Politics 01x21 | Stargate SG1 For the First Time…Still NOT a Star Trek Podcast

Senator Kinsey, head of the congressional coin purse group, visits the SGC to grill them about the return on investment the SGC has brought to the United States. Join Jeff and Brent as they watch this episode, Jeff, for the the first time, and Brent, for the first time looking fo the sci-fi messages within.
And be sure to catch our main show, Babylon 5: For the First Time, when Brent is joined by Jeff to take a deep dive into the episode, searching for those Star Trek-like messages, and seeing if they should have watched it sooner. New Episodes drop on Mondays.
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Producers:
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[@BeOurGeist]

Stargate SG-1 has some of the best damn clip shows consistently imo - there’s usually significant storytelling that happens and they rarely feel like “just for budgetary reasons” episodes.

[@nt78stonewobble]

Agreed and they added some, imo. Necessary context to the show.

[@Rocco1332]

I like Stargate's clipshows, not always going to watch them on a rewatch though. They do a good job of actually tying them into the plot, and the caliber of actors they being in never disappoint. Clipshows did make some sense in the past like you said. Can't wait for you to meet Woolsey!!

[@randallwong7196]

This should be considered the 2nd episode of a four episode arc.

[@TheFireMonkey]

This senator represents what I would describe as an uninformed version of Christianity. To clarify, I was raised Christian - Fellowship Baptist, a relatively middle of the road branch - and I have a deep respect not only for Christianity but for religions in general. However, as the Apostle Paul mentioned in Romans 14:2-3 (paraphrasing here), some people have faith that allows for a broader understanding of the world, while others, with weaker faith, cling to a more limited perspective. While the passage refers to a specific topic, it highlights a broader principle, which I’m summarizing here since my goal isn’t to teach a biblical lesson. This senator, in my view, falls into the latter category, where his religious beliefs are rigid and narrow. When he hears the word "God," he immediately reacts, turning what is actually a military issue into a religious one. Instead of recognizing the situation as a military threat, he frames it as an attack on his religious beliefs, which blinds him to the reality of the situation.

[@mjbull5156]

@TheFireMonkey Kinsey's outburst there feels like a strawman. He is the antagonist, so they give him a rant that is objectively stupid.

[@TheFireMonkey]

@@mjbull5156 I don't think so - he is reacting like a whole segment of the population does - not saying it's a big segment, but it is a vocal segment. I have seen it in real life, and it was well portrayed.

[@Markus117d]

As for the 13 colonies uniting into the United States, Why does every American have a blind spot in that narrative that there was in fact at least one more colony, If indeed not several that wanted no part of it lol.. That colony / colonies became Canada instead 🇨🇦 👍

[@stingerbrg]

20:24 And a further contextual number: 1998 US Defense spending was $268 billion. The Stargate program is less than 1% of that.

[@Markus117d]

True, But i think the point is that without cutting multi-billion projects that have "questionable" value, that $268Bn would it's self be insignificant beside the ballooned budget with no restraints..

[@stuartwald2395]

The money issue for the program is based on a real-world story. During WWII, there were 2 programs that were absorbing huge amounts of money (larger than any others). One was the development and production of the B-29 Superfortress; that was public. The other was not disclosed, even to Congress, and a senator who reviewed defense programs for waste was inquiring about what it really was. Key officials (the Secretary of War, et al.) met with him, but they did not tell him what it was; they just put their personal credibility on the line and told the senator he needed to trust them. He did, and so Harry Truman didn't learn about the atomic bomb project until he actually became president after FDR's death. I wish we had such people running things now (Truman, Stimson, Marshall).

[@xcellent-records]

heh heh heh.... he said... "replicators"

[@Markus117d]

Regarding the Strength doesn't dictate what is right line, They did do something with it, Kinsey scoffed it off, As you yourselves pointed out, does that in of it's self say not say something profound about humanity?

[@MattLathrum]

During my first watch of this show due to this podcast, I ranked it 16th. Despite that, Ronny Cox is a great antagonist.

[@martinleopard193]

The worst Stargate clip episode is loads better than other franchises can muster. Stargate keeps the budget for epic season finales AND advances the plot! I find that clever and a positive sign

[@mjbull5156]

Daniel's rationale for the Stargate may be unconvincing to others, but it is his personal interest and expertise, so he has blinders to how important it is to others. You would not have much say in howvyour tax money is spent under a more "democratic" system. The influence of one vote in an electorate of hundred millions is negligible.

[@elisebalk]

Resting Trump Face

[@garethmitchell7723]

Developing replicators..... but capitalism might not like that.

[@b.s.864]

Perhaps SG-1 will provide an example of why developing replicators would be a bad thing..

[@michaeltrivette1728]

This happens a lot in Stargate. Future episodes make some past episodes come a bit more into focus.

[@jessepage6575]

So apparently Ronny Cox played President Jack Neil in Murder at 1600. He's also the Admiral Aken Bosch. Hard to miss that voice. That was my childhood right there.

[@ciaranirvine]

OMG I think I still have a copy of Freespace 2 in a cupboard somewhere, must dig it out, absolute classic game!

[@jessepage6575]

@@ciaranirvine It doesn't work anymore on my newer computer. But I recently rewatched remastered versions of the cut-scenes. I forgot how well written that game was. Honestly, even better than Mass Effect IMO, which is saying a lot, because that game is great too (in different ways).

@@jessepage6575 It is possible to get running, difficult and fiddly but possible. There is an open source port and free game which allows for running on a modern system and even mods. Some mods are really good, some not so much. I think it was Blue Planet: Age of Aquarius mod that really dug deep into lore and an interesting history of the Shivans using a accident with the jump point putting the MC and the rest of the expedition into alternate Universe.

[@Lifesworder]

Can someone explain why so many people who react to stargate also speak fondy about buffy? I have tried to watch it and to be very diplomatic about it, did not enjoy buffy. The shows seems to have nothing in common to me... Is it just because they came out around the the same time?

[@Retro_Frostt]

They are not really similar. Maybe they share the same level of campiness? Lol. I do enjoy both but they don't have very much in common. Have you tried, Angel? I didn't enjoy Buffy much at first. But I loved Angel. Then I went back to watch Buffy and enjoyed it a lot more.

[@gordon861]

Season 1 of Buffy is not an easy watch in places, but from Season 2 it improves dramatically.

[@elisebalk]

I would rather pay more tax than less, assuming: 1. The proportion of tax collected is proportional to ALL income streams for ALL individuals & corporations. 2. 💵 goes to social services that benefits the vast majority - medicar4all, universal social security, child care though under graduate education, strong-safe infrastructure, etc.

[@mjbull5156]

I am not sure how good the American Revolution example is. Yes the 13 American colonies united, but it was initially for the purpose of disunifyinh themselves from a British Empire that they felt no longer srved their interests. Similarly, Babylon 5 has unity as a theme while also having the Martian independence movement shown as protagonists. Thst is a mixed message.

[@eskreskao]

Before I start to watch: I've been wondering what Jeff's reaction will be after seeing Kinsey. As in: Captain Jellico or Dick Jones.

[@P226nut]

These are the dark times for club 65… the times of no 65… the wasteland of the 65 lmao

[@fyrestorme]

This was recorded in 2023 and it just got uploaded to youtube 2 days ago?? Wow.. wth?

[@Markus117d]

Representative democracy is a form of democracy, And while not the purest ideal of democracy, Would in that ideal democracy where every citizen votes directly on every matter still not be required to raise taxes to pay for matters of state? And how much control exactly would that give any individual over how the taxes are spent? Lol

[@BigNWide]

Speaking of counting things; you better be counting the show's Star Trek references from season 2

[@Reece_Hart]

At this point I usually skip this episode just because I've seen this clip episode that many times at this point I don't need to watch it again and I absolutely despise Kinsey's character which is a credit to the writers and the great Ronnie Cox. That said Stargate do manage to handle clips shows pretty well. It also feels like a foreign concept as an episode idea these days with shows being more designed to be binged there's almost a nostalgia to it

[@damianmactavish6717]

Star Wars was bought for 4 Billion by Disney

[@charlesmaurer6214]

Jeff needs to head a whole department instead of running a single office with that viewpoint.

[@stuartwald2395]

Ronny Cox is an incredible character actor. He could play someone annoying yet competent and on the right side (ST:TNG), somewhat morally debatable (St. Elsewhere), or extremely smart and dangerous and evil (Robocop). As a once and future president will say to Kinsey in an episode to come, "Dick, you're fired!"

Oh god, I never thought of that Robocop reference! He is Dick Jones of OCP, and the CEO of OCP says just that to him at the end of Robocop.

[@Pampalak]

2023??

[@hornorsilk2901]

Showtime did a good job with clipshow episodes; they did it well with Outer Limits too... always had an interesting story going on to watch beyond the clip

[@VolrinSeth]

As a civil servant you should understand tax is not theft. Also there is no hard line between representative government and democratic governments. Most democratic governments ARE representative. What you're thinking about is an absolute democracy which has virtually never existed.

[@DanielRichards644]

Tax is theft, it always has been and was one of the driving forces behind the American Revolution. In fact for most of this countries existence there was no Federal Income Tax, it wasn't started until they needed to fund the Civil War then it was ended and several decades later brought back to fund socialist agendas, most of the taxes we pay wouldn't be needed if the government didn't employ 1% of the population directly, the Federal Government has 3 MILLION WORKERS.

[@elisebalk]

Ironic timing

[@johntaylor564]

Wow caught that quickly 46 seconds

[@d.-_-.b]

One sci-fi point (hidden until the 1969 episode) in this is that Hammond KNOWS without a doubt 100% that the Stargate program continues with him in charge, so what appears to be him following the chain of command is only because "shutting it down" won't have any long term effect on it.

[@trexpixx4590]

Leave modern politics out of the show please!