Monday, May 11, 2009

Obama as Spock? Says Who?

So I'm reading this piece on Star Trek old and new in the New York Times, when I stumble across this interesting line:

Forty years later, as “Star Trek” is returning to its past so is America: the country is again gripped by anxieties about entanglements abroad, compounded by the fear that the economy could collapse at warp speed. A cautious optimism has emerged in the afterglow of the election of President Obama (whose Vulcan-like composure has invited frequent comparisons to Mr. Spock)....

Really? Obama, who has come across more as a petulant bully than a logical analyist, has "invited frequent comparisions to Mr Spock"? Really? By who?

That question wan't too hard to answer. Via Newsbusters, we find the culprits:

Steve Daly in Newsweek:

Spock's cool, analytical nature feels more fascinating and topical than ever now that we've put a sort of Vulcan in the White House.” And “like Obama, Spock is the product of a mixed marriage (actually, an interstellar mixed marriage), and he suffers blunt manifestations of prejudice as a result.” Daly also hailed how “with the willfully hegemonic Bush administration now gone, the tenets of [original Star Trek creator Gene] Roddenberry's fictional universe feel very much in step with current events,” ....


Uh huh. How about NBC?

GEORGE LEWIS: Some Trekkies have compared the Spock character, the product of a mixed marriage between a human and a Vulcan, to President Obama,...

And here's Salon, who makes the comparison to congratulate their own inteeligence, apparently:

Star Trek" fans who bonded with Spock already understood what those of us who followed Obama learned early on: that witnessing a powerful intellect can be deeply satisfying on an emotional level.....Obama, like Spock, rewards close listening. His cool logic is a real departure from what we've grown used to...

And Mauren Dowd, Queen of the Shallow Puddle:

Mr. Obama has a bit of Mr. Spock in him (and not just the funny ears). He has a Vulcan-like logic and detachment...

In an piece entitled "Spock at the Bridge", no less....

So apparently, the mainstream media are the only "Trekkies" who have decided that Obama is in fact Mr. Spock, that a man who sneers at an adversary is "cool", a man who bullies private enterprise is "detached", and a man who claims a trillion dollar deficit is a reduction is "logical".

Meanwhile, I live and work in blue states, know more than a few Trekkies, and not one of them has made that comparison. Ever.

So the "frequent comparisons" the New York Times piece at the top refers to? Made by Obama's biggest fans only, the ones who hoot and hollar at his hateful humor, and turn a blind eye to his many misdeeds.

Don't believe the top-down hype...you're really looking more at a Jar-Jar Binks in the White House...

3 comments:

Jim - PRS said...

"Maureen Dowd, Queen of the Shallow Puddle"Excellent!

Anonymous said...

This is not logical, Captain.

Anonymous said...

Comparing the president to a fictional character is just plain ludicrous. We live in the real world, with real people and real issues. They must live in fantasyland.