So Glenn Hauman, the administrator of this website, called and asked if I was interested in being a part of a new movement, Trek Against Trump. Apparently an assortment of Trek-related individuals were signing onto a letter that urged voters to turn away from Donald Trump and vote for Clinton. Was I interested in signing on as a supporter. I said, “Sure.” What could be the harm?
Boy, did word get out. Every major (and a lot of minor) media outlets covered it. And a goodly number of high-profile individuals lent their name to the undertaking, including J.J. Abrams, Wil Wheaton, George Takei, Chris Pine and something like seventy others. You can read more about it here
There are well over a thousand comments in the reply section and many of them are exactly what you would expect from Trump supporters. Condemnations of Hollywood-type daring to voice an opinion, declarations that they were going to stop supporting Trek, and–my personal favorite–the shouts of “How dare you bring politics into Star Trek.” Right, because Star Trek never reflected politics. Except for “Omega Glory” which featured the Constitution. And “Patterns of Force” with Nazis. Or “Private Little War” which was a Vietnam metaphor. Or “Bread and Circuses” which features a government at odds with worshipers of the Sun (except no, it’s “the Son,” i.e., Jesus. So politics AND religion.) Or “The Way to Eden” with hippies seeking to leave civilization behind. Or “Conscience of the King” which was a metaphor about hunting Nazis. Or the entirety of “Star Trek VI” which was inspired by the end of the Cold War and the USSR’s collapse. And that’s not even getting into the pre-Vietnam/post Vietnam mindset that governed the way the ships operated in Original Trek vs. Next Gen: the former aggressively interfering despite the Prime Directive because the Enterprise was America and we knew best; the latter hewing tightly to the Prime Directive, hesitant and insanely reluctant to mix in because we didn’t have the right.
So yes, Star Trek is about politics and always has been, and this latest movement by dozens of its most ardent supporters and workers is consistent with that philosophy.
Vote for Clinton.
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