Battlestar Galactica:Season 2 7.22.05; Part 1 NSCR

[wingsandsword]

Adama needs to be in charge and his idiot son would love to turn things back over to "President Hallucination".

Adama is a tyrant and criminal who has staged an illegal military coup. He deserves court martial, not praise. I was already disgusted with him in "Litmus" when he declared himself above the law and refused to answer questions from a civilian review board (the first warning signs he believed he was above the civilian government). President Roslin is the rightful leader of the fleet and the colonies, and when Adama disagreed with her decisions he ordered his forces to place her under arrest, along with any forces loyal to her (like his son).

Tigh is a stooge, an inept officer trying to pull it together when he's blatantly unfit for command himself. He's got more loyalty to Adama as a man than he does to the rightful rule of law, like his treatment of "We have nothing to talk about, you went up against the old man and lost" of his President. Apollo has been the most honorable, and legitimate Colonial officer we've seen in the series, and he's treated like dirt by others because he's not part of his fathers cult of personality.

The president may be having visions, but frankly, it fits with the Battlestar Galactica motif. Battlestar Galactica is Sci-Fi with heavy religious imagery, it always has been since the 70's. The original show was literally a thinly veiled allegory of mormon history and doctrine with some ancient Egyptian and Greek overtones. The Cylons in new BSG apparently have their own religion, monotheistic at that, while the (New) Colonies have a millennia old prophecy that the President is literally fulfilling. The bullets all missing her barely and hitting her jacket were a pretty clear sign from the producers that they are depicting Roslin as guided from above.

 

[reveal]

*Refers to previous two posts*

And this is why it's a great show.

Two people can watch the exact same program and come away with completely different views of the characters with valid arguments on both sides. It's such a well written show from the standpoint of religion, government, and military that it smacks of "truth" forcing you to pick a side whether you want to or not. They make you care for that characters that much.

From a military perspective (being ex-military myself), this is a military operation and, thus, Adama has every right to call for the Presidents dismissal when she has shown herself to be experiencing hallucinations and is using her religious doctrine to influence her decisions. History has shown us again and again (and upper rank military officer are usually big history buffs and actually have to study it to be promoted) that mixing religion and politics don't work. He's doing what he thinks is best for all people involved.

From a civilian perspective (since I've been a civilian longer than I was in the military), this is a civilian operation being escorted by the military. The military is there to provide help and support but guidance for large scale decisions should come from the President, not an officer in the military. The President has every right to lead as she sees fit because she was elected by the people, for the people. If the people do not want her in power anymore, it is up to the people to remove her, not the military. She's doing what she thinks is best for all people involved.

 

[Storm Raven]

The president is on some kind of drug for her cancer and is now having "visions" (either drug or cylon induced hallucinations, IMO), acting like she's some sort of prophet or something egged on by Elosha and sending critical personell off with critical hardware to hunt down religious artifacts to fulfill her vision.

Are you certain that the President is, in fact, not a prophet, and not having true divinely inspired visions?

 

[reveal]

Are you certain that the President is, in fact, not a prophet, and not having true divinely inspired visions?

Maybe she is and maybe she isn't. But if your President, whomever is in office, started to lead the country based upon "visions" they were having, how would you react? Personally, I'd be very, very skeptical.

 

[Storm Raven]

Maybe she is and maybe she isn't. But if your President, whomever is in office, started to lead the country based upon "visions" they were having, how would you react? Personally, I'd be very, very skeptical.

Maybe, but in the environment of the BSG universe, where every human seems to be a member of the same religion, and even Adama uses religious feeling to rally his troops (remember the pilot episode), I'm thinking that religious visionaries aren't so uncommon. Lots of people seem to think she's legitimate, including, for example, such ordinarily hard-nosed characters as Starbuck.

 

[reveal]

Maybe, but in the environment of the BSG universe, where every human seems to be a member of the same religion, and even Adama uses religious feeling to rally his troops (remember the pilot episode), I'm thinking that religious visionaries aren't so uncommon. Lots of people seem to think she's legitimate, including, for example, such ordinarily hard-nosed characters as Starbuck.

Good point. Again, I must applaud the great writing on this show. Is she a true visionary? Is she hallucinating? Is she a cylon being fed images? So... many... questions...

 

[MaxKaladin]

Are you certain that the President is, in fact, not a prophet, and not having true divinely inspired visions?

This being science fiction and considering the "layers within layers" nature of the show thus far, I cannot say I am certain of anything. However, it is far more likely that she is having hallucinations than that she is actually being influenced by some divine agency. Especially so considering that we saw no evidence of these "visions" until after she began taking that drug for her cancer. Absent any proof to the contrary, I am going to assume the far more likely explanation is the correct one.

 

[Fast Learner]

Those posts are indeed exactly why I love the show.

I'm more pro-President than pro-Adama, but they both make good and bad decisions all the time, which is so wonderfully human of them both.

 

[MaxKaladin]

Maybe, but in the environment of the BSG universe, where every human seems to be a member of the same religion, and even Adama uses religious feeling to rally his troops (remember the pilot episode), I'm thinking that religious visionaries aren't so uncommon. Lots of people seem to think she's legitimate, including, for example, such ordinarily hard-nosed characters as Starbuck.

There is a difference between drawing on faith to give people comfort and hope and actually having your diety or dieties communicate with you through visions. The former is far more common than the latter. Adama did not claim to be getting email from the gods, so to speak, but Roslin more or less is.

It is also common in situations where things seem very bleak for people to grasp at any shred of hope, including someone who claims to be a prophet. Roslin shattered Starbuck's hopes of eventually finding Earth by revealing Adama's secret and then offered her a straw to grasp at.

 

[The_Universe]

I'm definitely more pro-Adama than anything else. Even laying on a hospital bed he's the most charismatic character on that show. Nonetheless, he and the President are definitely the two most sympathetic characters, and the least immediately and visibly flawed. They are occaisonally at odds, but they're both genuinely good and altruistic while most of the reast of the characters are blatantly self-serving.

There are a few exceptions, but by and large Roslin and Adama stand head and shoulders above everyone else on the show.