[President-elect] Obama to boldly go where no geek has gone before

KBCI-TV / The Associated Press ^ | December 24, 2008 | Seth Borenstein

[2ndDivisionVet]

Get ready for the geek-in-chief.

President-elect Barack Obama used to collect comic books, can't part with his BlackBerry, and once flashed Leonard "Mr. Spock" Nimoy the Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" sign.

That and other evidence has convinced some of Obama's nerdier fans that he'll be the first American president to show distinct signs of geekiness. And that's got them as excited as a Tribble around a Klingon.

Obama is good at "repressing his inner geek, but you can tell it's there," especially when he goes into nuanced explanations of technical_matters, said Benjamin Nugent, author of the book "American Nerd: The Story of My People."

"One imagines a terrifying rally of 'Star Trek' people shouting, 'One of us!'" Nugent said, in an interview conducted by e-mail, of course.

Others see only some geek qualities, qualifying the president-elect as merely "nerd-adjacent." After all, he's an athlete and kind of cool, some experts demur. Still, there's enough there for geeks to celebrate.

Psychology professor Larry Welkowitz of Keene_State College in New Hampshire hopefully speculated that there's a shift in what's cool and that "smart can_be in. Maybe that started with the computer programmers of the '90s. The Bill Gateses of the world are OK."

The Obama transition team would not comment on the president-elect's geek qualities, even when_it was suggested those could be positive. And his old college friends give the geek idea a split vote. While Margot Mifflin, now a journalism professor in New York, said she saw no geeky signs in Obama as a freshman at Occidental_College in California, Amiekoleh Kimbrew Usafi recalled it differently, despite the lack of technology back in 1979.

"He's a geek because he was smart," Usafi said, noting that Occidental was a geeky school to start with, billing itself as the Yale of the West.

[vietvet67]

lol. good one..

[JoJo Gunn]

"We need Star Trek more than ever"

 

[Texas Fossil]

You are Sooooo correct, he is not a Geek.

But he is a lying Marxist phoney.

[DocH]

Where’s the pic of Hussein-the-left-wing-Socialist-geek on his bicycle?

[Bryanw92]

>>And that’s got them as excited as a Tribble around a Klingon.

I hope the author of this story realizes that tribbles HATE Klingons.

So I’m about as excited about BHO as a tribble around a Klingon, but I’m sure that the tingly-legged journalist that wrote the story isn’t.

[elk]

Geek implies wattage, not hubris, so I don't think geek's accurate.

Maybe, "dork" is a better fit?

Just thinking out loud.

[Gritty]

Thanks for the swell article on another facet of the Obama Wonder, but I've already had my fill of hero-worshop today.

So, I'll pass and go watch out my window for Santa Claus. He's much more real than Obama and besides, I and my great-grandchildren won't have to pay for the presents he brings everybody else.

[HungarianGypsy]

I heard an ad on the radio this morning. “I can’t believe Barack Obama finally became president.” You, too, can order your commerative DVD. It’s highly creepy.

[Excellence]

And that's got them as excited as a Tribble around a Klingon.

Romulan, you idiot.

[Right Wing Assault]

FAKE geek.

[mel]

I agree, I basically have quit the news including Fox. Maybe 10 minutes per week at the most

[KellyM37]

I don't know if he's a geek, nerd, whatever, I do know he is mentally ill, ugly, dangerous and very gay acting.

[real_patriotic_american]

I still visualize Obama being DQ’d from serving as President for not being a natural born American citizen.

http://www.rallycongress.com/constitutional-qualification/1244

[weegee]

He was played up as a studly radical in his books, and an articulate speaker in the press (ums and uhs and ending his words in in’ instead of ing were redacted).

First I’m hearing about how he collected comic books. He moved around from Hawaii to Indonesia and back. Generally people didn’t keep such things in a transitory lifestyle.

And for the record, Bill Clinton also claimed to have a comic collection.

[GoodDay]

“Yeah well Occidental can “bill” itself however it likes - doesn’t mean anyone else gives a rat’s a## what they pretend to be. Maybe they should call themselves “the Oxford of America” to really sound prestigious..... doesn’t mean anyone believes it.”

Doesn’t Yale bill itself as the Occidental of the East?

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Merry Christmas Greetings Gritty:

So, I'll pass and go watch out my window for Santa Claus. He's much more real than Obama and besides, I and my great-grandchildren won't have to pay for the presents he brings everybody else.

Excellent summary of 0bama, the empty suit.

Christmas Cheers,
OLA

[ronnyquest]

The definition of Occidental:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/occidental

From several points it can be considered ironic that Barack Hussein Obama attended that institution.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Welcome to the cult of personality.

[usconservative]

His fall will be monumental, IMO.

IMO, the happiest person on the planet is none other than Jimmah Carter.

Finally, someone's come along that will prove to be a bigger disaster of a President than he was.

[2harddrive]

I just think it is a shame America elected an illegal alien as President.