Why Conservatives Will Miss Mr. Spock

The death of Leonard Nimoy is sad to many of us, but he was especially admired by political conservatives. The character he played on Star Trek, Mr. Spock was a very rational, intelligent character who often came to opposite conclusions to people around him (if you live in a liberal place or went to a liberal college, you can personally relate to this), but who used logic and common sense to figure things out. If you were to tell Spock there was global warming, he'd whip out his tricorder, take his own readings, and tell you you were wrong. If you described a society to Spock that invited strangers in and gave them unlimited welfare, Spock would clearly call such a society "illogical". Here are some more examples from episodes of the original Star Trek TV series:

1. "Devil in the Dark." Evil AFL-CIO miners unwittingly give a silicon based life form called the Horta the equivalent of repeated late term abortions, until Spock teaches them to value all life. 2. "A Taste of Armageddon." A society lets a computer theoretically project disasters, and even casualties, and people designated as casualties voluntarily go into disintegration booths. This is a lot like the global warming scare we face today where data is manipulated to create a theoretical disaster and liberals say we have to punish ourselves based on these theoretical, false projections. 3. "Spock's Brain." In this classic tale of feminism gone amok, a woman-only society forces men to live like savages above ground while they have cushy quarters under the planet surface. The women have given up thinking for themselves and have only childlike intelligence, so they steal Spock's brain so he can run their facility. But Spock teaches them a better way, to give their men equality and to learn for themselves, without affirmative action or the stealing of men's brains. 4. "Return of the Archons." In a parable of communism, a computer controls everybody's minds, telling them what to eat and drink and do, and when to be happy or sad or angry, much like we'd expect to see in a third or fourth term of the Obama Administration. Kirk and Spock fight to give people the freedom to make their own decisions. 5." Plato's Stepchildren." Spock tap dances around Captain Kirk's head, and sings quite well. There's no special connection to conservatism here, it's merely very cool. 6. "Whom Gods Destroy." What happens when the mentally ill are deinstitutionalized? We find out in this episode. When things get violent, Kirk and Spock have to work hard to get all the nuts back into the bin. 7. "Turnabout Intruder." A spurned lover named Janice Lester takes over Captain Kirk's body with her mind. When Spock finds out what is happening, he opposes her, refusing to serve a transgender captain because he/she is mentally unstable. Lester's instability and gender confusion allows Kirk to get his body back. 8. "Friday's Child." Kirk, Spock, McCoy and an expendable security guard (who dies in first 30 seconds) beam down to the planet of the fundamentalist Arab tribesmen who mistreat women. Deprived of their weapons, Kirk and Spock use bows and arrows and spears to bring the 24th century version of ISIS to their knees. 9. "The Omega Glory." Kirk and Spock assist the Yangs (Yankees) in their fight against the Kohms (Communists). The Yangs have a constitution, but because of liberal mangling over the centuries it sounds like "Eb Plebnista" and makes no sense to everyone. With Spock's help, Kirk reads it properly to the Yangs and teaches them the importance of following original intent. 10. "This Side of Paradise." Colonists get infected with spores that turns them into lazy collective farmers who don't eat meat and barely produce enough to eat. When Kirk, and eventually Spock, free them, they realize how much time they've wasted and ask to return to a lifestyle of capitalism and the consumption of beef. A bit of trivia: When the Spock character dies in The Wrath of Khan, there was an unforgettable scene featuring his coffin on the "Genesis Planet". It was filmed in a lush corner of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, after they had cleared the hippies out. Mr. Spock will be missed. Pedro Gonzales is the editor of Newsmachete.com, the conservative news site.