Chris writes:
Okay, another one:
What comic book hero would make the best US president? Or Star Trek character, your choice.
I ask this one because one of the best political discussions I’ve ever gotten into was “Who from Star Trek would make the best president?” I was utterly shocked at some of the choices!
Sounds silly, right? Ancient Greek philosophers talked about who from Mt. Olympus was fit for office…
Or both. Why not?
I think about Steve Rogers, a/k/a Captain America. I was watching a commercial for the upcoming Avengers movie. Cap says to the Hulk, “Hulk smash.” And the Hulk smashes. This mortal could control this gamma-infused monster. And it has long been thus; Cap’s first appearance in the comic book Avengers #4 filled his teammates with awe. Yet, Cap has had his doubts about America, at least in the 1970s, written by Steve Englehart, when the President was engaged in improper activities.
Other possibilities: Charles Xavier, the leader of culturally disparate X-Men; Reed Richards, head of the Fantastic Four. I’d consider Wonder Woman, depending on which iteration is offered.
As far as Star Trek, I assume we’re not going to worry that the candidates are not in fact American. I must admit that I know the first two series better than the subsequent series, though I did watch them all. I’d always want to look at the captains. Certainly NOT James T. Kirk, but quite possibly Jean Luc Picard, or the others. I wonder if Spock, or Data, would be too distant to lead (probably Obama’s problem), Scott and Chekov, and Worf too hot-headed. Maybe Sulu or Number 1.
Professor Xavier was mine! š I think he’d be the best president because:
– He’s a high level telepath. Therefore, assuming that some evil villain didn’t figure out how to influence his alignment, he would be able to end all war simply because he has the best intelligence possible: he can literally see inside the mind of the enemy.
– His alignment is “good” and he’s extremely responsible and intelligent
– He has experience teaching which leads to great public speaking skills, an ability to deal with the press, and an ability to deal with hecklers (These, incidentally, are the things I do like about Obama.)
Kirk would make a terrible, terrible, terrible president. And yet, in many different ways, we… keep electing Kirk.
When I got into the “Who from Star Trek for President?” conversation with people, I could not believe the number of Spock supporters. That makes no sense to me.
Spock is purely rational and logical, humans are not. Sometimes Spock would make decisions for the greater good that would seem cold to humans. Furthermore, I don’t think he could accurately predict human behavior because humans ARE irrational and, therefore, their behavior would be somewhat mysterious to him. Not good qualities for a president, imho.
But Picard is very lawful, which I look for in a president. I like the idea of a president that follows the law even when he feels it would be better otherwise. Picard is all about not violating the prime directive, even when he wants to or can see justification in doing so.
Great choices! I know very little about Captain America (I’m much more DC than Marvel), but that’s probably a good choice, too.
Well, everyone from Star Trek would need to submit their birth certificates to make sure they were eligible.
Or, in the case of Data, the manufacturers’ warranty.
Just looked up “Number 1” and the pilot episode “The Cage.” Want to see it, but the plot summary makes it sound horrifying. It’s very much like the inverse of the Odin story.
I can’t believe both of you saw the issue with the natural born citizen clause. I’ve had this conversation with about a half dozen people and not one has brought up that issue even though it’s pretty obvious.
I think that Dick Grayson, the modern Nightwing would make a good president, he studied under Batman, but has a more humanistic look at other people. In Star Trek, Captain Picard would make a good President, except when he was turned into a Borg.
@ mckinnon:
I don’t know that much about Nightwing. I only really know him from the animated series, and even that I only saw a few times.
All the Star Trek and comic book universe people would run the risk of being taken over by an archvillain, which might be something to consider. Also, don’t know if Picard would be elected because he had been Borg.
@ Roger:
And, of course, then there’s the whole Spock thing: “I don’t get what the big deal is, ‘electing the first Vulcan president.’ He’s just as much a human as he is a Vulcan. Why does everyone insist on calling him ‘The first Vulcan president’?”… š