Mr. Sulu, ahead warp factor screed! Set phasers on rant!
Leading conservative website Redstate has launched another photon torpedo at the President, accusing him of...wait for it...watching a movie!
...what does one think when one reads Politico's latest little report that reveals that President Barack Obama has called the Star Trek folks up asking for his own special, private screening of the franchise re-boot?
Of course, it all makes one wonder how one of Star Trek's titular characters might view Obama's demands? One might imagine that the self-centered assumptions of privilege would not be looked upon as anything other than a gross example of the human failing of arrogance born of a too healthy dose of self-esteem.
Since Cubic Politics easily and thoroughly debunks this, while explaining how a Presidential screening of a Klan movie is OK but this isn't, I've only got one thing to add:Does President Obama stand accused of watching a movie called Spock Trek? Because that's really the only way you could imagine a description by a titular character. That is, unless you were using some other definition of titular, like the one that applies to the recent photos of Miss California.
This is, of course, how the game is played. Redstate wouldn't be doing their job if they just let the President watch a movie. This has become the equivalent of that "...in bed" fortune cookie game, except instead, you add "...and that's why Obama is an elitist / socialist/ horseperson of the Apocalypse."
I'm saving my real Star Trek outrage for those who truly deserve it. The film, which grossed $76.5 million through Sunday, has spurred a raft of Trek-related political articles that have earned my ire as surely as tribbles purr.
First, there was Salon's article comparing President Obama to Mr. Spock. I have no problem with the premise, even though I made the comparison six months ago! They do a good job drawing paralells, comparing Obama to Mr. Spock and James Bond (?), but their photoshop job looks less like a Vulcan, and more like the spawn of some "What happens at Starbase 69 stays at Starbase 69" union between a drunken Romulan and a leprechaun. Our own Caleb Howe did a far superior job.
You can also add Newsweek to the list of offenders who are ripping us off. They not only did the Spock comparison, but also a comparison of the Bush administration as Star Wars with the Obama administration as Star Trek. Not only do they erroneously cast W as Darth Vader (everyone knows that's Cheney's role), they also lack the Jedi photo-shopping skills necessary for such a piece, lazily opting for the side-by-side headshots.
I will say this, though, they bring up an interesting thought. If Cheney and Bush are heads of the deposed Galactic Empire, I suppose Barack Obama's Presidency shows us what it must have been like for Luke Skywalker after the 2nd Death Star was blown up. I'm sure there were lots of people, and Ewoks, who feared change, and had trouble getting behind the Skywalker administration. I'm sure Grand Moff Tarkin was all over the TV talking about how the Death Star kept everyone safe.
But I would say they should think of the Ewok who works 2 jobs just to feed his family, or the elderly Wookie couple who must choose between prescription medications and groceries, or the dashing smuggler who must bear the high cost of energy when refueling his Millenium Falcon.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/11/right-wing-attacks-president-obama-for-star-trek-screening/
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