Potential Revenge of the Sith spoiler alert.

Much has been made of the overt allusions between the Sith and the George W. Bush administration and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.  My only issue with this is that no such allusions exist.  I think it would be easier to produce evidence of Matrix Reloaded bashing albinos.

I have a hunch about the hubbub, but let me digress for a bit.  Back in high school I wrote 10 or so papers dealing with literary criticism.  I'd go and find the mythological, historical, and biblical allusions, the rhetorical devices, and so forth.  I'd then paint my opinion of the author's intent based on the allusions, devices, etc.  The one thing I want to emphasize here is that what my papers claimed and what the authors' opinions really were didn't have to match.  It was entirely possible that I was mistaken, that the overtones really were coincidence, that an editor had modified the original text, or whatever.

Back to the Sith...my thought is that Lucas, and his own words confirm this, wrote a story that follows historical precedents regarding dictatorships or warfare.  Is there a comparison between Spartacus's Crassus and Star War's Palpatine?  Absolutely.  Both were conniving politicians who subtly and violently came to power exterminating their opponents as they went.  I'm not so sure this sounds like a picture perfect W to me.  Is there a comparison between Anakin's (now Darth Vader) line "If you are not with me, you are my enemy" and Jesus Christ's line "He that is not with me is against me" (Matthew 12: 30)?  Absolutely.  Both refer to a mindset that is common in time of war (Anakin's war was political, and Christ's was spiritual).  This does parallel W's statement about the war on terror, but I think it is more likely that W was alluding to Christ's statement, so even if Lucas was alluding to Bush he was indirectly alluding to Christ.

All in all, I think that Star Wars was abstract commentary on human nature and not focused on any specific government or time period.  Certainly the ideas Lucas addressed as causes of dictatorship - pride, lust, envy, and greed - are as old as humankind and not new since W took office.