Suck It Vader, My Side Wins

I've been under attack for months by people who I have no choice but to consider enemies.  Not only did they make themselves enemies of mine, but I also believe it's obvious that they are enemies of freedom.  By squaring off with me on a particular issue (my opinions and my ability to express said opinions), I think it's clear that they don't believe in freedom of thought or freedom of speech.  And, if you know me well at all, you know that I am a big believer in freedom - even when I might not like how other people choose to use their freedom.

I believe that ideas, thoughts, and words are more valuable than they are dangerous.  Yes, I even think that about ideas, thoughts, and words that I might not personally agree with because, after all, freedom shouldn't be just for the few.  Radical concept, right?

These enemies of freedom made my life so miserable that I felt I had no choice but to make this blog viewable by Invitation Only.  I clearly was having a creative moment when I named this blog, eh?  I was sad to make this choice and thought for certain that I'd lose most of my readership.  But an interesting thing happened.

As I mentioned in the post Exclusivity Wins on September 22, this "underground" blog already has far more followers than my public blog ever did.  After reviewing the stats, this blog also gets far more post clicks than the other one did.  What that means is that the followers are actually reading (or at least, clicking) the posts versus simply ignoring this blog on their Dashboard or in my Facebook status.

Is Invitation Only like the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the blogsphere?  Did your head just explode at the awesomeness of working a Star Wars reference into this post?  Yeah, mine too. 

Spoiler Alert - Stop reading if you, for some crazy reason, still have not seen Star Wars Episode IV.  Really though, it's been out for over 30-years so you might want to watch it at some point.

There's a pivotal scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi faces off against Darth Vader on the Death Star.  At first glance, the dark lord of the Sith was at a huge advantage.  After all, Vader was "more machine now than man" and old Ben Kenobi was, well, old.  I might point out, however, that Vader was basically put into that horrible armor and forced to use that annoying breathing apparatus because of injuries suffered while fighting with Kenobi some twenty-odd years previously.

Could the old man have taken down his former protege?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.

Obi-Wan shrewdly deduced that taking out Vader would not stop the gallactic empire from expanding and, ultimately, it would not really help the rebel alliance all that much.  He knew that Luke and Leia were the progeny of Anakin Skywalker.  I think that he had an idea of how it would all end.  Well, except the Ewoks, no one could have possibly foreseen their cuddly goodness.

Have I totally geeked out enough for you here?  Hang in there, I'm almost done.

In the past, but somehow the future?, people still talk sh*t when they get ready to fight.  After listening to Darth's smart mouth for a few minutes, Obi-Wan says, "You can't win, Darth.  If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

Whoa!  Now that is some epic badassery.  He said that even if he loses, he wins.  That ballsy statement  should have at least given Vader cause to pause.  After all, remember that he's in that sucky suit nearly 24/7 because of a fight with Kenobi.  More powerful?  Day-um!

Darth wasn't going to take any smack talk off some old man so he sliced through Obi-Wan's already empty robe!  I kinda suspect Vader flipped Kenobi the bird first though.  Luke Skywalker witnessed his mentor's murder, which actually allowed him to escape from the Death Star, and we all know how the story ends.

Sure, my enemies probably think they've won because they have forced my blog underground or out of existence.  But being driven out of the eye of the general public has made this blog more widely read than it ever was before.  So I guess the dark side can suck it.  I win even if they think that I've lost.