So a bunch of reporters sat around one day and tried to think of questions to ask Obama. You know, the really core issues that would matter in the presidential race. The things about Obama that could make or break a candidacy... Things that nobody's asked before, simply because they're all afraid to tarnish their pet candidate. They all sat around, though very hard, and after several cups of raktajino coffee, they came up with the perfect question:

What does Obama have on his iPod?

I once heard that Democrats are more concerned with how their candidates LOOK to the world. How they act, how the say things... How lovable they are in general. Republicans are more concerned about principles. What they'll do and what they say are the key issues, now how they look. Black Republican candidate? We don't care as long as he or she has conservative principles. Woman candidate? We don't care as long as she has conservative principles. Old candidate? We don't care as long as he or she has conservative principles. While the Democrats are all whining about how their candidates are or aren't getting votes because of sexism or racism, Republicans are all on their side of the room worrying about what a candidate will actually do in offce and ignore all the puff articles about how Michelle Obama's dress was an attempt to unify people.

You know, unification is all well and good, but it would help to know what Obama is unifying us FOR. He's flip-flopped so many times, it's pointless to predict exactly what he's going to do. We already know he thinks guns are things that bitter rural citizens cling to, that catastrophic global warming is something that the government needs to control, that drilling for oil on our own land should be illegal, even when China and Cuba are drilling closer to our shores than we're currently allowed to, and that he totally agrees with all forms of abortion, including partial-birth and after-birth (commonly referred to as infanticide). This guy is one sad, strange little man, and all the liberal media can do is ask him if he likes ice cream, if he likes bowling, and what music he listens to? A people just eat it up? I sincerely hope that the people who think these articles give an idea of what his presidency would be will manage to be too caught up in the week's episode of American Idol and forget to go to the November polls. We don't need those kind of people voting for the leader of the largest, most powerful country on the face of the planet. We need to focus on what Obama WILL DO as president, not on how he can connect to the people. Connecting is good, but when that's all you do, you could be voting for a cute baby animal for all the principles you know Obama stands for. Cute baby animals are notorious for not running countries as well as people.

By the way, I heard a couple of pretty great jokes a couple days ago. The first:

Chelsea Clinton welcomed home an Iraqi soldier and asked: "Since you’ve just gone through hell, what can possibly be worse?" The soldier immediately replied with: "Osama, Obama, and your momma."

On a broader note, here's the second:

If Clinton, Obama and McCain were all on a sinking ship, who would be saved? ... The United States of America!

I know these are all pretty crappy candidates we have this term, and I would prefer anyone but Obama and McCain, but I'm going to vote for McCain even though I don't agree with a lot of his positions... Simply because I'm fairly certain what he's going to try to do with his presidency. Obama has changed his mind on a whim so many times just to cater to who he's talking to at the moment that I don't think it's possible to project what he's planning on doing... You know, besides national health care and other socialist tendancies.

Let me just jog your memory of something that happened several, several years ago. There was a regime in a country far, far away. It wasn't gaining much momentum with the adults of the country, so the group was faced with a dilemma of how to progress their ideas. After much deliberation, they decided to target specifically the youth of the culture. The group was a patient group, and the realized that the best way to advance their agenda was to get the youth involved. Eventually, if all went according to plan, they would have an entire generation of people who were indoctrinated with their philosophy and there would be nothing anyone could do about it after that. That country was Germany, and the mastermind behind the process was Adolph Hitler. I'm not calling Obama a Hitler, but you do have to wonder at the striking similarities of their political maneuvering. (That is, if you have an open mind...)

So... I want to work, but my leg has differet plans, so while the two of us are trying to determine who's going to have the final say, I've been relegated to sitting and lounging around, being incredible bored. As a result, I've started watching more Star Trek. Deep Space Nine, to be exact. I'd watched Seasons 1 through some of 3 and I stopped for some reason. I managed to toil through what's generally considered to be the worst part of the series and I stopped RIGHT as it was getting good. Actually, I remember why I stopped watching it... It was my very first semester. I remember it vividly because I got violently ill for a week and I had to inform everyone that I was NOT going to be in classes that week. I was incredibly bed ridden... I couldn't move or I'd get sick. I couldn't even drink water without getting sick... To pass the time, I watched Deep Space Nine. I charged through all those episodes and burned myself out. Interesting how I only start watching it again when I'm not feeling well...

But I've learned something about Star Trek. I've noticed that the longer it goes, the less people are inclined to think they're good... Voyager, for example, isn't usually considered to be a good Star Trek, at least from what I've gathered, what with the whole debacle with Seven of Nine being called a way to keep the male audience interested... (Personally, I thought she was awesome as a character, not as a body, and I'm sorry if one is too short-sighted to see her otherwise.) But that's the first Star Trek that I watched through, beginning to end, in chronological order. I'd seen all the others, but only bits and pieces and completely out of order. I watched Voyager completely through and I loved it... So much, in fact, that the next year, I watched it AGAIN.

Then I started Deep Space Nine, and it was a completely different feel. I was used to the Delta Quadrant and no regular contact with Starfleet Command, so Alpha Quadrant stories were new and exciting, and I started catching similarities and references from Voyager, and it allowed me to connect Voyager to Deep Space Nine. (Especially when it came to the Maquis.) I know if I watched DS9 first, I would make connections to it from Voyager, but then I might not have enjoyed Voyager so much, since it's considerably weaker than DS9 when it comes to story. Face it... DS9's Dominion War story is probably the single longest and most complicated story in the Star Trek universe.

After I watch DS9, I plan on watching The Next Generation, because Worf and O'Brien came from the Enterprise and they constantly refer to it and jobs they did. I absolutely despise TNG. Well, I didn't always. I used to think it was the greatest, but then I started watching Stargate SG-1 and realized that science-fiction acting can be SO MUCH BETTER. When I saw an episode of TNG afterwards, I almost gagged at the atrocious dialogue, even from Picard. But I think now that I've seen DS9 and have heard stories of the Enterprise, I can now go back and watch TNG and be able to make connections to DS9 in those brilliant EUREKA! moments that I've been having with DS9 and Voyager.

Of course, when I watch TNG, I'm going to have to go further back and check out The Original Series... Because that's where it all started. I have never been able to watch TOS and keep a steady stomach. I once saw a fist fight between Kirk and someone else on the ship... I was laughing my head off because not only were they not landing punches in a believable manner, but when they were thrown into the wall, the wall SHOOK. Not exactly the most steady of set designs... Doors that sound like a bit of passing gas when they open, that awful pitched squeal when the comm channels are opened, and those terrible excuses for tricorders. Ugh. I really never enjoyed TOS. But I think after watching TNG, I'll be able to... Hopefully I'll get more EUREKA! moments, but by then, I hope to have an interest in watching more Federation history.

Then... There's Enterprise. That pathetic new-BSG quality excuse for a Star Trek that dared stumble on to the air waves. I'm not sure how much is considered canon by the fans, but there are a few things that I (sadly) think would be interesting to watch... Especially the signing of the Federation Charter. I realize Enterprise completely destroys most existing canon and timelines in a sorry effort to make things interesting, but there are some things that might be neat to see... From a... Purely objective stance: "This isn't Star Trek, but let's see what they think happened at the beginning of the Federation." Also, the idea of primitive replication and transporter technology makes me happy... We've had that stuff for years, so it'll be fun to see how they get around it. Slow Warp speeds and all that good stuff. I don't know, though... I'll have to think about it.

But I think it's going to be a good thing that I'm watching things in reverse chronological order. Not only do you develop an appreciation for the "lesser" versions, but I think it gives a more enjoyable experience. Each series doesn't depend on the last, but, as I've said, they do sometimes mention previous events. You don't have to know what the previous events were, exactly, because they explain what you need to know, and sometimes you might not even know they're referencing a previous event, but I guarantee you'll know it's a reference when you go to the next series and you watch the events unfold in real time.

So, uh... There you have it. I've been obsessing about Star Trek, and I believe I've become as much of a Trekkie as the next, as far as series lore goes. I haven't dressed up as a Ktarian or gone to any conventions, but when it comes to recalling what happened, when, why and where? I'm your dog. (So far at least for Voyager and DS9.) I've even dreamed about replicators and Starfleet. I would totally enlist as an Engineer... No doubt about it. Maybe marry a Trill... With those cute spots... Erm... Okay, time to stop daydreaming.