I always find Darth Powell a little uninspiring without his light saber, black helmet and black cape. These formal affairs are so tedious. I would much prefer to see him at the controls of one of those gloriously evil-looking stealth fighters, zapping ragged third-worlders who stand in the way of corporate access to major oil fields, such as those in Iraq and the Caspian region.

(sigh) All this talk. When will the appeasers fall into line and join in the Great Assault (let's call it Operation Restoring Hope And Freedom) as the Empire Strikes Back yet again?

It's all so heroic, isn't it? Just like the Wehrmacht rolling into the ruins of Warsaw in 1939...and no one around to interfere this time, like those meddling British and French did in '39, screwing up the whole works. The British have had the good sense this time to join the great juggernaut, and the French...well, who really cares what they say?