I like the empire for a couple of reasons:
1. Cooler machines.
2. Get to kill Ewoks.
3. Although the Emperor himself is evil, the Empire --
in and of itself -- can be a force for good. In D&D terms,
I think of the Empire as "lawful evil", which to me means
that although they use ... distasteful methods, the
Empire still performs a useful service in suppressing
piracy and brigandage, suppressing little civil wars,
taming warlords and powerful corporations, and preventing
nasty incidents like that in SW Ep I.
A free society like the Republic is infinitely preferable
to a despotism like the Empire. But even a despotism is
preferable to outright anarchy as exists in, for example,
Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Given the
choice between Empire and Anarchy (and I believe that
was the way Palpatine presented the choice), I would vote
for Empire. And fight for it. Even if the Emperor himself
was a known evil man. Evil men have ruled empires before
(Nero, Genghis Khan, Richard III) and after they passed
on the empires endured and did, IMHO, on balance more
good than harm.
Hmmm ... wait, this is a WC forum, right? Better say
something about the Kilrathi ... Nope, can't have any
sympathy for them or fight for them. The Kilrathi war
isn't an intramural squabble about government, but an
out-and-out War of Extermination. I can only side with
Confed, although I might side with Confed against the BW,
for the reasons given above. Unless we're talking genocide
and bioweapons. No way I can have a part of that.
Respectfully,
Brian P.