Leadership: If Barack Obama is Spock, Sarah Palin is Kirk
by Leigh ScottWhen Sarah Palin resigned a few weeks ago every blogger with a keyboard chimed in on it. I didn’t want to be late in the game with a Sarah Palin blog, so I put this blog in the old hard drive of justice, right next to my Buffy the Vampire fan fiction and an un-produced screenplay about the Braves leaving Milwaukee.
Then I saw one of my childhood idols, Bill Shatner goofing on Sarah Palin. At last, my geeked out political observation had new relevance! Apple “C.” Apple “V.” Send to Big Hollywood.
We were treated to some really lame comparisons between Obama and Mr. Spock a few months back. Let’s ignore the obvious fact; that Mr. Spock is and always was the #2 guy. The Captain’s chair rightfully belonged to Kirk. Spock lacks the passion and empathy to be a leader. Trying to make a flattering comparison between the leader of the free world and a legendary sidekick seems like a non-starter.
No, let’s focus on the fact that Obama does not follow the Vulcan path. The path of logic. His demeanor may be calm, cool, and unemotional, but his thought process is driven by raw emotion. He represents decades of grievance education, America bashing, and misplaced empathy. There is nothing logical about the man. Exhibit A is the “stimulus plan.”
So with the whole Obama is Spock meme D.O.A. I went searching for another apt Sci-Fi/Politics metaphor. Let’s see, George W. Bush is Luke Skywalker? Cheney is Paul Atredies? Donald Rumsfeld is Optimus Prime? Joe Biden is a Tribble?
Then, as Sarah Palin announced her resignation, it hit me. Sarah Palin is Captain Kirk. Why? Because she just passed the Kobayashi Maru.
For those of you who don’t know what the Kobayashi Maru is, let me explain. In the Star Trek universe it is an unwinnable test. It’s creator, Mr. Spock, designed it to test how Starfleet captains deal with failure and death. There is no right way to successfully navigate through it.
But cadet James Tiberius Kirk found a way to beat it. He rigged the computer simulation to allow him to complete the mission without killing his crew. Starfleet accused him of cheating, but Kirk’s response was simple, eloquent, and very revealing. “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario. I don’t like to lose.” Kirk didn’t change the strategy. He changed the rules.
Since Sarah Palin burst onto the national scene she has been savaged. The media, the Left, the Right, the Middle, you name it. People either love her or hate her. In the media it seems people love to hate her. The “elites” on both sides of the aisle hate the populism she represents. Traditional feminists hate the fact that she has both a family and a career; something that their paradigm teaches is impossible. Her future rivals hate her because she isn’t a typical politician. Her authenticity makes Mike Huckabee look about as real as the Guinea Pigs in “G-Force”.
Palin was faced with her own Kobayashi Maru. How could she effectively govern the state of Alaska while facing ridiculous ethics charges and the scrutiny of the national media? How could she increase her exposure in the lower 48 while staying true to the people in Alaska who elected her? Perhaps if the wingnuts in Alaska didn’t stalk her with silly lawsuits she would have simply put her larger ambitions on the back burner and continued to do her job as governor. But it wasn’t meant to be. She was perfectly set up to fail. Her popularity in Alaska would decline. The national media would point to it as an indicator of her overall effectiveness. The Klingons…I mean the left, would have won.
But Palin defied them. She changed not her strategy, but the very rules. She resigned her position, turning the state over to her loyal Lieutenant Governor to continue the plans and policies she put into motion. Like any good story, it was an unexpected twist, yet when viewed in retrospect it was the only way it could play out.
The notion that a candidate with scant command of policy, who either lacks experience or didn’t complete the duties of their elected position, is doomed to failure doesn’t take into account a little thing I call history. In 2008 this nation elected a President who spent the majority of his Senate term campaigning for his next gig. I only wish he had the class, respect, and decency for and towards his constituents to resign. And while Palin may lack the depth of foreign policy knowledge, that say a Joe Biden has (yes, I just did that cough/laugh thing), she has a damned good grasp of energy policy. According to a lot of folks that energy thing is a big deal. Sarah Palin understands that people should have more freedoms. Government should be small. Taxes should be low. I understand that too. Neither of us has a Doctorate in Economics. I think that’s a good thing.
For all his talk of being different, representing “hope,” and bringing “change” Obama has turned out to be quite the bore. He is the consummate insider, a recycler of old ideas and failed policies. People wanted to beam up to the starship and explore strange new worlds. We wanted to boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before. Obama is in the wrong franchise. He and crazy Doc Brown, I mean Joe Biden, gassed up the DeLorean and took us back in time. To 1976.
Palin passed the Kobayashi Maru. She is qualified to command the ship. She has all the qualities we want in a captain; valor, principals, vision and most of all, the ability to change the rules.
Will Palin be a candidate in 2012? Will she run for Senate? Will she be a third party spoiler? Who knows? Maybe she should just enjoy the spoils that are the dividends of her hard work. People get paid millions of bucks because their coffee at McDonald’s is too hot, I think she’s entitled to a book deal and a TV show after having her entire family slandered by a bunch of elitist vampires. But something tells me she won’t just become the “White Oprah.” People like Kirk and Palin don’t retreat. They have an innate craving for responsibility and adventure as well as a desire to help their fellow man.
Go ahead. Write her off. Make a joke out of her. Be my guest. But that would be about as smart as marooning Captain Kirk on Seti Alpha V.
We all know how well that worked out for Khan don’t we?
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431 Comments
I'm a big Palin fan. Let's hope she uses the next several years wisely and helps the Repubs in 2012.
** Obama is in the wrong franchise. He and crazy Doc Brown, I mean Joe Biden, gassed up the DeLorean and took us back in time. To 1976. **
Obama and his bunch have taken us way farther back than 1976, debt-wise and race-wise. This country will never get out of the national debt inflicted on it by the childish and ill-advised financial shenanigans–'spend our way out of a recession' instead of simply granting a tax holiday.
And as much as Obama and the media would like to think the 'beer summit' laid to rest the racial divide that Obama hammered the wedge into with his thoughtless 'stupidly' comment, it will take far more than a 'good ol' boys' get-together to heal that wound.
Palin has potential, a great deal of potential, to be a truly great leader of this country. First and foremost, she has a ton more experience at governing than the current occupier of the WH. But equally as important, the educated voters readily identify with her because of their shared values, common sense, and the good of the country above the good of the party. And that is a factor the left can never co-opt for themselves. The left simply lacks the integrity, as proven by the second 'first black president'.
"Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves." ~~D.H. Lawrence, Classical American Literature, 1922
If Joe Biden is a Tribble, then we're in trouble. You know, they reproduce asexually.
"Then you will have to manually scan every Biden in the White House."
"Well, there must thousands of them by now."
"Hundreds of thousands."
"One million, seven hundred seventy-one thousand, five hundred sixty-one. That's starting with one Biden with an average litter of ten every twelve hours."
Come on, you opened yourself up to that one.
What a clever and thoroughly entertaining article!
I, too, love Citizen Sarah and can't wait to see what the future holds for her and us.
But, at least for me, a greater pleasure was the article itself. The way you structured the article, drawing parallel comparisons between the characters and events, and brightening my day.
Setting aside the political elements, I think it would be an excellent example for students in a writing class.
Nice work!
roflmao
Well played.
Good post, Mr. Scott. Now beam me up. (Did I just go there?)
Palin is great because she defies every cliche of the left regarding women. Sadly, much like Star Trek nerds living in their parents' basements, the progressive movement has very little contact with actual females and their lifestyle.
I'm a huge Palin fan, and despise the treatment that she has received since the election. But I thought that Shatner's reading of her resignation speech as a form of beat poetry to the accompaniment of bongos to be actually pretty funny. Because it was a sort of free form poetry. We shouldn't let our political feuding get so out of control that we lose our sense of humor. I also like the Obama as Joker poster.
Enjoyed the article, but Dr. Emmett Brown was a visionary genius. Biden's more akin to the functionary played by William Schallert in "The Trouble with Tribbles"; a blind, blustering, idiot who doesn't see the enemy in his midst.
I agree, if we can't laugh at ourselves then we are lost.
BUT
I would like to see someone do that with an Obama speech. There is a ton of comedy just sitting there, ripe for the taking and no one's got the grapes to take it. I imagine there would be a lot of accusations of racism and whining if someone had the "audacity" to make fun of Obama's stumble-bum speaking style….
Joe Biden is a Tribble if Tribbles get hair plugs and don't reproduce every five minutes (oh please, say he isn't a Tribble!!!)
I see Obama more like Harry Mudd. A scammer with a closet full of hidden agendas and completely untrust-worthy.
Democrats as Klingons? Hardly. Klingons at least have a sense of honor. The Democrats are most certainly the Borg.
Aren't liberals more like the Borg? They're definitely not badass like Klingons. Or, maybe they're like the old-timey original series Klingons, the ones who looked human (but weren't! Bum bum bummmm!).
Biden is definitely a Klingon, and not the Star Trek alien kind either….
Love the article! I, too, am a Palin fan. I don't know if I want her as Pres in 2012, but I want her out there representing Conservatives!
Hmmm…. but even Harry Mudd had a certain charm about him.
The mirror has two faces, and Obama sees himself as Apollo in "Who Mourns for Adonais?", whereas we see him as John Gill in "Patterns of Force."
You know, before I owned a dog, that would have sailed right past me….
LMAO!!!!!
Sulu:Captain,we're under attack,shields are dead,they've knocked out our phasers!
Kirk:Too bad, I quit. It's…not…my problem anymore! I'm tired… of Klingons & Romulans telling jokes about me and my family, I… can't… handle it anymore. Spock you have the bridge, I'm on my shuttle craft if you need me. Plus, the starfleet media hates me. If the enterprise gets blown up after I've quit, I blame the media! I quit because I'm…a maverick. It's the mavericky thing to do! Maverick Maverick Maverick…etc.
Quit,Baby,Quit!
I actually have a Doctorate in Economics. I agree with you and Sarah Palin.
I thought it was determined by a past post here on BH that Michelle was the Klingon.
"and an un-produced screenplay about the Braves leaving Milwaukee."
I'd pay to see that, or maybe one about the establishment of the AFL.
Chekov: Captain, the Romulans are powering up their weapons
Spockbama: Lower our shields Mr. Chekov, and open a hailing channel. We have to apologize to the Romulans.
Chekov: What are we apologizing to the Romulans for??
Spockbama: For….uh….ummm…..well for not being Romulan or something. Whatever it is it has to be our fault…
Chekov: But captain…
Spockbama: While you're at it, get the Klingons on the horn too, we're apologizing to them for not folding like lawn chairs when they attack us.
Chekov: The Federation won't like that
Spockbama: To hell with the Federation, when we're through kissing the feet of our enemies we'll go back and bankrupt them into silence….
Well if you're comparing her to an over-aggressive, combative alien from Star Trek, then yes I would say that's accurate…..
Well played, my friend…..
The boobs.
You're doing a boob comparison between Jolene Blalock and Sarah Palin, aren't you?
You have to admit between five kids, running Alaska, and being 46, Sarah holds up quite well to the great Jolene.
She’s a remarkable person and regardless of what her future holds I wish her and her family the best. On a personal note, I hope she runs it’ll be great fun to watch this little lady box the ears of the Washington politician/snobs right and left, and your comparison to Kirk is right on. She doesn’t strike as the kind of person that runs from a fight, but a fearless competitor that likes to win, a very American ideal or keeping with your essay, like James T. Kirk.
She only LOOKS like a Klingon….
But perhaps a better description encompassing the physical and behavioral aspects would be Ferengi.
Obama has plenty of charm, how else do you think he got elected? What he and Harry Mudd have in common is the title "con artist". I would trust neither…
Loved the analogy, but Scott, please correct the title of your famous movie. Isn't it "BEAST" of Bay Road — not "BEST"?
One thing jumped out at me from this article: "Will she be a third party spoiler?"
Let's hope not. The only thing her third party candidacy could possibly do is draw support away from whoever the Republicans put up, thereby guaranteeing Obama's reelection. Nobody here want's that. Except probably "Oily Taitz".
One thing jumped out at me from this article: "Will she be a third party spoiler?"
Let's hope not. The only thing her third party candidacy could possibly do is draw support away from whoever the Republicans put up, thereby guaranteeing Obama's reelection. Nobody here wants that. Except probably "Oily Taitz".
Good point….and let's not forget Mudd's wife, either. A shrewish harpy….the parallels are rather breathtaking.
Respectfully disagree, Klingons have a sense of honor. Biden has none! He's more of a Romulan.
Amen!
Respectfully disagree, Klingons have a sense of honor, duty and respect. Biden has none of those qualities! He's more of a Romulan.
Two thumbs up for Paules and Thorien! I am not a big Trek fan, so don't know all the really cool lingo, but the borg is how I have classified the left fo a really long time. I liked this posting. Interesting take, and I like that we have creative enough ppl on our side to write and respond humorously to postings like this. I can't say what I think Obama is, I don't want to be booting from BH.
[...] James Tiberious Kirk: For all his talk of being different, representing “hope,” and bringing “change” Obama has [...]
I think you missed my original point….
But I do agree with you.
Your grasp of the reality of the situation leads me to believe you think Obama is cleaning up the mess from the last eight years (although Dems were in control the last two). I'm also guessing you live in California and have a huge supply of medical marijauna.
The only Apollo Obama compares to is Creed.
It must be the ears.
Sarah has my vote in 2012.
Now stop using the new Star Trek as reference, I hated that movie with a passion. Jim Kirk is not an alcoholic pervert who has to steal the enterprise from a duly promoted 2nd in command.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
With her, I would say the teeth….
[...] Read it. [...]
Well I suppose with Capt. Jean-Luc Obama we'll just apologize to the Romulans when they cross the neutral zone?
Great minds think alike (missed your post before posting something similar…
actually a more apt comparison would be with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!
There are uncanny parallels in their biographies, their domestic politics and the way they present themselves — even in their rocky relationships with party elders.
Both are former governors of a northwest frontier state with great natural beauty (in Ahmadinejad's case, Ardabil). Both are known for saying things that produce a classic Scooby-Doo double take in their audiences. Both appeal to a sort of wounded nationalism, speaking of the sacrifice of dedicated troops for an often feckless public, and identifying themselves with the common soldier. They are vigilant against foreign designs on their countries and insist on energy and other independence.
But above all, both are populists who claim to represent the little people against wily and unscrupulous elites, and against pampered upper-middle-class yuppies pretending to be the voice of democracy. Together, they tell us something about dangerous competing populisms in an age of globalization.
Ah, already trotting out the new talking points I see. Don't even pretend that your thoughts are original. Go back to HuffPo and Kos where your ideas came from.
It's trolling, but at least it's funny.
Who said earlier: "If we can't laugh at ourselves…"
As a woman, I suspectI know what's bugging the NOW ladies most about Sarah Palin. They hate Sarah because she didn't abort her last child and they hate her because her daughter didn't abort. NOW should have a name change: National Organization for Abortion because that is their obsession. Sarah doesn't whine about how difficult it is to be an older mom or how hard it is to raise a baby with Down Syndrome. In short, Sarah is about giving life while NOW is about destroying life and they cannot abide the truth in that distinction.
yeah I prefer the trolls at least be entertaining….
From what I've seen, pretty much all of us here agree that the republicans in office are just as bad as the democrats. If enough people vote for the third party candidates, it may shock the incumbents out of complacency. Don't believe the media's lies about "third parties elect their opposites." We'll never know unless we try.
I was actually slightly entertained by the troll's post and it inspired me to follow that line of thinking. Feel free to expand on my post anytime, plenty of material there.
CD do you claim that post. This was out verbatim yesterday 8/3/09 are you going to give credit to the writer over at SALON, or are you that writer?
What a shock, a left-wing nutbag taking a shot at Sarah Palin. And comparing her to a muslim extremist no less. What's the matter? Hitler references all dried up?
You are so………boring…..
"But that would be about as smart as marooning Captain Kirk on Seti Alpha V."
Actually, it should be spelled "Ceti Alpha V."
Wow, a chance to indulge my grammar/spelling nazi side and my Trek geek side at the same time. Best day ever.
Sorry about that, old chap.
Awesome analogy! Ever since she announced her resignation, THIS is exactly the feeling I've had about her.
I couldn't believe the courage she showed by doing what she did. That comparison made it concrete for me.
Due to the current political divide in the country she might not have a shot at the actual presidency in 2012, (and let's face it gang, she hasn't said she would even persue it yet, so any frothing about it now, pro or con, is moot), but with a little travel and seasoning, this woman is one I would be proud to vote for in a future election. I only hope she can step in one day with sufficient time to begin undoing some of the damage currently being done.
I guess we'll have to see what candidate the RNC comes up with for 2012.
Very funny!!
She reminds me a lot of Ronald Reagan in that the left – and Eastern "elites" savaged him – just a cowboy, etc etc – and he still blew them away. I am ambivalent on her quitting the governorship but that is an interesting take on why she did it. And in so doing she shocked the country as much as her nomination shocked the country.
We shall see but she still has my vote.
I think you scared him away….
Come on, a second, and third, (maybe a fourth?) Obama term is just what the doctor ordered. The only real cure for socialism, is to get as much of it as you thought you wanted, before you started of course.
Hold on, Duane! Not all Californians are morons. Some are trapped here among them.
You missed the point of your own story! She activated the cloaking device and left the Klingons and Romulans in eachothers' crosshairs. Enterprise treks on to another episode.
Exactly.
<raises hand> I'm also trapped in California.
LOL. I wholeheartedly agree with you. It was more of a medical marijuana reference than a California reference. (-:
Also, I smoked the evil weed for a number of years so I know of what I speak.
Mr. Scott, I loved how you crossed the two streams of politics and sci-fi. Funny post.
If you must know, I feel that the Wrath of Kahn era uniform design is the best looking of the franchise. The only stills I could find of a female were of Lt. Saavik. Yes, indeed, it is her uniform.
However, the photo is clearly intended to represent the point in her Starfleet career when she took, and passed the Kobayahshi Maru. Therefore, the lieutenant insignia is appropriate.
In 2012 when Captain Palin defeats the Borg, I will do a new photoshop!
I loved the new movie!
It was all about moving forward instead of wallowing in your circumstances. The bad things weren't undone… Kirk's father stayed dead, his mother stayed unable to cope, and Vulcan stayed destroyed. Kirk needed a kick in the butt, but both Kirk (eventually) and Spock took what they had and went on with life despite tragedy.
And Kirk was ALWAYS a pervert. Always.
We are the largest domestic supplier. Hell, a 2-acre farm was discovered a mile from my house recently. I wonder what happened to the crop…
I see an easy breezy win for whatever Citizen Sarah Palin decides to do. She will prove to be the light at the end of the long dark BO tunnel of he**. BO's legacy will be an ugly and embarrassing stain on our great nation. He will be circling the drain by the end of the year judging by his plummeting poll numbers. Just to be on the safe side, perhaps you libs/dems/progressives/left wing loons can start practicing saying "President Sarah Palin". It just sounds so good when it hits your lips……President Sarah Palin, President Sarah Palin…….
Joe Biden is as relevant as the nobody on Star Trek that gets knocked off in the second scene.
A agree about the Kobayashi Maru comparison, though. The Democrats had turned the governorship of Alaska into a box that they had her trapped in where she couldn't governor as governor and couldn't campaign for national office so she did the smart thing, she stepped out of the box and escaped the trap, much to their annoyance, and now she's free to say and do what she wants. And beyond the populism and being an outsider, another big thing she has going for her? She's not a lawyer.
And, I believe, the last we saw of Harcourt Fenton Mudd was stranded on a planet with hundreds of replicated nagging wives. Although I don't think Michelle nags the comrade too much, she sure as heck nags the rest of America.
Yeah, the Shatner part was funny.
The O'Brien part leading up to it was just dumb.
Are you kidding? This was all over the place yesterday and yet you think it's an original thought? You just outed yourself as someone who regurgitates anything said by leftist machine no matter how absurd.
Up in smoke, no doubt.
Zing!
"Joe Biden is a Tribble?"
At the very least a possible source of his hair plugs.
I LOVE this article! Great comparison. And I think you are right on the money. I look forward to see what she will do. I think she is a remarkable, intelligent, wonderful woman and would love to have a beer with her and maybe do a little shooting! LOL!
Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL! I mean, I'm a lawyer. But I'm not bad, I'm just briefed that way!
Taking you seriously, more or less…
A little bit of populism is better than the alternative. Anything overdone is generally bad, but the dangers of nationalism and lifting up of the "little people" and hooah-ing the military and preaching about the strength and foundational value of Mom & Pop and those who do dirty and dangerous jobs, who work with their backs and there hands…
The danger in that is less than the danger of rampant cosmopolitanism, of turning human nature on its head and looking with disdain on those who carry our whole society on their backs because their understanding isn't nuanced enough or because their loyalties are to those around them instead of to some higher altruistic purpose.
Turning human nature on its head is insisting that our love and loyalty belongs to something other than our own. First, because while its possible to care in the abstract for the abstract of people who are strangers, it's not possible to care in the concrete with anyone who isn't next to you.
Human bonds are with other humans… not with the idea of other humans.
That's the difference between the ideas we view as populism and the ideas we view as having a broader, more encompassing and more advanced, developed, understanding.
But in the end… in the very END… we can only operate in the abstract, with loyalty and love and care for people we Do Not Know… because we love and care for people we DO know. Destroy the social acceptability of looking first to yourself, your family, and your neighbor because of populism cooties and the basis on which human beings are able to look beyond that is destroyed as well.
At one point it was not Republicans and Democrats. There were a couple of other parties like the Whigs and Federalists who won elections. Let's not count out the value of having such a long run of stiffs offered up for President in the last 20 years. 2 Bushes, a boring Gore, Kerry, Dukakis, the Clintons, Dole, Edwards, Mondale. Neither party has impressed since Reagan and before that Kennedy. It's time to see these dinosaurs die. I know the conservatives are sick of RINO Republicans and suspect that 4 years of Obama/Biden fearmongering and economic destruction will turn off the Democrats.
We just need to hope the Libertarians or Independents can produce likable candidates.
The scientific term for asexual reproduction is bisexual. So, you've heard it here first: Joe Biden is a bisexual.
Klingons have a code of honor AND they're not squeamish about fighting wars against enemies.
NO he has ACCESS to medical pot, but the dudes at the pot club always rip him off by giving him catnip instead. Then he boasts about how high he got! LOL!
Obama is Wayoun, the Vorta. Smiling, pleasant seeming, soft spoken, reasonable – until you cross him. He will leave you behind in a heartbeat. And smile about it.
And yet, he isn't the real power, it is the Founders. wayoun is their mouthpiece. Who is Obama a mouthpiece/teleprompter reader for?
Personally, I've had it with the GOP. The GOP has its priorities completely out of whack. I would like Palin as a 3rd party candidate, and I would like to see a lot of people ditch the DNC and GOP to become independents. The DNC and the GOP are not doing right by the people and its time the people took power away from them.
You beat me to it aharris! He couldn't wait to parrot that comparison!
Phony plagiarist. Maybe we should compare you to Slo-Jo Biden.
I don't know if cutting and pasting constitutes regurgitating. There was no gurgitating to begin with.
claim? oh, sorry, I didn't properly cite the reference in my biblioography. my bad.
claim? oh, sorry, I didn't properly cite the reference in my bibliography. my bad.
yes, do all of that. Do all of that but consistently fail to address the point that is made with the words I posted. be my guest.
So CD so are you, Juan Cole whose article appeared at Salon.com "Sarah Palin, meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
Juan Cole, Salon.com There are uncanny parallels in their biographies, their domestic politics and the way they present themselves — even in their rocky relationships with party elders.
Both are former governors of a northwest frontier state with great natural beauty (in Ahmadinejad's case, Ardabil). Both are known for saying things that produce a classic Scooby-Doo double take in their audiences. Both appeal to a sort of wounded nationalism, speaking of the sacrifice of dedicated troops for an often feckless public, and identifying themselves with the common soldier. They are vigilant against foreign designs on their countries and insist on energy and other independence.
But above all, both are populists who claim to represent the little people against wily and unscrupulous elites, and against pampered upper-middle-class yuppies pretending to be the voice of democracy. Together, they tell us something about dangerous competing populisms in an age of globalization.
great name Oily. I had a similar idea, but you beat me to it.
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