This was posted on Big Hollywood over a month ago now, and I have no idea how I missed it; this is just too fun. A tip of the hat to Leigh Scott for coming up with this:
Sarah Palin is Captain Kirk. Why? Because she just passed the Kobayashi Maru.
For those of you who don’t know what the Kobayashi Maru is, let me explain. In the Star Trek universe it is an unwinnable test. It’s creator, Mr. Spock, designed it to test how Starfleet captains deal with failure and death. There is no right way to successfully navigate through it.
But cadet James Tiberius Kirk found a way to beat it. He rigged the computer simulation to allow him to complete the mission without killing his crew. Starfleet accused him of cheating, but Kirk’s response was simple, eloquent, and very revealing. “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario. I don’t like to lose.” Kirk didn’t change the strategy. He changed the rules. . . .
Palin was faced with her own Kobayashi Maru. How could she effectively govern the state of Alaska while facing ridiculous ethics charges and the scrutiny of the national media? How could she increase her exposure in the lower 48 while staying true to the people in Alaska who elected her? Perhaps if the wingnuts in Alaska didn’t stalk her with silly lawsuits she would have simply put her larger ambitions on the back burner and continued to do her job as governor. But it wasn’t meant to be. She was perfectly set up to fail. Her popularity in Alaska would decline. The national media would point to it as an indicator of her overall effectiveness. The Klingons . . . I mean the left, would have won.
But Palin defied them. She changed not her strategy, but the very rules. She resigned her position, turning the state over to her loyal Lieutenant Governor to continue the plans and policies she put into motion. Like any good story, it was an unexpected twist, yet when viewed in retrospect it was the only way it could play out.
That’s an interesting analogy. You might not like the comparison between Sarah Palin and James T. Kirk in general, but as an analysis of what exactly Gov. Palin did with her resignation, I think it’s a good one.
Rob,
I have been impressed with Mrs. Palin from the start – I mean before she came on the national scene. Senator McCain first met her at a national Governor's conference in 2006, talked with her for about 15 minutes and chose his wing man.
She has not grown from there. She has always been herself. What has changed is us, the American people. The Good Lord succors us in our tribulations.
Roy
No, I do think she's grown; we all grow, unless we stagnate. But I agree, she's been an impressive person since well before arriving on the political scene.
As for how this country and its people are changing–it will be interesting to see how things go from here.
Rob,
Of course she's grown. I meant to contrast her innate qualities with the inanity of the dumbfounded media.
Roy
I certainly agree with you there.
Yet another reason to love coming to the Spyglass – I am a rabid Star Trek fan – but only the ORIGINAL Star Trek, and the movies of the same – no "next generation" nonsense for this girl…LOL.
So imagine my delight in your post today – I'm headed off to slumber with a huge grin on my face.
And – the comparison is perfect. No complaints here. 🙂
I married a Trek fan (and a Dr. Who fan, even more so). It was very congenial, since I've been a fantasy/sci-fi fan since third grade or so, but I'd never watched the show and so didn't have the knowledge base. That hasn't been a problem for fifteen years now. 🙂
Sis,
Hear, hear! I did indeed watch the original. The first computer game I ever played was "Star Trek" – 1967. Mainframe – played on Model 35 Teletype machines, 15 characters per second. The location of the Klingon ships was displayed in Cartesian coordinates – 4,3. The phasers were aimed in radians. Ya needed your Pickett and Eckels Log-Log Decitrig slide rule to beat it.
As long as there have been computers, people have been figuring out ways to play games on them. 🙂
Roy, I played something very similar too! It was the first game I played on a computer as well, and as slow as it was, I thought it was wonderful! (The other time consuming computer game was a typing speed test – LOL)