Law and Order Reviews C

I have done reviews of many episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and published some more general thoughts about it here. In that post I offer a smaller number of general thoughts about the original Law and Order show (the one that went from 1990-2010). Although I do not like L&O as much as I like the SVU version, I do like it. There’s some liberal or even progressive stuff here and there and they’re good detective stories, and they’re homicide detectives- if they were narcotics, I’d probably be a lot less fond of the show.

Although I’m not sure I have done and will do this consistently, with the original Law and Order show I will make a note and maybe offer some comments when the issues that are at the core of Law and Order: SVU appear on this show.

“Sonata for Solo Organ” Season 1. See this for a plot summary.

This episode is about an INCREDIBLY wealthy man spending 1-2 million dollars on a plot to extract a kidney from an unwilling donor (who almost dies) so that his (the wealthy man’s) daughter can get a new kidney. The head of the national agency handling organ transplants demands that the prosecutors go after the wealthy man who demanded special treatment because of his wealth- instead of just the MD and nurse who did the dirty work. He says that his organization “is the one true democracy. One of the few instances where money doesn’t talk- at all.”

“The Blue Wall” Season 1. See this for a plot summary.

There are three aspects of this episode which are good politically.

1. It’s indirectly about an effort to go after white-collar crime.
2. It’s also partly about corrupt cops, including a very senior one.
3. There’s a corrupt  congressman involved. He’s an ex-cop, which makes me think he’s Republican- I have gotten the impression that some massive majority of cops are Republican.

“Asylum” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.

There are two things about the senior Assistant DA. First, although he is sort of in conflict with supporters of the homeless in this episode, he DOES say that “homelessness may be the greatest tragedy of our time.” Also, it sounds like he was a member or at least an active supporter of the ACLU, and his opinion of them changed when they defended the Nazis in Skokie, Illinois. I’m not saying he’s a progressive, but I think he might be more or less a liberal (although I don’t have a philosophical definition of liberal, A) I’d say they’re to the left of former President Bill Clinton (what he was like in office) and to the right of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and B) I go into more detail here).

“In Memory Of” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.

This episode is sort of about homophobia. The original NYPD investigators (about 30 years before the events in this episode) suspected  a gay couple in the disappearance of a young boy. Although at the very beginning of their investigation two of the main characters spend a little time pursuing that lead, after about 10 minutes of the 45 min. episode that assumption is illustrated  as nonsense. One of the detectives says that cops know that a majority of child molesters are straight. It’s a good statement (not the first part (I imagine that back then there was a ton of homophobia among cops)), although I assume it could have been better without sacrificing accuracy- it should have been said that gays are no more likely to molest kids than straight people are (i.e. if 10% of the population is gay, 10% of child molesters are gay). They identify and prosecute another suspect who’s straight and he pleads guilty at the end.

Two New Poems: "Mass Incarceration" and "Iraq"

 I wrote two new poems. For more about my poetry, see this. Both of these are based on songs I don't like.

You can see all the poems by clicking on the "lyrics" label at the bottom.

“Mass Incarceration” based on “Justice” by Skrewdriver. Original lyrics are here.

0. I THINK that when I first typed this about 5 years ago, I was thinking of the 1990s, and assumed that things in recent years were a little less obscene. I could be wrong about that, and even if it's less bad now, it's still bad.
1. This is about the mass incarceration of Blacks in America. It was the result of “law and order” laws like the 1994 Crime Bill and racist cops, DAs, judges, witnesses, jurors, and the poverty that prevents many black people from getting a good lawyer instead of an over-worked, underfunded public defender. I am not saying that all cops, judgers, jurors, etc. are racist, but many of them are
2. I am not a fan of the kind of gangs that are based in communities of color, but I know that in the past there was a lot of guilt-by-association involved with how law enforcement decide who to arrest. Also, in the movie “Set It Off” a working-class black bank-teller is suspected of being the inside-woman in a robbery because she sort of knows one of the robbers.
3. I think this has changed in the last 10-20 years, but for a long time crack convictions came with a longer sentence than cocaine convictions, and to a large extent cocaine was more popular with whites than blacks and crack was more popular with blacks than whites.
4. I can’t remember the figures and they varied over time, but Blacks were much more likely to be in prison than whites were. Blacks were more likely to be in prison than in college. The rate of incarceration for blacks was very high and America’s general rate of incarceration is very high compared to other countries, maybe all of them, I can’t remember.
5. 44% of this version is me, 56% is the original.

6. I give this poem 2 stars out of 5.

Their knees feel weak as they’re dragged from the court


Convicted because of with whom they consort


One by one, the judge locks them all away


Trumped up charges is the game the DA plays
 


Chorus:


Call that justice, well it just ain't fair,


How much longer before we care


Call that justice from a racist judge


The cop’s testimony was a total fudge

 

Stripped in a cell, they’re shackled in chains


Lost all their dignity, but trying to keep sane


A longer sentence if you happen to be black


their excuse is that instead of coke it was crack


(Repeat Chorus)


Call this a democracy and “the land of free”


They say there’s equality and meritocracy 


Here's the reality, a racist state


Warehousing Black people behind prison gates

**********

“Iraq” based on “They Stand Alone” by No Remorse. Original lyrics are here.

1. This is about the occupation of Iraq.
2. I think another reason for invading Iraq is that it provided multiple opportunities to give money to corporations. Besides arms contractors and those doing privatized work for the military (security, laundry, food, interrogations, etc.), corporations getting money for reconstruction spent about half of what they got doing actual reconstruction (often a contractor would keep half and give the rest to a subcontractor and sometimes THAT corporation would keep half and give the rest to another subcontractor).
3. Black gold is another term for oil.
4. There was a lot of corruption in the Iraqi government.
5. Haliburton was a company that Dick Cheney had been a leader of before he became VP. It got a lot of US Gov’t contracts to do stuff in Iraq.
6. Laos was bombed as part of the Vietnam War.
7. Although the original is supportive of the Palestinians and sometimes fascists are anti-intervention, this is basically in conflict with what the authors of the original lyrics believe because a lot of American Nazi skinheads joined the US military during the Occupation of Iraq and volunteered to go there and because I think that a lot of white supremacists and fascists in America were pro-war during the Vietnam War.
8. 59% of this version is me, and 41% is the original.

9. I give this poem 2 stars out of 5.

A tank rolls out on the sun bright sand.
Gunfire's heard in an occupied land.
People run, scared for their lives
The sounds of death, sounds of screaming wives

chorus
US Army man, you must go.
Your humvees and your CEOs
Iraqis you must make a stand.
You must work to free your land

A nation, full of black gold
In the minds of American oil companies, it’s already sold
Propped up by pillars, of corruption and graft
An occupation supported by ground attack aircraft

Millions for Haliburton, while Iraqis die.
World-wide news media frequently ask why.
Headquarters of Satan, in the Bush White House
It's an imperialist project, just like the bombing of Laos

Three New Poems

Three new poems. For more about how I write my poems, see this. To read the rest of the poems click on the lyrics label at the bottom.

1. Bush is a Fool. About the Iraq War.
2. Remember Bobby Sands. About the IRA Hunger-Striker.
3. Smash Internment. About the internment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans during WWII in America.

“Bush is a Fool” based on “Fools No More” by Skrewdriver. Original lyrics are here.

1. This is about the Iraq War.
2. An Improvised Explosive Device was the US military term for bombs.
3. I don’t think that Bush was honest about some of his many reasons for invading Iraq, and wasn’t honest about other things like Enron. His reasons for invading Iraq I described elsewhere in posts about anti-Semitism:

Bush's reasons for invading Iraq were many, Israel was a small part of it. There was the opportunity to give lots of money to corporations in multiple ways, the strong desire for using the US military that most GOPers have, the desire to teach the world a lesson in terms of what the US will do to them if they piss off D.C., the desire for oil, the idea of democratizing the Middle-East. I also heard something about it being connected to countering the growing strength of the Euro. It's possible they half believed that stuff about WMDs and Al-Qaeda. Israel was a small part of it.

4. This is not ABOUT the Iraq Veterans Against the War (now, About Face) and hasn’t been endorsed by them.
5. Tens or hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed and I’m sure many of them were killed when weapons were aimed at them and triggers were pulled. See the last part of a music video for a David Rovics song here.
6. My theory is that the average member of the military was less enthusiastic about the invasion of Iraq than the vast majority of GOPers.
7. Although Bush was less racist as President than Trump is, he DID express support for displaying the Confederate flag and the vast majority of his supporters are okay with that flag. Even the late GOP moderate John McCain in 2000 said he was okay with it.
8. I think one reason for invading Iraq is that it provided multiple opportunities to give money to corporations. Besides arms contractors and those doing privatized work for the military, corporations getting money for reconstruction spent about half of what they got doing actual reconstruction (often a contractor would keep half and give the rest to a subcontractor and sometimes THAT corporation would keep half and give the rest to another subcontractor).
9. Although only about 5,000 soldiers and marines were killed, because they had advanced body armor (despite Donald Rumsfeld’s best efforts) I’m sure that the wounded were in the tens of thousands.

10. I don’t care if the term MASH (a term for a kind of Army hospital in the Korean War) is technically inaccurate when it comes to the Iraq War, it rhymes.
11. I imagine that soldiers and marines who opposed the war were called hippies and were spoken to as if they didn’t have substantive and non-pacifist concerns about what was being done in Iraq.
12. In a post here I describe what I did to oppose the invasion.
13. Although some white supremacists are anti-intervention, A) they’re fine with racial homicide, and B) in the Iraq War it was reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center that a LOT of Nazis joined the military hoping to get combat experience in Iraq.
13. **46% of this poem is me, 54% is the original.
14. UPDATE 5/17/20 I just changed "your" to "America's" in the 7th line of the first verse. I could argue that the way it was written originally should have been interpreted as referring to the Bush Administration, but this makes it clearer. UPDATE 5/27/20 "May not be" almost works but I just changed it to "aren't."

Patrolling in the streets, choppers in the sky.
You’re waiting for the IED, you’re waiting to die.
You’re looking all around, with fear in your eyes,
Looking for the enemy and you start to wonder why.
Obey all your orders, and you do what they say,
but you’re a pawn in Bush's imperialistic game.
And America's leaders aren't all that they seem
Your bravery’s exploited by a crooked regime.

Chorus
Be the fools no more.
Contact the IVAW and find out the score.

Thousands of men and women are dying because of Bush’s plans,
And it’s not for the good of the American working-woman or man
They’re dying for profit and political greed,
but it’s always the soldiers not the politicians who bleed.
With few exceptions most of the GOP are total scum
who lie to the people whilst they beat on their drums
and they plead to the people to heed national pride,
But their idea of patriotism involves anti-Arab homicide

Chorus

It’s rarely been those with the flags in their hands
who have fought and have died out in the hot dessert sand.
While the leaders stay home with their massive cigars
They’re supported by those who fly the Stars and Bars
They take all the credit, and their pals take all the cash
whilst tens of thousands of working-class soldiers end up in a MASH
And if you dare to object and ask them to cease,
you’ll be accused of valuing nothing but peace

*********

“Remember Bobby Sands” based on “Farewell Ian Stuart” by No Remorse. Original lyrics are here.

1. This is about Bobby Sands, the first of 10 Irish republican hunger-strikers to die in 1981. They were demanding to be treated as Prisoners of War instead of criminals. There’s more about that here, here, and in the middle third of this.
2. The red, white and blue are the colors of the British flag.
3. Volunteers are members of republican paramilitaries.
4. In addition to the ten who died, there were 13 more who went on hunger-strike before it was called off, and/or their relative had them taken off medically.
5. David Rovics is a progressive American singer/song-writer who has done at least two songs about Irish resistance to British rule.
6. Provos is an old term for Sinn Fein and the IRA.
7. Che is Che Guevara, Mandela is of course Nelson Mandela, and Connolly is James Connolly, Ireland’s greatest republican-socialist (a large train station in Dublin is named after him).
8. Valhalla is part of Norse mythology, the idea is that it’s a place where warriors go after they die, although there seems to be some debate about exactly who gets in- only people who die in combat? Anyway, the fascists love it and have sort of taken over the concept, but in 2009 a friend told me that he likes the idea of the left claiming it and specifically said that if such a place exists, Che and others like him are probably there. (Do I believe in Valhalla? No, or at best in a political but neither spiritual nor religious way I am kind of an agnostic about Valhalla and am sort of solidly a Christian (in 2025 I started moving towards converting from the Catholic Church to a Protestant Church, which I think should establish my strong preference for Christianity in terms of my spiritual home)). This shouldn’t be taken too seriously- it’s a fun way to “poke the bear,” to celebrate various movements in conflict with fascism, etc. I would also add that although this wouldn’t be enough on it’s own to justify what I am doing with the idea of Valhalla, some of the fascist lyrics I alter mention it and I came up with a good way to alter those lines (out of about 9 references in my poems, all but one involved that word already being there- I only added it once).
9. An ASU is an Active Service Unit, a component of the IRA’s structure, probably comparable to a squad. I don’t know if he was a leader of one, but if he was the POWs leader in the few months before he went on hunger-strike, he was probably a leader outside prison as well, and I am trying to get an answer from the Bobby Sands Trust, but I don’t know when they’ll get back to me.
10. An estate is a neighborhood.
11. Sands was a singer/song-writer and guitarist.
12. Sands wrote a poem about oppression throughout the world and throughout history, including one reference to what was done to American Indians.
13. The Catholic Church considered involvement with the IRA to be a sin.
14. I decided at some point to refer to Sands in the third person because I didn’t know him, and I have mixed feelings about how I should refer him to (2nd or 3rd) so it’s a little uneven in that sense, but I’m just going to leave it like that.
15. Based on a fairly scientific approach, I have estimated that only .3% of the IRA’s operations resulted in civilian death.
16. **54% of this poem is me, 46% is the original, and that ignore the last two lines that I left out entirely.
17. No Remorse were British and supported the unionist and British causes in N. Ireland.

Bobby Sands, your comrades really miss you

You gave your life in defiance of the red, white and blue

You were a Volunteer, a hero, an inspiration to them all

there were dozens of men, that heeded to your call

Nine resisted by your example, and took that short hard road

Unmatched in dedication, and hearts that knew no cold


When you took on the system, you set it on fire

By attacking the Brits you turned the North into a quagmire

So with David Rovics in ears and the Provos in mind, this poem I'll write

To honor Bobby Sands, and remember the anti-British fight


Sands is missed by comrades, and remembered by friends

He did the best, he shone above the rest

He was an Irishman 'till the end

With Che and Mandela and Connolly he resides

He lives on in Valhalla because true heroes never die


His ASU, said “we look to you,” to lead them and defend the estate

His republican songs, could never be wrong

He spent years in prison because he fought to liberate

Through all the years, with all the Provo Volunteers

And the comrades he met on the way

The times in the cell, when they gave him hell

From the course never did he stray

Against the police and the Brits, with his index finger and wits

he stood up for the oppressed of the world

on the offensive and defensive,

So proudly the flags he unfurled


And they carried on, with the hope in his songs
To turn back would have been the real sin

Inspired by him they fought, when arrested they never talked

Because of his sacrifice they knew they would win


The POWs said farewell to a comrade, one who wouldn’t bend

He did the best, he shone above the rest

He was an Irishman 'till the end

Bobby Sands was a man they held so high
He lives on in Valhalla because true heroes never die

************

“Smash Internment” based on “Smash the IRA” by Skrewdriver. Original lyrics are here.

1. This is about the WWII Internment of Japanese people in America, which included many American citizens. It's written from the perspective of a non-Japanese American in about early 1944. I'm not sure when the fighting was in Italy and when the internment camps were closed, but there must have been several months when there was fighting in Italy and the camps were open.
2. The 3rd line might sound a little weird, but it rhymed and makes sense and although they contributed in many ways (as workers for example), they also made our society richer culturally.
3. Although unemployment was above zero (so there wasn’t a shortage of workers) I’m sure that many of those interned would have been, for example, better on airplane assembly lines than some of the non-Japanese-Americans doing that job. In general, some should have been kept out of the Defense industry, but there should have been an assumption of innocence until they were proven to be sympathetic to Japan. If that were done with high standards in the the following cases, the US could have recruited many more native or at least fluent Japanese speakers for things like intelligence, interrogating prisoners, etc. I doubt they had 100% of the people they needed for that. And those that would have been kept out of certain jobs could have been surveilled and those who were serious security risks could have been interned like a handful of Germans and Italians were with good reason. But the indiscriminate wholesale internment of Japanese and Japanese-American people was very wrong and counter-productive.
4. Those who advocated for internment were in conflict with, for example, the FBI who said they had the situation under control and that internment wasn’t needed. I think the military also didn’t request internment. Also, in Hawaii, where there was a small but actual threat of a Japanese attack, hardly any  members of the Japanese community were interned, because if they had been interned wholesale, the economy and society of those islands would have collapsed. The Japanese community wasn’t, with some exceptions, a threat to the security of the US.
5. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was a segregated Japanese-American unit of the US Army. I think some of the officers were white but I think a lot of them were Japanese-American. They fought in Europe and saw more combat than any other similarly sized unit of the US Army in Europe during the war. After the war, it was the most decorated Army unit its size in all US military history up to that point. There’s more information about them and a poem I wrote here.     
6. My thoughts about FDR are found in note #2 of the first poem here, in a post with two poems about the Allied effort during WWII, something I have positive thoughts about. My posts that are partly about WWII are here.
7. Although the original lyrics are about the IRA, Skrewdriver was a Nazi skinhead band. So, this version is in conflict with what the authors of the original lyrics believe.
8. **80% of this poem is me, which ignores the last line of the chorus, which I ignored. Also, in the last verse, I switched the first two lines with the last two lines and remembered that when calculating what % is me.

On the West Coast, because of America’s racist syndrome
Japanese people were taken away from their homes.
They contribute to our nation and society beautifully
Gotta stand with them, support the Japanese community

Smash. Smash. Smash Internment.
Smash. Smash. Smash Internment.
Smash. Smash. Smash Internment.

Gotta end internment and release the Japanese
Let them help our nation defeat the Axis disease
Stupid politicians and sniveling racist scum
Justify Internment with bullshit analyses
 

Come on America!

Are we gonna continue disgracing our country?
Are we gonna listen to racists spreading nativist lies?
Japanese-Americans in the 442nd are marching on the Axis in Italy.
Are we gonna intern their families while they fight and die?
 

Come on America!

COVID-19, Blaming China, and Churches: Two More Thoughts

Two more thoughts about COVID-19.

1. After I read an article here (about Trump blaming China for COVID-19), I posted a comment almost totally reflected below:

A good response to this is to point to other countries that did a better job of responding to COVID-19 than Trump did. They also would have been affected by whatever bad actions China engaged in. Also, there were intelligence reports in Jan. and Feb. about the virus, so even if China was not forthcoming (to be honest I haven't looked at that very much), Trump knew anyway. But there are certainly many countries that did a better job than Trump, with the same or less information about what was happeing in China (they probably didn't have the intelligence reports that Trump had). One country is Israel. For more about that, see this (remember that on Feb. 29th Trump said it was a hoax) and for more see this.

As far as criticizing China for letting people leave the country, at what point did TRUMP ban Americans from leaving this country?

As far as what Trump knew and when he knew it, see this, and this.

UPDATE 10/24/20 An article about an increase in anti-Asian-American racism in connection with COVID-19 is here. 

 UPDATE 2/16/21 A CNN video story about anti-Asian-American racism is here.

2. After reading an article here (about lock-down orders and places of worship), I posted the following comment:

Although I haven't been to Church in roughly 19 years, I have spoken with a senior church employee about coming back (it's complicated, but I have done more than just think vaguely of going to Mass again) and I am a religious person. But I have no problem at all telling places of worship that there are serious limits on what they can do right now for public health reasons. And when they compare the limit on them and the limit on businesses, that at least sort of doesn't make sense. A lot of the businesses letting more than 10 people in at a time are much larger than the average church. Some, maybe a lot of, businesses DO limit how many people can come in, and I'm fine with that. And going to a place of worship is not essential. A lot of people live where there is no place of worship for them, and they worship at home. We have fire department regulations about occupancy for public safety. I'm not sure if anyone was asked to leave or was denied entry, but I have been at City Council meetings where fire-fighters have kept an eye on occupancy numbers, and we certainly have a right to attend city council meetings.

Babylon 5 Reviews F

Years ago I did what you might call “reviews” of Star Trek episodes. I mostly just briefly noted what progressive politics were involved and sometimes used that as an excuse to talk about similar situations in reality.

Last year I finally watched all five seasons of Babylon 5, another sci-fi show, one I had thought of watching once in a while stretching back a couple decades. It isn’t as political or as progressive as ST but there’s some good stuff there- in fact, on one issue, a progressive take on the working-class and/or labor movement, B5 is better than ST. Because there is so little progressive material, I’m going to do one post for every four episodes reviewed, and only mention the episodes that have some progressive political stuff. I might ignore some of the more minor and/or less unique stuff about conflict resolution because from what I remember, it’s very common in this series. Also, although less so than is the case with Star Trek, multiculturalism is a big part of Babylon Five and I will also only be commenting on that when it goes further than usual. There are issues raised about telepaths- I’m going to completely ignore stuff about telepaths when reviewing these episodes. I also will probably say nothing about the conflict with the evil race the Shadows- sure, I could say Trump is as evil as they are or compare them to Nazi Germany, but that’s kind of silly (I’m sure there is nothing political about the Shadows, they’re just evil, like the Borg or the Empire). And I might skip most of the stuff about the conflict between B5 and the Earth government- I don’t remember it involving stuff like a strong capitalist agenda or racism or something.


**Season 2, Episode 12 “Acts of Sacrifice”** See this for a plot summary.

There are about seven political issues here:

1) The Narn ambassador G’Kar tries to get support from Earth Alliance and the Minbari in their war with the Centauri. The ambassador from the Minbari is reluctant to see Minbar side with the Narn, partly because they were in a war just about 10 years earlier and she doesn’t want another war. And partly because they have reason to believe that if the war started going the Narns’ way, they might try to give the Centauri a dose of their own genocidal medicine. The Narn, who experienced a near-genocidal Centauri occupation when G’Kar was younger, seem to have adopted the slogan “Never Again” but sometimes sound like they might take it to the extreme of beating the Centauri race to death.

2) Tensions between the Narn and Centuri civilians on B5 are growing. In one incident a group of the latter are in a bar talking about how the Centauri Republic is now “great again” as a result of their war with the Narn. They go on to insult the Narn people. A group of Narn hear this and a fight almost starts.

3) A representative from an unfamiliar alien race comes to B5 to meet representatives of the Earth Alliance (Sheridan wants them either as allies, or as members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds). It quickly becomes apparent that they believe they are superior and most other races are inferior.

At one point they talk about letting evolution take it’s course and letting races die off or profit without any interference such as medical help but they DO believe in medical help for their own people.

At another point they are shown the poor part of B5, where the population is mostly human. They admire what they see as a racial policy by humans of segregating the relatively inferior parts of humanity. Obviously B5 isn’t doing that but it’s interesting to see what seems like the writers of the show taking a swipe at the Earth Alliance and B5’s leadership for failing to create a utopia like the Federation in Star Trek (to a large degree the senior staff of B5 are more or less progressive but it seems like they’re dependent on Earth Alliance for funding and the poverty on Earth follows people to B5).


**Season 2 Episode 16 “In the Shadow of Z’Ha’Dum”** See this for a plot summary.

There are 1-2 political aspects to this episode. First, Captain Sheridan detains a man for questioning for more than 10 hours without charging him. The chief of security, after 10 hours, tries to convince him to let the guy go, and resigns when he won’t. As I’ve said before the chief of security seems like the least progressive of B5’s command staff and seems more concerned about getting in trouble than about the civil liberties issue involved. I’m tempted to say that this seriously erodes my opinion of Captain Sheridan as a progressive, but on the other hand, he was detaining the guy for non-political reasons. It wasn’t a case of political dissent or alleged criminal activity. His wife was lost on a space exploration mission and he had good reason to think that the detainee knew what really happened to her. It was still wrong to detain the guy but I find it less offensive than I would if it were about dissent or crime. He ends up admitting to the security chief that he (Sheridan) was wrong and says it won’t happen again.

The other political thing is that the government on Earth has created a “Ministry of Peace.” Initially it sounds like something almost progressive. But it turns out that it sees (political) division and dissent in the human population as a threat to peace. They depoliticize dissent and see it as a criminal or psychological problem and recruit people to report such behavior to them, so that dissidents can be “helped.” Even worse, this is an illegal and more or less right-wing government (it’s not super-clear, but if they continue some of the policies of the last President and you combine that with new actions and attitudes of the new regime, they’re fairly right-wing (especially if the more offensive senators are aligned with the new President and I don’t think there’s anything saying otherwise)). Below is the full transcript of the Ministry of Peace representative trying to recruit people:

MoP: In the last 10 years Earth has rebuilt it’s defenses magnificently. We can protect our people from physical harm. But is that enough? We cannot hope to make peace with other civilizations until we have found peace with ourselves. And that, quite simply, is what the Ministry of Peace is all about. Now as Babylon 5 has an early warning system to detect possible attacks, we at the Ministry of Peace have created a system of our own. We call it the Night Watch, named after those brave citizens who stood vigil in the darkness against possible enemies. It’s a completely volunteer organization, officially endorsed by Earth Dome [the government]. Members receive 50 credits per week above and beyond their regular salaries for services rendered.

POSSIBLE RECRUIT: What kind of services?

MoP: Mainly just to be present wearing the colors of the Night Watch. Raise public awareness, make them start thinking about peace, about the way they treat one another.

POSSIBLE RECRUIT 2: I can’t believe Earth would pay us 50 credits a week just to walk around the station.

MoP: Correct. As the name implies you must also be watchful. Peace can be made or broken with a gun, a word, an idea, even a thought. Now those who work against peace sow the seeds of discontent. They plant stories. They undermine the public good. It’s not because they are necessarily evil, it’s because they don’t know any better. They’re unhappy. And they lash out in the only way they can. So if we are made aware of these problems as they occur then we can find these people. We can talk to these people. We can embrace them in the arms of society while at the same time protecting society from misinformation and harmful ideas. We’re less interested in actions than we are in attitudes. We must help protect society against it’s own worst instincts. By taking these bold steps we will help to ensure a better future for everyone. I’m proud to be a part of it and I hope you’ll all join me in becoming part of the Night Watch.


**Season 2 Episode 18 “Confessions and Lamentations”** See this for a plot summary.

Although I might not change this, when I wrote (in the intros to these reviews) that Babylon 5 wasn’t as progressive as Star Trek, I was thinking partly of the issue of gay rights. Neither ST nor B5 have any LGBT characters (well, ST kind of does, in the MIRROR UNIVERSE but that’s only about .3% of all the Star Trek episodes and B5 MIGHT have one character who is both male and female but it’s unclear and only comes up very briefly in one episode (he only outs himself to one person, who seems uncomfortable with it)). But ST drops some hints in at least 4 episodes that homophobia is wrong. I know that in the 1980s homophobia was a big part of our nation’s response to HIV/AIDS and I think that it’s probably been a  slowly declining part of it since then. With that in mind, B5 DID do (in 1995) an episode basically about HIV/AIDS.

It’s revealed that an alien race, the Markab, are experiencing a deadly plague. At one point Dr. Franklin compares the response of the Markab to the plague with the heterosexual population's response to HIV/AIDS.

After he learns about the plague, he has a conversation with a Markab doctor who had been trying to cover it up. Three of the Markab doctor’s comments are worth quoting directly.

“It is not something we talk about…. The disease only appeared once before. Centuries ago. On a small island on our world, noted for certain excesses. When it was struck down, the rest of my people believed it was a punishment by the gods for their lack of morality.”

“The first new case of Drafa [the plague] was detected nearly a year ago. The family was so scandalized by it that they lied about what killed him.”

“Some of us have been working to find a cure without enough money or resources. They [the government] don’t want to talk about it, as if the very subject makes them dirty.”


In the end, it appears that at least 99% of the Markab population is dead. And they might have found a cure if not for their hostility towards those they considered immoral.

**Season 2 Episode 22 “The Fall of Night”** See this for a plot summary.

We learn towards the beginning that the Centuari have been attacking some of the space and planets of it’s neighbors. Their ambassador claims it is to create a buffer zone around the space of the Centauris and claims it will reduce tension and war, which makes no sense. Even if the races attacked DON’T go to war with the Centauri immediately it’s unlikely they will resume normal relations with their invader before many years have passed and they will make arrangements to repel any more attacks, which will mean a lot of military forces close to the areas seized for the buffer zone.

Most of this episode is about the growing schism between B5 and the Earth Alliance. Two representatives of the Ministry of Peace (one from the Night Watch (I say a lot about it in the second review in this post)) come aboard B5 to talk with various ambassadors. The one who leads the Night Watch has an interesting conversation with a recurring minor character in the security force who is a (dissenting) member of NW. The MoP leader uses the word sedition to refer to the threat being dealt with by the NW, and mentioned the following examples: A) a store owner who felt that the regulations for imports were “nuts;” B) dock-workers consistently late for work (allegedly affecting efficiency); C) poor residents of B5 talking to reporters about poverty there and back on Earth (finally evidence that the new regime brought in by a hidden coup is capitalist); D) and lastly two more shop owners openly criticizing presidential decisions.

This next subject over-laps with the last one, but there is a lot about the Centauri-Narn conflict. I sometimes encounter minor topics that I decide to skip and in recent episodes there have been a few things about that conflict that I want to mention here. First, when the Centauri (strategically helped by the evil Shadows) find the Narn Homeworld unguarded, they bombard it from orbit with things called “mass drivers” which are banned by practically everyone except the Centauri. Here and there the B5 command staff have been fairly sympathetic to the Narn side of things, and with good reason. The last time the Centauri occupied Narn planets and space it was genocidal and after the first time a Narn outpost is occupied by the Centauri in this series (season 2, episode 9), initially the latter wanted to keep the civilian population for forced labor (they only abandon that plan when faced with a threat by Earth to send observers).

In this episode, a Narn heavy cruiser that somehow survived the defeat of Narn by the Centauri comes to B5 seeking sanctuary. After that, the leader of the MoP tells Sheridan that Earth has successfully negotiated  a non-aggression treaty with the Centauri. A member of the NW who is stationed in Command and Control reports the hidden presence of the ship. A Centauri warship shows up and ends up being destroyed by B5 while the Narn escape.

At the end of the episode, two things happen: 1) the Centauri invade more space of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds races, and 2) a shop-keeper is taken away by NW members.

Babylon 5 Reviews E

Years ago I did what you might call “reviews” of Star Trek episodes. I mostly just briefly noted what progressive politics were involved and sometimes used that as an excuse to talk about similar situations in reality.

Last year I finally watched all five seasons of Babylon 5, another sci-fi show, one I had thought of watching once in a while stretching back a couple decades. It isn’t as political or as progressive as ST but there’s some good stuff there- in fact, on one issue, a progressive take on the working-class and/or labor movement, B5 is better than ST. Because there is so little progressive material, I’m going to do one post for every four episodes reviewed, and only mention the episodes that have some progressive political stuff. I might ignore some of the more minor and/or less unique stuff about conflict resolution because from what I remember, it’s very common in this series. Also, although less so than is the case with Star Trek, multiculturalism is a big part of Babylon Five and I will also only be commenting on that when it is more significant than usual. There are issues raised about telepaths- I’m going to completely ignore stuff about telepaths when reviewing these episodes. I also will probably say nothing about the conflict with the evil race the Shadows- sure, I could say Trump is as evil as they are or compare them to Nazi Germany, but that’s kind of silly (I’m sure there is nothing political about the Shadows, they’re just evil, like the Borg or the Empire). And I might skip most of the stuff about the conflict between B5 and the Earth government- I don’t remember it involving stuff like a strong capitalist agenda or racism or something.

**Season 2 Episode 6 “A Spider in the Web”** See this for a plot summary.

There is one political aspect that definitely needs to be mentioned and a couple others that are also worth mentioning.

First, an Earth businessman comes to B5 to do some negotiating for a business effort on the Earth colony of Mars. Captain Sheridan is asked by an Earth Senator to spy on him. Their conversation I think is worth quoting in full (at the very least SOME of what was said is important enough to be quoted):

Senator Voudreau: Captain Sheridan.

Sheridan: Senator, what can I do for you?

Senator: Taro Isogi, chief executive of FutureCorp. has arranged a meeting on Babylon 5 with Amanda Carter, a representative of the Mars Provisional Government. Carter is an outspoken advocate of mars independence and we suspect FutureCorp. is conspiring with her to finance another rebellion on Mars Colony.

Sheridan: Do you have any proof?

Senator: We know FutureCorp desperately wants a foot-hold in space. An exclusive trade and services agreement with Mars would give it to them, if they could move the current Mars conglomerate out. Many of the members wanted to pull out after the last rebellion. Another would have them running like river rats.

Sheridan: I understand your concern. But there’s not much I can do about it. I have no authority over corporate negotiations. Babylon 5 is neutral territory. Any race can negotiate here without interference, even our own.

Senator: This is a possible threat to Earth Alliance security Captain and as such we are asking you to check it out. nothing official. just keep an eye peeled and an ear open. and report anything of interest to me.

Sheridan: with all due respect senator my duties as commander of B5 don’t include spying on civilians.

Senator: these are volatile times, Captain. practicalities are more important than principles if lives are to saved. I’ll expect to hear from you soon.


I think this illustrates that the Earth Alliance is imperialist towards Mars, although I believe the conflict and background to the conflict is probably similar to what happened with Britain and the 13 American colonies. It also may be a sign that the Earth Alliance was becoming openly undemocratic after the coup that happened at the end of the first season (that is, they might be behaving less democratically than they were before the coup (that might seem like a stupid statement, but as some readers might not know, the coup took place when the President was killed in an APPARENTLY accidental explosion- it wasn't SEEN  as a coup by hardly anyone, but viewers know that the then-Vice President was responsible)). It seems like security must be spying in some of their investigations, which if done when a judge with very high standards for that sort of thing says they can, would almost definitely be okay with me. In general, and in this specific case, I like what Sheridan has to say about neutrality and civil liberties on B5. The Senator seems willing to spin ridiculous conspiracy theories about Mars if they help Earth retain control of that planet.

There is also some other talk about the cause of Martian independence. The Earth businessman believes that his plans will make Mars self-sufficient and that will lead to independence non-violently. I’m not sure how true that sort of thing is (in reality or on this show). I guess it would make Mars less dependent on Earth, but I haven’t gotten the impression that Earth opposes Martian independence because Mars is not self-suffient (although if the problem is partly about convincing more residents of Mars to support independence, than I guess less economic and developmental dependence on Earth would help). And economic development might possibly make Earth less willing to leave Mars, if that development would mean more tax revenue, for example.

Some relevant facts about the North of Ireland:

1. I read once or twice that one reason the British and Unionists retained Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone when N. Ireland was formed is that a four county statelet wouldn’t be economically viable.

2. On a related note, a lot of people in the 1960s believed that new economic developments in the North would result in equality and a decline in sectarianism but it got worse. Part of what led to that is that the old NI-based and Unionist-owned companies were being replaced by foreign firms who didn’t care what someone’s religion was. Which meant that Protestant workers benefited from discrimination and sectarian attitudes in general less than they used to. They did not take that change lying down.

3. Lastly, some of the government actions of the Unionists in the 1960s (those which were in conflict with the modicum of movement towards equality) involved shifting development away from equality for Catholics. They cut a railroad to Derry; when they wanted to place a new university in the West they choose largely Protestant Coleraine instead of largely Catholic Derry (Coleraine is also pretty close to the East); and when an expert on development suggested a new city in the West they instead developed one just outside the Belfast area.


**Season 2 Episode 9 “The Coming of Shadows”** See this for a plot summary.

When the leader of the Centauri (Emperor Turhan) comes to B5, G’Kar (the Narn Ambassador) tries to get him banned by Sheridan. We hear that the Centauri occupation of Narn (which lasted about 100 years and ended about 15-30 years earlier) involved the strip-mining of the planet and the death of 100,000 Narn (and that may have been just one incident). Sheridan points out that while Turhan’s FATHER was responsible for that occupation, the Emperor was trying to make amends with the Narn. Sherdian seems to understand that what happened to the Narn was horrible, but encouraged G’Kar to start a dialogue with Turhan. When Sheridan refuses to ban the Centauri leader, G’Kar plans to assassinate Turhan. Before he has the chance, the Centauri is taken to the med lab and within hours is dead. G’Kar learns that he came to B5 to apologize to a Narn (specifically G-Kar, a governmental official) for everything his people did to the Narn. Specifically he said: “We were wrong. The hatred between our people can never end until someone is willing to say 'I’m sorry' and try and find a way to make things right again. To atone for our actions.”

In response to a set-back for his political associates in a domestic Centauri political battle, Molari has his allies the Shadows attack and defeat a Narn colony which is subsequently occupied by the Centauris. Right before he learns that the Centauri were responsible for the attack, G’Kar does try some dialogue with Molari. G’Kar forsees another genocidal occupation of Narn planets by the Centauri. The likelihood of it being genocidal is confirmed when the latter initially refuse to allow the civilian population to leave the colony. Molari actually says they’ll be kept busy, and when the Minbari ambassador suggests that means labor camps, Molari actually responds by saying they’ll just be getting re-training! That’s practically an admission that they were planning the creation of labor camps (Molari agrees to let the civilians leave when Earth threatens to send in observers who will investigate what is happening to them and exactly what happened with the initial attack). At roughly the same time, the Narn declare war against the Centauri.

Lastly, there’s one bit of civil liberties when Sheridan expresses alarm at the possibility that his staff eavesdropped on diplomatic communications. I can only imagine how he’d respond to what the American NSA has done.

Even without hindsight knowledge of Turhan’s intentions, I think Sheridan had a good idea encouraging G’Kar to attempt a dialogue with him. Assuming Turhan didn’t believe that the Centauri deserved an apology from the Narn, what he said about reconciliation between the two races was good. At the end, I think that the Narn were not only justified but correct in declaring war on the Centauri- as they explained in G’Kar’s statement, they won’t allow another 100 years of genocide. It’s an even better statement when seen in the context of Molari’s admission that Narn civilians would be used as forced labor.


**Season 2, Episode 10 “GROPOS”** See this for a plot summary.

There are about seven political aspects to this episode. It’s set against the background of an Earth military force waiting on B5 for orders to help one side of an alien civil war.

1. As part of the preparations for the attack, B5 is given a major weapons systems upgrade. Sheridan sees conflict between that and B5 being a place for peace-making. It reminds me of a quote of Einstein’s that you can’t simultaneously prepare for and prevent war. I don’t embrace it whole-heartedly (I’m not a pacifist and believe that as horrible as I’m sure it is, war is sometimes necessary, and/or helpful, and/or justified) but I think there’s a fair amount of truth to it. As I’ve said elsewhere on this blog the “posture” of the US military is sort of saying “don’t fuck with us” to most of the world. The thing is I think in that situation some people will WANT to fuck with us (I know there are other reasons for hostility to the US, but I think that’s part of it).

2. Sheridan learns that Earth is helping one side of the alien civil war so that they can have a presence in that part of space, a part that is strategically close to the front line of the war between the Centauri and the Narn. In an earlier conversation the assault force commander says that with the Narn-Centauri war going on the other alien races will get more aggressive. This seems fairly militaristic on the part of Earth. I also wonder if you could call it racist towards the other alien races that will allegedly get more aggressive because of the Narn and the Centauri. It SOUNDS like it MIGHT be a legitimate concern considering what I’ve seen in movies about bar brawls starting. On the other hand, I believe it’s been established that Earth is xenophobic.

3. We are reminded that B5’s doctor refuses to do exobiology work for the military when what they want are better ways to biologically or genetically wipe out alien life. In fact most of the conversation in which he explains that to his Marine father in this episode is a good example of human racism- from his father. He doesn’t pull any punches when he lets his dad know how offended he is by that.

4. There is a minor hate crime committed by a few Marines against the Minbari ambassador. They harass her for appearing part-human, surround her with her back against a wall and threaten her before another Marine intervenes.

5. The arrival of six large transports for the Marines required the dock workers to work a lot more than usual, and Sheridan has Ivanova arrange for paid time off for them as compensation for their extra work.


**Season 2, Episode 11 “All Alone in the Night”** See this for a plot summary.

There are two political issues here that are basically about the role of the military in politics.

We learn that traditionally the 9-member governing body of the Minbarri is divided between the three castes on Minbar, with the warrior, religious, and worker castes each getting 3 seats. When Delenn is replaced (because they disapprove of the transformation she went through), it is by a member of the warrior caste instead of someone from her own religious caste, thus giving the warriors 4 seats out of nine. She expresses serious concern about this. The new member from the warrior caste argues that since they are the ones who fight the wars, they should have greater representation than the workers or the religious caste.

I certainly don’t think there should be any formal expansion of power that the military have in relationship to government policy. To a large degree I think influence by the military here in the US depends on who the elected civilian leaders are and how THEY feel about the military- do they unquestioningly agree with whatever the military says about foreign policy and war? And for better or worse, the fact is that when vets run for office a certain section of the population give them a few extra points for being vets (and sometimes that involves some votes for PROGRESSIVE, anti-war vets). Although I would love to see free college education for everyone who gets accepted to a college in this country, for now people in the military get a lot of help paying for college. And then there are other things like veterans’ medical benefits, Memorial Day, etc. So it’s not like our society doesn’t recognize, for better or worse, the sacrifices made by service men and women (sometimes for a good cause but usually not (that statement is referring to ALL of the history of the US)).

There was an interesting episode on the TV show “The West Wing” in, I think, the first season. There is a violent incident involving people who are Arab and/or Muslim and might be called terrorists. The President’s personal physician, a Navy doctor, is killed. In the Situation Room the military propose some kind of minimal armed response against a state that might be partly responsible (I think it may have been Syria). The President demands something more aggressive, so the senior military officers leave and then return to the White House with a proposal that would be very bad for the civilian population of part of Syria (much worse than it would have been under their earlier proposal) and get the President to accept the earlier proposal. (I can’t remember if this was before or after the President started acting in line with his very liberal-progressive principles, but in any case it was weird because he had those principles)

The second issue is the existence of people in the military who are either progressives and/or believe very strongly in democracy in the face of some degree of authoritarianism. We learn that since Earth President Santiago was assassinated (the official line is that it was an accident) a resistance has developed in the military and Sheridan is part of it and brings his Executive Officer Ivanova, security chief, and B5’s head doctor into the conspiracy. It’s said that Santiago was a friend of B5, but we also know that he was budget-cutting, xenophobic, and isolationist which might have meant anti-war although I don’t think we can be sure of that (he was also possibly anti-labor). But apparently his replacement is worse- after the Narn-Centuari war starts he is quite ready to get into inter-stellar fights without any apparent progressive ideas guiding that (although I lean heavily towards non-violence, it IS possible for force to be used for progressive goals and as I watch the show I would be less concerned about the new President of Earth if he were guided by progressive values); we can probably assume he is continuing the budget-cutting, that he is probably an opponent of Martian Independence, and that he is xenophobic. As we see in the 3rd and 4th seasons, there is a Civil War on Earth over the legitimacy of Santiago’s successor.

I’m not going to cover more than .001% of this subject, but I think there are progressives in state military organizations (i.e. the US Army). I knew a democratic socialist who joined the military to pay for school. In the mid-1970s a fascist dictatorship in Portugal was overthrown by elements of the military who then gave up power and a democracy was created.