THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(apologies to Keith Olbermann)
Matthew Continetti
The editor in chief of the conservative Washington Free Beacon published a column today in which he outlined why he felt “apathetic” about the passing of Leonard Nimoy — his iconic character, Spock, reminds him too much of President Barack Obama. Matthew Continetti opened his column by noting that the president himself drew the comparison, writing “I loved Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared, and level headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future.”…. “As I thought more about the president’s statement,” Continetti wrote, “I realized he identifies with the very aspects of the Spock character that most annoy me. I don’t love Spock at all.”…. “Not only do Spock’s peacenik inclinations routinely land the Enterprise and the Federation into trouble, his ‘logic’ and ‘level head’ mask an arrogant emotional basket case…Spock spends most of his life as a freelancing diplomat eager to negotiate with the worst enemies of Starfleet. He’s the opposite of a role model: a cautionary tale.”
Wow. Just when I’d begun to think that there was NO WAY Conservatives could find a way to politicize something as benign as the passing of Leonard Nimoy, I’m proven wrong. How sick must one be in order to denigrate the passing of an American cultural icon because the hatred of The Black Guy in the White House © overrides any and all other considerations?
If Barack Obama professed his love for chocolate chip cookies, would Continetti swear them off and profess his fealty to oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies? If the President endorsed turkey sandwiches, would Continetti demand to know why he hates cheeseburgers? If The Black Guy in the White House © came out in favor of oxygen, would Continetti put a plastic bag over his head and proceed to suffocate himself?
We could only hope.
There are some things that, no matter how you slice them, are and should remain apolitical. Barack Obama’s appreciation of Mr. Spock is most definitely one of them. There was no political agenda being advanced by the President’s comments; he was simply expressing his sorrow at the passing of Nimoy, who was a seminal part of our generation’s coming of age. Not only does Continetti hate the President for the fact that he’s still drawing breath, he seems nonplussed that the Star Trek franchise wasn’t a vehicle for pushing Conservative values. he seems particularly nonplussed that Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock revealed him to be a tormented human being: “an enjoyable picture that is revealing of Spock’s awfulness.”
“It shows how Spock is tormented, physically and mentally, by the fact that his mother is human, how Mr. Logic is actually a boiling kettle of fury, resentment, passion, and ambition. Spock is a jerk to his girlfriend Uhura, who is way out of his league. He almost kills Kirk. He is so overcome with emotion he relieves himself from duty in the middle of a huge crisis. Spock is rude to his father.”
He then asks, “and Obama likes this selfish jerk? The coolness the president so appreciates in Spock is a thin veneer over a remarkably arrogant and off-putting detachment from human suffering.”
“What Leonard Nimoy’s death revealed,” Continetti wrote, “is that there is a sizable portion of Trek fans, and of nerds in general, that identifies with Spock’s neuroses, his hang-ups, his self-loathing, that are attracted to the cold soulless abstractions through which he views life, who believe in the naïve and ineffective diplomacy in which he so thoughtlessly and recklessly and harmfully engages.”
“It will take America some time to recover from the legacy of our Spock-loving president,” he concluded.
Yeah, right. Another angry, rage-filled Conservative who hates the fact that The Black Guy in the White House © has “failed.” We should all fail so spectacularly.
In case you might have previously thought otherwise, Continetti has nothing of value to add to the public discourse. His rant revealing his unalloyed hatred for Barack Obama only serves to demonstrate what a small-minded moral midget he is. If the best he can do it fault the President for expressing honest, heartfelt sorrow at the passing of Leonard Nimoy, that’s beyond pathetic. Continetti’s conviction that The Black Guy in the White House © should be (not) seen and not heard says more about his racism and untamed, immature partisan rage than anything else.
Then again, I suppose it’s probably too much to expect a hyper-partisan hack with a full diaper to understand the importance of respect and simple human decency. When you see nothing amiss with politicizing even the most benign and heartfelt comments made by Barack Obama, you reveal more about your own moral shortcomings than you ever could about the President.
