Diplomatic Obama Our Own Spock

Cool-headed 'cultural translator' appeals to Star Trek generation
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 7, 2009 11:40 AM CDT
Diplomatic Obama Our Own Spock
Actors in the TV series "Star Trek": from left, Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock, William Shatner as Captain Kirk, DeForest Kelley as Doctor McCoy and James Doohan as Commander Scott.   (AP Photo/Paramount Television)

With the release of Star Trek tomorrow, we’ll be seeing a lot of Spock again—but we’ve been watching his earthly counterpart all year. President Obama is our own version of the charismatic half-Vulcan, writes Jeff Greenwald for Salon. His cool head and appealing intellect tie him to Spock; so does his diplomatic role as “cultural translator,” notes a media expert.

“Like Spock, part of what makes Obama so appealing is the fact that although he’s an outsider, he uses that distance to cultivate a sense of perspective,” Greenwald writes. “If benevolent ETs were to land on the Mall tomorrow, most of humanity would be proud to have Barack Obama speak for us,” he continues. “If Bush were still president, we'd be looking at Mars Attacks.”
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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