Understanding current American politics through Babylon 5, Part V: Russia and "the shadows"

Sure. Why not? Let's compare Russia to ancient, malevolent and overly-powerful alien beings bent on mass destruction? After all, apparently, you're still reading this bizarre series of posts in which I attempt to explain current events in American politics with an obscure 1990s sci-fi television show called Babylon 5.

When I left off with Part IV, I drew a comparison between the rise of Babylon 5's Earth President Morgan Clark-- racist demagog and power-hungry fascist dictator, and... do I even have to type it? In Part IV, I focused on Clark's collusion. He rose to power with the aid of the quasi-governmental agency, the Psi-Corps, and intervention by an alien race known as "the shadows," so despite all of his nationalistic rhetoric, he was a faker. Like all demagogues. Key to this analogy, then, is a comparison between Russia and "the shadows." Let's explore that today.

In Babylon 5, what did the shadows want? As I explained, ever-so-briefly in Part I, the shadows aren't actually called, "the shadows." That's just what people called them in the show. Nobody knew or could even pronounce their name. They aren't humanoid, and you can't see them in the visible light spectrum unless they want to be seen, hence, "shadows." They are among the oldest space-faring civilizations in the galaxy. Really, really, really old. The show sets them up as the polar opposites of the Vorlons. The shadows believe in guiding younger races by provoking war and chaos under the theory that whoever survives comes out stronger than they ever were before. War as a means to an end.

The problem for the shadows is when alliances form and people across civilizations stop fighting. The shadows hate that because it works against their purposes. They want everyone at each others' throats. Now, remember the premise and set-up for the show. After the Minbari War, Earth sets up a space station, the titular station, as a meeting place to work things out before going to war, and prevent war. Earth, pre-Clark, is set up as potentially a peace-making planet, and Earth plays a role in trying to prevent future outbreaks of war.

The shadows don't want that. They put Clark in power, and they want Earth to sit back and do nothing when they go around starting wars. So, for example, when the shadow-backed Centauri government starts annihilating the Narn, B5 commander, Captain John Sheridan wants to do something. Clark's government? Nope. They tell him to back off. Why? Clark is cozying up to the shadow-backed Centauri. Remember, the shadows put him in power too, so those same people who put him in power are going around and starting wars, telling the Centauri to start annexing territory, and telling Clark to sit back and do nothing as Putin annexes Crimea, I mean, the Centauri annex Narn. (So close on that timeline...)

Anyway, the Centauri weren't going to stop with Narn territory, and Earth's role as a guarantor of peace was over. Why? That was part of the point. That was part of what the shadows wanted from Clark. Do nothing, while they go around destabilizing the galaxy. Earth had become a major player, and the shadows wanted Earth off the board while they started playing havoc. So, they found a racist demagog and wannabe fascist dictator to install as President, colluded with him to get him into office, with help from a quasi-governmental agency that had no business intervening in politics anyway, installed him as President, and he immediately began pulling back from commitments to maintain peace, he allowed an expansionist government elsewhere to start annexing territory with military action, and allowed any principles of mutual defense to break down amid nationalistic rhetoric that was all bullshit anyway because he got into office through collusion.

Morgan Clark. I'm talking about Morgan Clark here, but I can see how you might get confused. Let's clear up the main differences, though. The FBI is governmental rather than quasi-governmental, Russia invaded Crimea before Trump took office, and just trusts that Trump won't seriously act against them,* mostly Trump has bashed NATO through rhetoric rather than having our commitments tested in action, and...

Other than that, this is working.

So, yeah. The shadows wanted to break down intergalactic alliances because they had an ideology of promoting war. Russia just wants to break down international alliances because that serves their geopolitical interests. Either way, the similarities just keep piling up, don't they? And they're going to keep on comin'!

*At some point, I'll get back to the sanctions issue.