle and flew over to Vader’s ship so he could apologize to the Dark Lord in person.

The next time we see Needa, he’s on the floor, gasping for breath.  Yep, Vader was choking him with that invisible death grip he has.  As Needa takes his last breath and collapses to the floor, Vader turns, walks away, and says, “Apology accepted, Captain Needa.”

Apology accepted, indeed.