William Astore
Writer, Professor, Retired Lt. Colonel, Air Force
Posted: January 27, 2010 08:09 PM
President Obama: Learn from Mr. Spock!
President Obama's cool, cerebral, logical style has drawn comparisons to Mr.
Spock of Star Trek, as played by Leonard Nimoy in the original series from the
1960s. Like that half-Vulcan, half-human Spock, Obama is a man of two worlds,
of White America and Black America, of Kansas and Kenya. Like Spock, he's a
careful thinker, a man who measures his words with precision, a man who seems
to pride himself in being in control of his emotions.
Yet perhaps the most telling similarity between fictional Spock and factual
Obama is their lack of command experience. Spock was Captain Kirk's loyal first
officer. An expert in science, he had no desire to gain the captain's chair.
Before he gained the Oval Office, Obama was a community organizer, a law
professor, a state senator, and a U.S. senator. Respectable positions, but not
ones requiring a command presence.
Both lack Kirk-like swagger, yet each had to take command. In Spock's case, it
came in the Star Trek episode, "The Galileo Seven." His decisions, the
criticisms he faces, even his mistakes are uncannily like those of Obama in his
first year of office.
To set the scene: Spock leads six crewmembers in a shuttlecraft that crashes on
a dangerous planet. As Spock and crew race against time to repair their
disabled craft, they are attacked by a primitive race of large, hairy
humanoids. While facing down an enemy he barely understands, Spock
simultaneously has to win the trust of a crew that thinks he's a heartless
machine, and perhaps even a malfunctioning one at that. He succeeds, but only
after experiencing a most unSpock-like inspiration.
Along the way, Spock makes several questionable decisions. He seeks both to
understand the hostile primitives and to intimidate them. Rather than hitting
them hard, he directs fire away from them, concluding "logically" that they'll
run away and stay away after seeing "phaser" fire. Meanwhile, he posts a guard
in a vulnerable position. The result: the primitives return, the guard is
killed, and a vacillating Spock is barely able to keep control over an
increasingly insolent crew.
What went wrong? Spock doesn't know. Logically, the primitives should have
respected the superior technology of the marooned crew. But as the thoroughly
human Dr. McCoy points out, the primitives were just as likely to act
irrationally as rationally. Facing dangerous intruders in their midst, they
didn't run and hide; they attacked with unappeasable anger.
While under attack, Spock even experiences a moment of "analysis paralysis" as
he thinks out loud about his failings. A crewmember cuttingly remarks, "We
could use a little inspiration." Even the good doctor calls for less analysis
and more action.
Now, let's turn to Obama. Consider the Republicans as stand-ins for the hairy
primitives (resemblances, if any, are purely coincidental). Throughout his
first year of office, Obama acted as if he could both reason with them -
creating an amicable modus vivendi - and intimidate them if the occasion
demanded.
What he failed to realize (the "irrational" or "illogical" element) was that
Republicans could neither be convinced by sweet talk nor intimidated by warning
shots. Implacable opposition and anger were their preferred options. By
misinterpreting his opponents, Spock lost a crewmember; Obama (perhaps) a
legacy.
How does Spock recover and save the day? By gambling. As the repaired
shuttlecraft crawls into orbit, Spock jettisons what little fuel remains and
ignites it. Like sending up a flare, the redoubtable Mr. Scott, the chief
engineer, notes ruefully, as the shuttle starts to burn up on reentry. But the
desperate gamble works. Kirk, showing his usual command resourcefulness, had
stretched his orders just enough to stay within scanning range of the planet.
Seeing the flare, he beams Spock and the other survivors on board the
Enterprise a split-second before the shuttle disintegrates.
The lesson? Sometimes a commander has to grab the reins of command and act.
Sometimes, he even has to gamble at frightfully long odds. Earlier, Spock had
said he neither enjoyed command nor was he frightened by it. He had to learn to
enjoy it - and to be frightened by it. In the process, he learned that cool
logic and rational analysis are not enough: not when facing determined
opponents and seemingly lost causes.
So, President Obama, what can you learn from Spock's first command? That we
could use a little inspiration. That we want less analysis and more action.
That we may even need a game-changing gamble.
C'mon, Mr. President: Jettison the fuel and ignite it. Maybe, just maybe, the
path you blaze will lead us home again.
Professor Astore currently teaches History at the Pennsylvania College of
Technology in Williamsport, PA. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and can
be reached at wast...@pct.edu.
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