Palpatine's Character
Palpatine was executing his plan for control of the galaxy over decades, possibly centuries. He lied to everyone he knew, won everyone' trust and then stabbed them in the back. Clearly, he was a man of no concience, "a black hole in the Force" as the novel puts it. Could someone be this evil in real life? Palpatine was also a diabolical genious. He could see into the future and manipulate the present accordingly. There was only one thing he didn't count on, and that was the human being he manipulated into existence betraying him. He had the political ruthlessness of Karl Rove, the charisma of Adolf Hitler (or Arnold Swarzeneggar for that matter), and the megalomania of Napoleon. He created a war and profitted from it immeasurably. Does anyone else have any thoughts on who or what Palpatine represents?