PooterGeek brings you more linkiness with this report from John Pilger, writing for The Sports Offensive, ed. Jim Campbell.

John Pilger travels to a Galaxy Far Far Away and discovers the reality behind the media distortions

I am in Coruscant, capital of the “evil” and “corrupt” Galactic Empire.

According to the propagandists of the Rebel Alliance this is the home of a “sinister” Emperor who toppled a great and just “democratic” Republic. Supposedly it is a dangerous place to ask questions, yet I have never felt so secure as I wander the towering streets of this mighty metropolis.

In a cramped and dingy bar I talk to a group of ordinary citizens whose lives have been transformed by the Empire. People like 45-year-old Darth Vader who was given free medical care after been callously tossed into a pit of molten lava by the “great Jedi warrior” Obi Wan Kenobi. “All the Empire is trying to do is bring peace and order to the Galaxy”, explained a breathless Vader, “they saved my life and I will be eternally grateful to them.”

Until recently galactic unemployment was running close to 20%, but now the jobless are learning new skills as Imperial Stormtroopers. In the days of the elitist and restrictive Jedi an ordinary unskilled young man like THX-1138 would have been restricted to a life of unspeakable drudgery. Now his horizons have been broadened to “seeing other planets” and “using a blaster”.

For this is the unspoken truth of the Empire. Behind the lies and distortions about the “dark side of the force” they are bringing jobs and hope to numberless worlds.

The destruction of the planet Alderaan is cited as evidence of the inherently undemocratic nature of this bold new experiment. Yet the billions killed on this planet amount to little more than 0.02% of the overall galactic population. Compare this with the callous and unprovoked Rebel attack on the Death Star that led to the death of over 12 million innocent construction workers and clerical staff. Unquestionably this is the greater crime, a fact never mentioned in the “mainstream” press.

Even now Imperial sources say that Rebel strategists are planning another attack. Above all they want to “eliminate” Emperor Palpatine, the architect of this popular movement of reform. When I explained the threat to him he was sanguine. “All I am trying to do is bring peace and order to the Galaxy”, he explained, “but I have anticipated their plans and soon their pathetic rebellion will be crushed forever”.

All true democrats can only hope that he is right.