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Padmé Amidala was known to be against the creation of the Republic's Army, stating that raising an army would inevitably lead to war:

Padmé : I warn you, if you vote to create this army, war will follow. I have experienced the misery of war first-hand; I do not wish to do it again.

But, later on, Jar Jar, acting as a Representative for Naboo moves a vote to grant the Chancellor Emergency Powers including the power to create a Grand Army of the Republic.

Since Padmé was so vocally opposed to this idea, why would Jar Jar vote differently than she would have wanted? Why didn't the opposition group Senators stop him?

Robert Columbia
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LcSalazar
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    Because he's a schmuck – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 21:31
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    because they tricked Amidala to leave by attempting to kill her, that left jar jar (who is literally retarded) to act as her proxy, being unintelligent it was easy for the chancellor, which jar jar knew Amidala liked, to convince jar jar to give him power to protect people. – Himarm Dec 03 '14 at 21:39
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    @Himarm - So basically it's because he's a schmuck? That seems to be the gist of what you're saying. – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 21:41
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    @Richard yes hes a stupid schmuck and probably would win the annual dinner for schmuck's, hey heres my freind jar jar, he started a galactic empire ruled by a dark lord on accident. – Himarm Dec 03 '14 at 21:43
  • I don't see how this is a duplicate, the other question is about just about the "historical" question of whether Jar Jar was responsible for the creation of the Empire, this question is about what Jar Jar's motivation was for voting as he did--the other question doesn't deal with motivation at all. Voting to reopen. – Hypnosifl Dec 03 '14 at 22:38
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    @Hypnosifl - "And then Palpatine social engineered him into putting the motion before the senate (by looking at him and saying words to the effect of "if only there were someone brave enough to make this motion")" seems a pretty good answer to both questions. – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 22:43
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    And I actually think Jar Jar's actions were fairly reasonable--remember that when Padme argued against the army, she wasn't aware of the massive war preparations happening on Geonosis. Bail Organa, who had sided with Padme in the past, thought an army was needed when he found out about Geonosis, but both he and others in the room argued the Senate wouldn't believe them and approve it, so it really did seem as if voting Palpatine emergency powers was the only way to prevent the army at Geonosis from an easy victory. – Hypnosifl Dec 03 '14 at 22:44
  • @Richard - See above, I don't think it's a good answer because it doesn't mention any of the relevant factors that led to this "social engineering" being so convincing, so that even smart people like Bail Organa were behind it. Besides, aren't questions only supposed to be closed as duplicates if the questions themselves are duplicated elsewhere, not if an answer to a different question B happens to mention in passing the answer to question A? – Hypnosifl Dec 03 '14 at 22:46
  • @Hypnosifl - It's not mentioned in passing, it's 90% of the answer. – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 22:49
  • @Richard - OK, but only because the answer so short. And it's still "in passing" in the sense that it's irrelevant to answering the original question, which was just about whether Jar Jar's vote was essentially responsible for the creation of the Empire, not why he voted as he did (and as I said, it doesn't get into any of the detailed reasons--'social engineering' would not be a helpful answer to 'Why did Jar Jar vote to give the Chancellor emergency powers?') – Hypnosifl Dec 03 '14 at 22:52
  • @Hypnosifl - I agree that it could be re-worded to be less of a dupe but not without assuming a lot of intent on the part of the OP. Basically you'd be writing him a new question. – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 22:58
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    @Richard - I just don't see how the questions themselves could be construed as duplicates at all. It'd be like saying the question "Did Hitler's decision to invade Russia doom Germany to lose the war?" is the same question as "Why did Hitler choose to invade Russia?" – Hypnosifl Dec 03 '14 at 23:06
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    This kind of thing is why real senators do not allow CGI rabbit critters be their proxies when they leave the Senate. I suppose this is something Elected Queen Senators have not yet learned. – Oldcat Dec 03 '14 at 23:07
  • @LcSalazar - I've made a fairly substantial edit to try to make the question clearer and less dupey. Feel free to roll it back if you think I've gone too far. – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 23:20
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    I'm flagging this entire comment thread for violating "Be nice" rule towards Jar-Jar – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 03 '14 at 23:24
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    @DVK - My feelings towards Jar Jar are essentially unpublishable on a forum with an age limit. – Valorum Dec 03 '14 at 23:43
  • To paraphrase master Qui-Gon, the ability to speak for Naboo does not make him do so intelligently. – KSmarts Dec 04 '14 at 20:10
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    Because he was actually a Sith Lord. ;-) – Ajedi32 Dec 01 '15 at 14:27
  • @Himarm That first comment of yours is an insult to retards everywhere! – Jax Dec 01 '15 at 14:58

2 Answers2

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Because the situation had changed drastically since Amidala went gone into hiding. No longer were the Federation simply looking to break away from the Republic, the information they'd gleaned on Geonosis (courtesy of Obi-Wan) suggested that the Separatists were building a vast droid army capable of destroying the whole Republic.

The Opposition senators are called before the Chancellor and he lays out the situation to them:

The word had passed, from Obi-Wan to Yoda and the Jedi Council, and now from them to the Chancellor and leaders of the Senate, that the Republic was crumbling. The mood inside Chancellor Palpatine’s office was both somber and frantic, everyone overwhelmed by a sense of despair and a need to act, frustrated by the apparent lack of options.

Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ki-Adi-Mundi represented the Jedi, lending an air of calm against the nervous energy of Senators Bail Organa and Ask Aak, and Representative Jar Jar Binks. Behind his great desk, Palpatine listened to it all with apparent despair, his aide, Mas Amedda, standing beside him, seeming on the verge of tears. Star Wars : Attack of the Clones - Official Novelization

The opposition are no longer opposing the granting of extra powers to the Chancellor, nor are they against the idea that Palpatine (as a former Naboobian Senator) would have anything other than the best of democratic intentions, to use the Army to protect the Republic from outside invasion:

“Unfortunately, the debate is not over,” Bail Organa said. “The Senate will never approve the use of the army before the separatists attack. And by then, it will likely be too late.”

“This is a crisis,” Mas Amedda dared interject. “The Senate must vote the Chancellor emergency powers! He could then approve the use of the clones.”

Palpatine rocked back at the suggestion, seeming profoundly shaken. “But what Senator would have the courage to propose such a radical amendment?” he asked hesitantly.

“I will!” Ask Aak declared.

Beside him, Bail Organa gave a helpless chuckle and shook his head. “They will not listen to you, I fear. Nor to me,” he added quickly, when Ask Aak snapped a glare at him. “We have spent too much of our political capital debating the philosophies of the separatists and arguing for action. The Senate will not see our call as anything more than overly alarmist. We need a voice of reason, one willing to reverse position, even, given the gravity of the current situation.”

“If only Senator Amidala was here,” Mas Amedda reasoned.

Without hesitation, Jar Jar Binks stepped forward again. “Mesa mosto Supreme Chancellor,” the Gungan said, squaring his sloping shoulders as much as possible. “Mesa gusto pallos,” he said deferentially to all the others. “Mesa proud to proposing the motion to give Yousa Honor emergency powers.”

Palpatine looked from the trembling Gungan to Bail Organa. “He speaks for Amidala,” the Senator from Alderaan said. “By all understanding within the Senate, Jar Jar Binks’s words are a reflection of Senator Amidala’s desires.” Star Wars : Attack of the Clones - Official Novelization

Valorum
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    This is a wonderful attempt to find a rational reason for the truth; he was a schmuck. – James Sheridan Dec 03 '14 at 23:51
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    Also worth noting that in the original script (Word doc) Jar Jar did first ask about the possibility that the Jedi could stop the Commerce Guild, saying "Exsqueeze me, yousa honorable Supreme Chancellor, sir. Maybe dissen Jedi stoppin’ da rebel army?" Palpatine asked Yoda how many Jedi were available, and Yoda said "Throughout the galaxy, thousands of Jedi there are. To send on a special mission…only two hundred are available", to which Bail Organa replied "Two hundred? With all due respect for the Jedi Order, that doesn’t sound like enough!" – Hypnosifl Dec 03 '14 at 23:51
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    @Hypnosifl: I'm assuming that question was removed from the final product because it was far too smart for Jar jar to come up with on his own. Let's not ruin the suspension of disbelief here. – James Sheridan Dec 03 '14 at 23:55
  • Why would Jar-Jar, who Amidala never met before the trip off the planet and who thought she was a servant girl besides be considered by anyone to be in-tune with her political views? – Oldcat Dec 04 '14 at 19:10
  • @Oldcat - I'd assume that he'd have advisers and assistants to tell him how to vote and prepare his speeches. – Valorum Dec 04 '14 at 19:24
  • If they tell him how to vote, how is he "Speaking for Amidala"? – Oldcat Dec 04 '14 at 19:30
  • @Oldcat - Do you think most senators actually know how/what they're voting for at most times? They just get told how to vote by their office + officials – Valorum Dec 04 '14 at 19:32
  • You are so cute when you are cynical. That said, why would the other senators accept the vote of a replacement Senator as valid? Wouldn't that mean they could all be replaced by CGI characters? – Oldcat Dec 04 '14 at 19:42
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    @Oldcat - Binks speaks for Naboo because he's their pro-tem representative. In Amidala's absence, you could be forgiven for thinking that he spoke for her too, especially if the Chancellor was backing that up. – Valorum Dec 04 '14 at 19:52
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    @Oldcat Aren't almost all of them CGI characters already? – KSmarts Dec 04 '14 at 20:06
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Also, even though Jar Jar and Amidala are friends, their people are radically different when it comes to violence. Gungans are known to be very militaristic. They have a "great army", something Jar Jar and the other Gungans are obviously proud of. It is also reasonable to asume that the Gungans have a service duty. I mean even Jar Jar was put into battle. The Naboo on the other hand are very pacifist. Which is according to Jar Jar the reason the Naboo don't like the Gungans.

Thomas
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