Is it socially acceptable to admit I love Battlestar Galactica yet?
The thrilling sci-fi show, which has been off the air now for three years, has routinely been mocked as the ultimate nerd series only watched by the likes of Dwight Schrute and Sheldon Cooper.
However, if any “cool Joe” were to give it a shot he would find a brilliant tapestry of war, politics, emotion, and a struggle for salvation being woven onto their TV screen. Blurred lines and mixed emotions is the trademark of this epic production.
Despite its science-fiction core the shows ability to mirror reality in such an unlikely setting is what truly resonates. Not surprisingly, there is no better country to relate to the daily comings and goings of the fleet than the people of Israel.
Like Israelis, the humans are at war with a sworn enemy who has evolved over time from a potential nuisance to well-oiled killing machines. If you told me that the Cylon centurion and the Islamic Jihadist were cousins I would not be surprised.
Additionally, like Israelis, the human race has a number of polarizing political figures making the lion’s share of the society’s significant decisions.
There is the diplomatic yet ineffective President Roslin, the charismatic and beloved military leader who wields all real power, Commander Adama, and his often irrational military strategist and logistics commander, XO Tigh. Sound familiar?
In the shocking final moments of Season 1 (SPOILER ALERT) Commander Adama is shot by a Cylon mole. For the first four episodes of Season 2, the Commander is in a medically induced coma and XO Tigh takes charge of the fleet. In just a few short days he manages to imprison the sitting President as well as the Commander’s son and lead fighter pilot, he allows a Cylon invasion of the battlestar, forcefully interrogates his chief engineer on suspicion of being a Cylon agent, unlawfully muzzles the press, sees his Cylon prisoner assassinated, and eventually declares martial law over the entire fleet to silence the ever-growing dissent.
Finally, the Commander recovers and, in a dramatic end to episode 4, asks in a panic “what’s happening on my ship?”
Errors in judgment of such epic proportions in such a small amount of time couldn’t possibly happen in real life, could it?
As I watched the madness aboard Galactica unfold I was reminded of an article I had read a few weeks back. The headline read “Ehud Barak says country should consider ‘Unilateral Withdrawl’ if peace negotiations stall”.
I don''t think I need to go into too much detail as to what the article entailed (after all, this is nothing more than a rerun of a terrible episode). This is just the latest in a seemingly endless line of extremely detrimental decisions Barak has made since serving as Defense Minister.
What is important to note is that Bibi Netanyahu had the opportunity to crush Barak in upcoming elections, with Barak only being saved by the last-minute broad coalition agreement struck with Kadima. Barak, who had abandoned his party and thus was politically adrift and completely impotent, was only saved at the midnight hour by Bibi’s pen.
One would hope that this would give him pause before making decisions that are unsupported by the majority of the country’s population. Instead, just a few short weeks after having his political heinie preserved, Ehud Barak brazenly undercut Israeli negotiating power yet again, pushing a policy that when last implemented, left a large number of Israelis under rocket fire attack day in and day out for the past seven years. Heck, in just a three day period Israel was pounded by 130 rockets from Gaza!
Why on earth would the Cylons...I mean the PA, come to the table if our Defense Minister is already considering giving them more land for nothing?! What do we gain by announcing this?
To curry favor with a Palestinian population who will never recognize our right to exist let alone give us credit for being charitable? Oh wait, no they rejected this offer out of hand.
To curry favor with the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who has come down heavy-handedly on Israel from the moment she took office until today? I’m sorry, what? She rejected this idea as well?!
It is unclear why Bibi insists on keeping Barak around. In a bizarre profile of Israel’s Prime Minister Vanity Fair suggests Bibi is unable to see past Barak as his commander in Sayeret Matkal. Perhaps Bibi still believes that arguably Israel’s greatest soldier of all time automatically makes the greatest Defense Minister of all time despite what the facts bare out.
What is clear is that Bibi has some sort of blind spot when it comes to Barak and Israel is in danger because of it. Let us pray that our Prime Minister comes out of this stupor before it is too late and he is forced to cry out in sheer panic “what is happening on my ship?”
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