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January 27, 2004

Cue the ominous music
Posted by Teresa at 01:21 PM *

Anybody notice how much Joseph Lieberman looks like Senator Palpatine? Especially when he’s talking.

Comments on Cue the ominous music:
#1 ::: Adam Lipkin ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 01:32 PM:

And wasn't the whole war in Star Wars (the original, and led up to by the new ones) started or directly related to the economy? Which is a big issue these days.... food for thought.

#2 ::: D. ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 01:32 PM:

Sidiously.

#3 ::: Mike Kozlowski ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 02:13 PM:

Yes! I remarked to my wife some months ago that even if I were a Republican looking for an honest conservative to vote for, I'd have a hard time voting for someone who looked like he might shoot lightning bolts at me.

#4 ::: Sumana ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 02:17 PM:

I've maintained for years that Beck (the singer) resembles Lieberman to a frightening extent.

#5 ::: Dan Blum ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 02:22 PM:
I’d have a hard time voting for someone who looked like he might shoot lightning bolts at me.

You dare not vote for him, Rebel scum?

#6 ::: Ken ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 02:31 PM:

I always thought he looked a little like Gollum when he does his "I'm pleased with myself smile." Here's a scrrencap comparison: http://kwc.org/blog/archives/000569.html

#7 ::: Mris ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 03:00 PM:

Yeah, we've been calling him The Candidate From Naboo all year around here. There's also a columnist we believe looks like Emperor Palpatine, but we like her work enough not to comment that way in public.

#8 ::: Jim ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 03:20 PM:

They even scan the same. "A vote for Lieberman is a vote for order!"

#9 ::: Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 05:41 PM:

Ooo, you changed the thread title. I assume the music you mean is "Darth Vader's Grandmother Wears Army Shoes."

#10 ::: Mris ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 05:45 PM:

Oh, and we also think he looks a bit like Piter Devries from "Dune."

#11 ::: --kip ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 06:29 PM:

I felt a great disturbance in the Joementum. As though 5 to 7 per cent of the electorate cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced...

#12 ::: Claude Muncey ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:01 PM:

Like a door opening, then closing.

#13 ::: Jon Meltzer ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:10 PM:

There are quite a few Democrats in Congress who have been acting like Jar Jar Binks.

#14 ::: Teresa Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:11 PM:

Kip, I could tell from the next room when Patrick got to your comment.

#15 ::: Patrick Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:13 PM:

It's Joe-lting! Joe-ciferous! Joe-i d'sprit!

#16 ::: Teresa Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:20 PM:

Christopher, I've just realized which bit of music that matches, so now I know its name. What I really had in mind were some soft, apprehensive descending chords.

#17 ::: Chris Noto ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:28 PM:

Omighod! It had not occured to me, but now that I've been enlightened, I'll never forget it. Many thanks for the grin. I'll spread the word for you here in small town East Tennessee.

#18 ::: Jazz ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:37 PM:

You can get a point-by-point breakdown here:

Is Joe Lieberman actually Emperor Palpatine?

Although the music I'm thinking of (for no direct reason I can identify) is "What Do You Get A Wookie For Christmas (When He Already Has A Comb)?" From the Star Wars Christmas Special.

Which, if anyone here has seen it, should induce wracking pain at the memory. You're welcome.

#19 ::: Allyson M. W. Dyar ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:38 PM:

I put your quote in my blog today and one of my friends posted two side-by-side pictures:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/allyson13/58519.html?mode=reply

It's totally scary how much they look alike!

#20 ::: John M. Ford ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 07:38 PM:

Well, look, Jam Master Yoda has repeatedly sat within two meters of The Shortly To Be Most Evil Guy in the Galaxy, and merely grumbles about how the Dark Side makes his rheumatiz act up somethin' fierce. Apparently he can detect a disturbance in the you know what at deep interstellar distances, but all Cosmic Evil has to do is act like Mr. Green Jeans being surprised by Bunny Rabbit's duplicity, and stealth mode is fully activated.

What this says about Al Gore I don't know.

#21 ::: Niall McAuley ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 08:43 PM:

So, who's the candidate from Tatooine?

[jawa]

Kucinich!

[/jawa]

#22 ::: Stephan Zielinski ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 09:02 PM:

Niall wrote:
> So, who’s the candidate from Tatooine?

I don't know. But I do know Ann Coulter reminds
me of Jabba the Hutt. Not in shape-- just in the
schadenfreude and live frog scarfing sense.

#23 ::: Betsy ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 09:32 PM:

Whenever he's on the radio, his voice reminds me of Wallace Shawn's in "Princess Bride." I keep expecting to hear, "It's inconceivable!"

#24 ::: Edward Liu ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 09:44 PM:

Howdy,

Neil Gaiman's pointed out that Lieberman would look like a Guardian of the Universe (from the Green Lantern Corps) if you painted him blue.

-- Ed

#25 ::: Scott ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 10:33 PM:

heh... Democrats in Congress as Jar Jar Binks.

I wonder what Star Wars characters this revelation makes the other candidates? Now I'm having a really hard time NOT seeing Howard Dean as a small Wookie... ;-)

#26 ::: Jaquandor ::: (view all by) ::: January 27, 2004, 11:02 PM:

Well, the other day it was speculated that John Kerry had a bit part in Attack of the Clones, here.

#27 ::: Paula Helm Murray ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 12:33 AM:

Just an oddity, when I went to post

http://www.geocities.com/robertwgardner2000/palpatine.html

to my regular Sunday/Tuesday chat, the link had become unreadable. Puzzling

And now it is again. Is a mystery.

#28 ::: Virge ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 12:57 AM:

Paula,
Geocities has some tight limits on how much bandwidth is available for each site. If there are a couple of pictures on the site and a lot of people viewing, it's really easy to get locked out for a while.

#30 ::: Mary Kay ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 01:45 AM:

Huh. I just think he looks like a frog. I think it's the mouth. I keep expecting to see a long tongue flick out and snare a passing fly.

MKK

#31 ::: BSD ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 08:40 AM:

And my favorite, Kerry, bears an unfortunate resemblance to The Tall Man.

#32 ::: --kip ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 10:49 AM:

Nah. Wonkette shows us who Kerry really looks like.

And you know, I was feeling bad about mocking Joementum. I mean, it takes some commitment to support your guy when he's polling so far out of the race. Yes, it's a silly slogan, and whoever came up with it should not quit the day job, but the man's wearing his lucky maroon tie, 30 years old and threadbare, everywhere he goes. That's gotta count for something.

But then I read that he considers New Hampshire to have been "a three-way split decision for third place.

"Today," he said, "the people of New Hampshire put me in the ring."

Joementum! Feel the burn!

(Extra bonus points: his tour bus is named Integrity One.)

#33 ::: Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 11:57 AM:

--kip, I think in his case the momentum is angular...

#34 ::: Teresa Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 09:06 PM:

Avram, I think we have to take that as positive test results.

Jazz, my only problem with that site is its comparison of Al Gore to Darth Sidious. Doesn't everyone realize he's Clark Kent?

Dunno, Mike. And how come the Jedi are running around with lightsabers instead of taking over HR departments everywhere?

Stephan, I get a definite nonhuman vibe off that woman. Claiming that she used to be a deadhead is an awkward alien-type attempt to give her a back story. That, or she was taking deadheads off into dark corners and sucking their brains out through their sinuses during the rave-up "Not Fade Away" finale when nobody's watching.

#35 ::: Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 11:13 PM:

...and if no one gets my angular momentum pun, I really will have to slit my wrists.

#36 ::: eric ::: (view all by) ::: January 28, 2004, 11:42 PM:

Xopher: Don't worry, I think your angular momentum comment is about the funniest thing that I've read on the election today. But I think it applies to all candidates who use the momentum term.

#37 ::: Virge ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 01:05 AM:

Axially Xopher, I rolled on the floor at the spin you put on Joe's momentous precession.

#38 ::: John M. Ford ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 01:29 AM:

"How come the Jedi are running around with lightsabers instead of taking over HR departments everywhere?"

It has to do with playing MP3s. You either carry a lightsaber, wear one of those Bose Stormtrooper pots, or you need a personal DiscoDroid(tm) to follow you all over the place.

This is also the backstory for that "we got another bad transmitter" line from Movie One. Four. Six of one and half a Jar Jar of the other.

#39 ::: Niall McAuley ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 04:43 AM:

When's a blast door not a blast door?

When it's a Jar-Jar!

#40 ::: William Burton ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 08:41 AM:

I've always thought Lieberman looked just like a Keebler Elf.

#41 ::: Rikibeth ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 08:58 AM:

Soft, apprehensive descending chords? Not the classic scary-movie riff of "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor?"

In the "that's just wrong" department, I know someone who used the Imperial March (Darth Vader's Grandmother etc.) as her wedding processional. Another sometime poster will Know Who I Mean. :)

#42 ::: Jazz ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 09:33 AM:

Teresa, true: Al Gore is definitely Clark Kent. But the Palpatine-Lieberman comparison shots were too priceless not to share.

Rikibeth: My fiancee has already brought down the veto on the Imperial March at our wedding, I'm afraid. I'm still holding out hope for putting the Cantina Song in to the mix for the reception, though...

#43 ::: LNHammer ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 10:14 AM:

Every time Lieberman opens his mouth, my reaction is he sounds like a schnorrer.

---L.

#44 ::: Rikibeth ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 10:39 AM:

Jazz: have you considered using something serious and straightforward for the processional, but entering the reception to the Imperial March?

My husband and I used the old standby Pachebel for a processional (carefully timed so I entered on the sixteenth notes, I *still* love those sixteenth notes), and a nice bit of Vivaldi for the recessional, but when we made our entrance to the reception, we had the band playing the Muppet Show theme.

The cantina band music would work too.

Trust me, you don't REALLY want the Imperial March for the processional itself. Your friends would be unable to resist making scratchy breathing noises while it was going on.

#45 ::: Barb ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 10:50 AM:

A friend just wrote to say that Kerry is comparable to the AJ pic on the $20 bill.

#46 ::: Barb ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 10:51 AM:

A friend just wrote to say that Kerry is comparable to the AJ pic on the $20 bill.

#47 ::: the talking dog ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 12:04 PM:

Ironic, no? Despite Lieberman's being a closet Republican, I think neither senator REALLY wants to see the senate in Republican hands...

#48 ::: Jon Meltzer ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 03:11 PM:

Friends of mine used Nick Lowe's "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass" for their wedding reception first dance.

#49 ::: John M. Ford ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 04:05 PM:

>>...my reaction is, [Lieberman] sounds like a schnorrer.

Hurray, hurray, hurray!

No, wait. -None- of the candidates looks like Groucho. I'm not sure if this is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing, though it would certainly make discussions of, say, finance reform ("Ah, you can't-a fool me. There ain't no soft-money clause.") a bit more interesting.

#50 ::: LNHammer ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 05:38 PM:

Being a schnorrer is, alas, his only resemblence to Cap'n Spaulding. The campaign would certainly be a lot more entertaining, were it otherwise.

---L.

#51 ::: Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 06:36 PM:

Virge: [bows reverently to the master]

#52 ::: Avram ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 10:15 PM:

Teresa, didn’t we spend a subway trip once trying to flesh out the Gore-as-Clark-Kent thing? I remember that Dick Cheney was Metallo (the man with the Kryptonite heart), Karl Rove was Lex Luthor, and Dubya was Bizarro, but I’ve forgotten if we came up with any others.

#53 ::: Lenny Bailes ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 10:39 PM:

I'd cast Rumsfeld as the Terrible Toyman, if Cheney is taken (the classic Toyman, not the puppet in the animated series). Perhaps . This page might be useful in placing the rest of them. (To be fair, though, it reveals that the Toyman has much more of a paunch than Donald does.)

#54 ::: Matt Austern ::: (view all by) ::: January 29, 2004, 11:25 PM:

Disturbing, yes, but am I the only one who thinks that John Kerry looks like the the Smiler from Transmetropolitan?

#55 ::: Lenny Bailes ::: (view all by) ::: January 30, 2004, 02:16 AM:

Is there anyone who hasn't seen this?

#56 ::: Bill Householder ::: (view all by) ::: January 30, 2004, 01:03 PM:

I've always thought that Lieberman sounded like Dr.Zoidberg from Futurama.

#57 ::: Maureen ::: (view all by) ::: February 01, 2004, 06:16 PM:

If Al Gore is Clark Kent, does that make Bill Clinton Jonathan Kent and Albert Gore Sr. Superman's biodad?

#58 ::: Kevin J. Maroney ::: (view all by) ::: February 03, 2004, 10:47 AM:

Avram, one of the great problems of Superman is that he's never had the rogue's gallery befitting a hero of is stature. On the other hand, Rumsfeld sort of looks like Toyman, and if you drew a mustache on Ari Fleisher, he'd sort of look like a thin version of the Prankster ("always annoying, rarely truly dangerous"). And of course Terra-Man, the space cowboy who fights against alien invaders like Kal-El, would be Paul Wolfowitz, but the physical similarity is non-existant. Condi Rice probably wishes she were La Encantadora ("La Encantadora uses a mysterious mist to make people believe what she wants them to believe"), but get real, girl.

I assume everyone has seen this installment of The Boondocks.

Of course, Lex Luthor is president of DC-America these days. (Or has that ended? I'm way behind on the Super books.)

#59 ::: Bob Oldendorf ::: (view all by) ::: February 04, 2004, 06:59 PM:

Well, it looks like we won't have Senator Palpatine to kick around any more...

#60 ::: Ray Radlein ::: (view all by) ::: February 05, 2004, 03:25 AM:

Over at Pandagon (I think), someone posited that Lieberman's concession speech should have included the phrase, "No, Alf, you can't eat that cat."

#61 ::: David Goldfarb ::: (view all by) ::: February 06, 2004, 05:34 AM:

Luthor is still President in the DCU but there are hints that that will end soon, and not prettily.

#62 ::: Scott ::: (view all by) ::: February 06, 2004, 10:15 AM:

I've had this a few times. :)

http://www.gamersnook.com/blog/archives/001913.html

http://www.gamersnook.com/blog/archives/000087.html

#63 ::: Michelle finds comment spam ::: (view all by) ::: August 11, 2004, 03:50 PM:

Makes you wish that you could send a strong electrical current over the internet.

#64 ::: betsy finds comment spam on cue the ominous music ::: (view all by) ::: September 26, 2004, 12:33 AM:

michelle, those of us who have done tech support for a living have wished for that for years...

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