Source: Wired
by John Semley
“Recently, the US Department of Homeland Security has taken to ‘Shire-posting.’ That is: using quotes and imagery from Tolkien’s books (and director Peter Jackson’s blockbuster movie adaptations) as part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enrollment efforts. … I don’t seem to recall any scenes of Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Galadriel, and the gang ripping around in an unmarked van, wearing face-smothering neck gaiters, hassling immigrants at carwashes, and kicking down housing complex doors in late night raids. If anything, such scenes bear more direct comparison to ‘The Scouring of the Shire,’ the penultimate chapter of The Lord of the Rings, which sees the hobbits returning home from their epic adventure to find their sleepy province tyrannized by ruffians and two-bit rent-a-cops, all in the thrall of a decrepit wizard.” (10/31/25)