Nerdland lived up to its name on Sunday’s Melissa Harris-Perry, when Harris-Perry devoted a segment to answering the question: “Who is Mitt Romney’s jedi inner circle?” Or, to put it another way: if Romney’s key staff members and advisers were Star Wars characters, which ones would they be? Here’s the list Harris-Perry came up with:
Chewbacca: Romney campaign spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, “because it feels like every time he speaks, it’s like [wookie noise].”
C3PO and R2D2: Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindal, who “come off a bit robotic, and yet cute, somehow.”
Lando Calrissian: Marco Rubio, who is “smooth … but you don’t know which side he’s on.”
Boba Fett: campaign adviser Beth Myers, the “loyal servant” who “speaks quietly, but gets the job done.”
Princess Leia: Ann Romney, who’s “no wallflower.”
Han Solo: Chris Christie, “a loyal friend who’s also a bit of a rapscallion.” As for Emperor Palpatine, the shadowy figure who controlls the Empire from behind the scenes, panelists Ari Melber (an msnbc contributor) and former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell had a couple of suggestions. Melber thought that the emperor was Fox News president Roger Ailes, whereas Rendell insisted that it had to be Grover Norquist. “This segment might do well on the Internet, because you’re getting into the weeds,” said Melber. “We don’t have Vader—we’ve got Boba Fett.” No characters from the prequel trilogy were mentioned during the segment, for obvious reasons.
Ned Resnikoff is an urban policy analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. His byline has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dissent, and The Nation. He writes the newsletter Public Comment, which can be found at publiccomment.blog. Recommended
