Spock in the White House
by Lewis Fein
A week into Barack Obama’s presidency comparisons abound concerning his personal and political gifts. Is he a rock star, or too cerebral for the sort of crowd-diving, one-with-the-audience intimacy that riles fans to amplified hysteria? Or is he a musician, yes, but more of a cool jazz artist who maintains an appropriate distance from his listeners while at the same providing a (false) sense of comfort for his admirers to absorb? Or is he a messianic figure who elevates our better instincts and unites the races, forever banishing the tragedy of human nature – its affairs with cowardice, its comfort with indifference, its passivity before evil – allowing us to march forward to paradise on earth? Or, finally, is he all of these things, a post-partisan president – a man who refuses to let eloquence devolve into mere rhetoric – and brings so many Clintons and conservatives into his ever expanding arms so we can make the world sing in perfect harmony?
The short answer is: No. Barack Obama is neither a rocker nor a cult leader, though his supporters treat him like the latter while giving him all the adulation (and then some) of the former.
He is, instead, Spock, the famed “Star Trek” character who makes supreme intellect a virtue and emotion both a terrible weakness and vestige of his human lineage - a handicap in the pursuit of reason. How else to explain President Obama’s inaugural address and his belief that “the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself.” This sentiment is the very essence of Spock, the equivalent of a private journal entry read aloud for billions in real time, the resignation of a logician who must abandon the purity of his laboratory to rescue an ungrateful citizenry.
And yet, Spock is not the captain of “Star Trek’s” fabled vessel, the USS Enterprise. Why? Because a Captain, even a melodramatic hero like the kind given voice (and pauses, and . . . pauses) by William Shatner, is emotional — sometimes incredibly so. Spock can assess a situation, tabulate the odds of enemy retreat, surmise an adversary’s weakness and discuss the most suitable terms of surrender, but he permanently remains unable to detect a sense of spirit and soul and righteous anger that makes, say, a Kansan oppose slavery or a Kenyan fight a military coup. For these heroes are erratic and thus the dangerous people Spock must render harmless with his Vulcan nerve pinch. (A few words to all single women: I am not a “Trekkie,” do not live with my mother and have never tried – and will never seek – to build a female companion out of spare parts and old circuit boards.)
Because we are human, a concession President Obama indulges with his megawatt smile, we can experience both extraordinary tragedy and Hope© (The One, All Rights Reserved). The two are impossible without even an ember of anger or from allowing emotion to overcome reason and summon defiance. For there is no transcending human nature – there is no spiritual awakening from the lines of tribe – without first feeling the gamut of human nature.
We now have Spock in the White House, his oversized captain’s chair within reach of issuing every order except one: presidential anger. Until President Obama discovers his own sincere but controlled fury, he will remain the professor-as-president, a rationalist without an ounce of necessary emotion. To further mix sci-fi metaphors and earn the enmity of millions worldwide, we can’t afford a president who is Spock in a world where Darth Vader lives.
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42 Comments
To quote Dick Morris about the Clinton Presidency: “paralysis by analysis.” It’ll be that ten-fold with the Messiah.
It’s sad that we elected a man President when we don’t know his ‘personality and governing style.’
All we do know is that he is an idealist. So is Spock. Darth Vader is not.
Spock was not vain (Obama whined at Maureen Dowd when she wrote about his ears) and was not prone to emotional outbreaks (such as Obama’s angry snap the other day at the reporter in the press room.)
Here is Bill Clinton giving his opinion of Obama’s judgement. (or lack of it)
http://www.popmodal.com/video/1505/Obama-Fairy-Tale
A group of friends had a vaguely similar conversation along the lines of how Obama looks like he’s out of his element. No doubt he’s a smart guy, but he doesn’t look like he belongs in the seat of power. The great pretender if you will… I personally hope he fails on his socialist domestic agenda but succeeds for our guys in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To say that anything about Barry Obama is “rational” is absurd.
We need a President who is like BRUCE LEE. See what I mean . . .
http://www.popmodal.com/video/1553/Bruce-Lee-Conservative
Unlike the others, I have to agree with your “rationality” comparison. And it’s summed up in the term “professor-as-president”.
Socialism and many of his ideals are great until you though in humanity. Socialism requires an ideal situation with ideal people. On paper, it looks great. But as soon as you throw in human nature, all bets are off.
The problem with Obama is his rational thought lies in a cloud of idealism, and we live in an imperfect world with terrible people out to get us. Pure logic says socialism kills all ills, but passion is what sparks a people and yields results. And he lacks any passion.
Just my opinion.
I would say that Spock was ruled by reason and logic rather than emotion. For the Left it is the opposite.
Spock was the purely rational character with no heart, and McCoy was the emotional (very human) character who constantly allowed his emotions to fly in the face of logic. And Kirk was the one who weighed both of their opinions and found a good “middle ground”.
Your comparison to Spock doesn’t really work. I think a comparison to McCoy is more in order. Constantly letting Compassion fly in the face of logic and what actually works in terms of policy. The first example of this that comes to my head is giving home loans to people that can’t afford them. It was a very compassionate and emotional action by the Donks, but it wasn’t rational. It caused a financial meltdown.
Yeah, thinking is for jerks
Spock? Nah.
Obama is most like the Borg Queen, demanding unswerving loyalty, assimilating those who would negotiate (see Bill Kristol as a good example) and turning them into mindless drones (again, see Kristol).
Oh, and the moaning crowds speaking in monotone and proclaiming “HE IS THE ONE.” Yep, sounds EXACTLY like Obama.
I’m going to echo Code Green. Just b/c Kansas is in the center of the US doesn’t make us the Midwest. Use other states.
I thought he was Darth Vader, though. Which raises the question, “Who is the Emperor?”
Star Trek/Candidates compared visually
http://jimberkin.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/our-next-president-or-star-trek-character-you-make-the-call/
I beg to differ – I never saw Spock behave like a kindergartner and tell the rest of the group “I Won.”
I have followed Star Trek and American politics since the 1960s.
I would never have dreamt of calling Obama another Spock. He feeds off emotion, not logic.
The charismatic approach is actually much closer to that of Kirk, except that Kirk either knew what he was doing, or else figured out how to do what needed to be done.
As for Obama on those points, I have my doubts.
Don’t offend Spock like that.
Obama is the single greatest sell-out in the history of history. A selfish, narcissistic, greedy sell-out. Pompous, arrogant, and self-aggrandizing. Amazingly determined and perhaps brilliant, yes, but with no other person’s benefit but his own in regard.
This man and wife team has sold out every one of us up the river. He has sold out black struggle, sold out white guilt, sold out hope, sold out environmentalists, heck even sold out the Germans at the Berlin Wall. But hey, you can go to your local book store and buy another 5 books about it all next Fall and display them proudly on your 100% recycled coffee table. That is, if you have any money left after his trillion dollar money grab.
I’d take Spock over Obama in a heartbeat. Heck, I’d take evil moustache Spock.
>> I’d take Spock over Obama in a heartbeat. Heck, I’d take evil moustache Spock.
>> MTG – January 26th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Heh, that’s pretty funny. And true.
Yeah, this Spock/Obama comparison is not even close.
Obama is not Spock. He is probably more like Senator Palpatine, the devious, dark, deceptive character from Star Wars Episodes 1,2, and 3.
Chosen by a naive and desperate people who wanted “change”, Senator Palpatine hid a dark secret, he really was evil incarnate, and ultimately was given total control over the people. Kind of like an Anti-Christ figure. Obama also has an ego the size of a Red Super-Giant. ( a type of star)
Barack Obama is not Spock, but he is Spock’s half brother, Sybok, the antagonist in the worst of the original crew films, STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER. Sybok brainwashed masses to his cause – finding heaven -by feeling one’s pain then taking it away, making them his unquestioning even treasonous followers. When he tries his number on the strong-willed Captain Kirk, Kirk calls him a “charlatan” and gives one of his classic speeches. “Pain can’t be taken away at the wave of a magic wand. It’s what makes us who we are. What are you going to show me? That I moved left when I should’ve moved right? I don’t want my pain taken away! I need my pain!” Unfortunately too many Americans have chosen to blindly follow Sybok toward a nonexistent utopia.
Folks, I may have to turn the taser – was that the weapon of choice on “Star Trek”? – on myself. Anyway, it would be cool if President Obama closed all his speeches by saying: Live long and prosper.
sorry guys,
obama is nothing like spock, spock was terribly conflicted between the vulcan side of himself and the human side.
beloved leader shows no such conflict, and he also shows no predilection towards any sort of common sense at all.
spock exemplified all the best in the trek universe. selflessness, a deep sense of honor, and a trueness to those who shaped him as he went along the way.
obama, not so much.
Mr. Fein:
If your intent was to somehow link Obama’s shaky biracial heritage with that of Mr. Spock’s, you have revealed yourself as an opportunistic and contemptuous racist.
PS. please tell barry to stop being such a censoring butt-hole
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