I can't imagine Heinlein being particular pleased with any of the GOP candidates this year. Maybe Ron Paul, strictly from a libertarian standpoint (though I think he'd still have some serious policy disagreements with him), but certainly not Newt.
That Newt likes SF is no more meaningful than if he professed to like mysteries ("See, that's why Newt is always about grandiose conspiracies"), westerns ("See, that's why Newt is such a cowboy type and loves simple morality plays!"), or romances ("See, that's why Newt keeps falling for different women!"). It's armchair psychology at its most facile, as demonstrated by the author's offbeat characterization of some of Heinlein's works. #ddtb
Embedded Link
Newt Gingrich's Fantasy Campaign—and the Fictions That Gave Rise to It
His ideas may seem merely grandiose, but they reveal the deep affinity between American conservatism and one branch of science fiction.
Dave, every time you type. It's something worth reading.
Cut that shit out you're making some of us look bad.
Though, to be honest, I suspect that Gingrich would be insanely happy with the Group Marriage from Friday. =P
@BD – Doubtful. It has rules, customs, and commitments involved. None of which Newt seems particularly interested in.
Um … okay … um … NEWT ROOOLZ! He gonna BOMB YR ASS from his MOON BASE! THROWING ROCKS, suckrz!
How's that?
I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Heinlein but he takes a very adolescent view of political consequence.
+Dave Hill Much better. I feel suitably superior again. 🙂
+Brandon Sergent, whew!
+George Wiman, I strongly suspect that (a) Heinlein didn't necessarily have a coherent, consistent political and social philosophy at any given time (let alone over the decades), (b) he was aware of that, and (c) he didn't necessarily intend his books as holy books, even though he enjoyed philosophizing in them.
Put another way, though the author seems to think Kipling was the greatest influence on Heinlein, I'd argue for Twain.
In my opinion god emperor of dune is required reading for anyone who likes to think about statecraft, I found it more profound than art of war. Herbert was the man.
I honestly barely made it through Dune, and never had any desire to read the others.
It's a completely different read. But to each his own. For many dune fans GEoD is the worst of the series. But I'm a dune fanboy. If there were like trekkies for dune ( dunies? ) I'd be one. In fact, drawing cultural attention away from dune while stealing heaps of ideas from it is my primary beef with starwars. ( http://moongadget.com/origins/dune.html )
Besides, one Sardaukar with a lasgun could have annihilated the entire jedi academy. Light sabers are absurd.
I read the first three books of the dune series…I think I stopped after God emperor because the series jumped 10,000 years into the future and I couldn't quite get my mind around that. Plus it seemed to be all new characters.
Good reads, stupid movie.
The later books start bringing back older characters as gholas, fyi 🙂
Cool maybe I'll give them another go.