Well, for instance, midichlorians are inborn, but the Jedi are a celibate order. No wonder there are so few of them.

"Well, for instance, midichlorians are inborn, but the Jedi are a celibate order. No wonder there are so few of them."

Yes, midichlorians can be passed on through the generations but that's not the only way obviously. Regular parents can have kids that are strong in the Force as well, and when that occurs the Jedi take them at a young age and train them. It's like in the real world, two highly intelligent parents can give birth to a highly intelligent kid but two parents of average intelligence can also give birth to a highly intelligent kid. Also, I'd like to point out, I don't think we as the audience are meant to agree with how the Jedi operate. Their overconfidence and tradition proved to be their downfall. I think a key difference between the prequels and originals is family. The Jedi want their followers to sever all ties to the world because they believe that makes them stronger but what George Lucas will show in Episode III is that policy simply doesn't work. Family and friends is what helped Luke succeed where Anakin failed.

Regular parents can have kids that are strong in the Force as well, and when that occurs the Jedi take them and train them.

Right. So they're systematically removing kids with midicholirans from the breeding population.

Imagine if all college graduates were joining the Catholic priesthood.

How about Tim?

I read Herc's suggestion of either Tim or Jane.

I felt immediately protective of both and put an Anti-Lucas voodoo perimeter around their homes.

So what about Phantom Menace and Clones contradicts the original trilogy?

I mean, there's some dumb shit like how Obi Wan supposedly squirreled away Luke to Tatoine (and then hid there himself) because Tatoine was so far away from civilized space. But then it turns out that Vader grew up on Tatoine, and in fact knows Luke's adoptive parents. And you'd think that when Vader ran into C3-PO at Lando's place, he'd at least go, "Hey threepio, how's it going?" considering that be built the fucker.

So there's stuff that now makes little sense... anything else? What is directly contradicted by Phantom Menace and Clones?

Amidala is Queen, but it's an elective office?

What kind of nutso planet elects a teenager to wield supreme executive power? And why would you use the title and costume of inherited nobility for an elective office?

I mean, there are precisely three kinds of elected Queen/King I'm aware of:

Prom
One-time plebiscites choosing the new hereditary ruler (Norway, Greece)
The Summer King, the one who gets plowed into the fields every year.

I'm voting for #3.

The election takes the form of a beauty pageant, with the winner being the smallest girl who can hold her head highest in the most elaborate headress.

"And you'd think that when Vader ran into C3-PO at Lando's place, he'd at least go, "Hey threepio, how's it going?" considering that be built the fucker."

It's interesting you should bring that up, I actually think one of Vader's actions in Empire could be looked at in a different way in light of his C-3PO connection. When Chewie goes berzerk throwing Stormtroopers around Boba Fett aimes his gun at him and Vader stops him. Why? Maybe because C-3PO was attached to Chewie's back. Plus, before that Chewie was allowed to bring a broken C-3PO into his cell in order to get him working again. And if you don't buy that then you could argue C-3PO and Vader never really come face to face because at the time 3PO was broke.