No, Steve Bannon did not align himself with Darth Vader

A fascinating and disturbing interview with top Trump advisor and widely accused racist Steve Bannon dropped Friday courtesy of veteran media columnist Michael Wolff.

Its most eyebrow-raising quote is already doing the rounds on social media: "Darkness is good," Bannon told Wolff. "Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That’s power."

But that's a classic example of taking a statement out of context -- and the online outrage is only proving the point Bannon went on to argue.

"It only helps us when they get it wrong," Bannon continued, the "they" referring to liberals and the media in general. "When they’re blind to who we are and what we’re doing."

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The quote takes a little unpacking, but Bannon is essentially saying that comparisons to the Dark Lord of the Sith, or any kind of evil cartoon, help him. And he may well be right.

It helps, first of all, because it's hyperbole. When people like Wolff meet Bannon and he turns out to be an actual human being with some good ideas ( elsewhere in the article, he talks about his push for a trillion-dollar, job-creating infrastructure bill) they may believe the rest of the caricature is wrong too.

(It isn't, of course; Bannon has a documented history of making racist and anti-Semitic comments. He has aligned himself with the white nationalist "alt-right" and specifically courted those readers as the executive chairman of the far-right media outlet Breitbart.)

And it helps because it cements a certain fearsome reputation that is useful for those who want to wield power. Which one would you rather have yourself compared to: the galaxy's greatest villain or a bumbling Jar Jar Binks?

Certainly, former Vice President Dick Cheney, a proponent of torture tactics, embraced his Darth Vader comparison.

"Most of you knew me long before anyone called me Darth Vader," Cheney told The Washington Institute in 2007. "I've been asked if that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, 'No.' After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently."

Cheney's boss, President George W. Bush, started making cracks about how Cheney didn't need a Halloween costume because he already dresses as Vader. His wife Lynne once revealed that the family dog was dressed as Vader for Halloween.

That's the problem with Vader comparisons: He's a figure we love to hate and one we're inherently fascinated with. A bit player in the first Star Wars movie, with just ten minutes of screen time, the fear-inducing character quickly became the center of the action.

By the end of his career, creator George Lucas was describing the entire six-movie arc as "the tragedy of Darth Vader." Vader's shadow loomed over the seventh movie too, with its focus on Vader fanboy and grandson Kylo Ren.

One thing we know about the alt-right: It loves to take negative labels such as "deplorable" and turn them into positives. Members embraced the image of an odd-looking frog even after its creator complained. They could easily do the same with Vader, no doubt to the horror of noted liberal George Lucas.

So yes, there is reason to fear Bannon as chief strategist and his racist, populist plans. But just remember what another Star Wars character, Yoda, told us: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger … anger leads to hate … hate leads to suffering."

The dark emotions aroused by Bannon's promotion to the White House can best be used as fuel. To take another of Bannon's quotes: "Fear is a good thing. Fear is going to lead you to take action."

We couldn't agree more.