As someone who doesn't hate the PTs but is incredibly disappointed in them:

I don't think there's anything wrong with the PT having homages to the OT, but it's absurd to call it poetry. It really shows you how massive the problems are with the PT, when a group needs to grasp at straws to the point where reuse of visual motifs is somehow supposed to save the films.

Yes. Palpatine was manipulating both sides. You could even call him a bit of a phantom menace in that regard. Yes, the Plinkett video was even worse than the PT itself. No, MIND is not BLOWN.

Padme as the protagonist would have been a great idea. It's a shame it wasn't filmed that way whatsoever.