Funny how the weak can manifest strength in the face of power and how the powerful can be weakened in the attempt to wield their power against the weak.

I used to love to stay up late on Sunday night and watch Tom Baker as Dr. Who. If there was a central theme to his approach to the crises he met, it was this: civilization. He manifested power by inspiring loyalty through leadership, selflessness and an unerring sense of justice. Throughout all the expanse of time and space, he WAS the center of that impetus toward civilization in the face of the most brutal and brutalizing forces. Even his scarf was an indication of this, overlong though it was obviously hand stitched with loving care in great appreciation, and worn closely wherever he went, prized more than gold, round his very neck. I believe it was among these episodes that I first heard the maxim: Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Later, reading the Foundation series by Issac Asimov, I would come across this written bit of wisdom again. Tom Baker’s Dr. Who had a smile even for his enemies, and could look the cruelest villain in the eyes and decipher his petty heart unblinkingly. He met evil with compassion and pity though never shied away from meeting it as a champion of civilization. He was THE Time Lord, while his adversaries were merely vane, spiteful little flashes in the pan.