The Eye of Mordor In Iraq Monday, October 23, 2006

Many thanks to Agent 139 for pointing out a quote from Rick Santorum (Republican senator from Pennsylvania, 139's stomping grounds):

In one sparkling turn last week, Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, said that he would rather be fighting terrorists in Iraq than in the United States. Only he put it this way: "As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It’s being drawn to Iraq."

As is clear to fans of J. R. R. Tolkien, Mr. Santorum was comparing the rationale for combat in Iraq to the plan to distract the evil Lord Sauron in "The Lord of the Rings." Sauron was seeking the magical ring that would secure his power over Middle Earth. (Mr. Santorum merely wants to secure his Senate seat.)

At the very least, give Mr. Santorum points for appealing to an untapped constituency of potential supporters, "Lord of the Rings" lovers, a few of whom might even be old enough to vote.

—The New York Times, "A Jeopardy Question for the Nov. 7 Crowd"

I don't know if I'm amused or frightened.

1. I am old enough to vote
2. I'm a fan of the Lord of the Rings
3. I think Rick Santorum is evil, even if he does cite Tolkien

And why oh why did the author of that piece (from the Times!) insist on quoting the name of a novel?

I've said my peace. I've shared. Now we can all move on without contemplating any of the above too much.