Leonard Nimoy Sounds Off On Obama’s ‘Jedi Mind Meld’

Leonard Nimoy isn’t normally one to sound off on politics, but a recent presidential flub was just too good for the Star Trek alum to pass up.

Nimoy, who played Spock in the original Star Trek series and the successful film franchise, corrected President Barack Obama’s Friday comments about needing a “Jedi mind meld” to deal with Congress.

Here’s Obama’s comments regarding the sequester:

“I know this has been some of the conventional wisdom floating around Washington, that somehow even though most people agree that I’m being reasonable, that most people agree I’m presenting a fair deal, the fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow, you know, do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.”

Fans of both Star Trek and Star Wars were quick to point out the flub President Obama made. In Star Wars, you see, there’s the “Jedi mind trick,” by which a Jedi Knight can exert their will on the feeble-minded. Then in Star Trek there’s the “Vulcan mind meld,” which is more of a way to share memories, thoughts, etc. through touch.

“Completely different!” cries the nerd in all of us.

We could get into the finer differences between a “Jedi mind trick” and a “Vulcan mind meld” (and even uncover instances where they are sometimes pretty close to the same) all day, but this article is about Leonard Nimoy’s response to Obama’s pop culture flub.

Which was:

Only a Vulcan mind meld will help with this congress. LLAP

— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) March 1, 2013

Fantastic!

Of course, this just leads me to wonder which is worse: President Obama making a minor sci-fi faux pas, or going way out of your way to defend him for it?

Because that’s exactly what the Vancouver Sun, Mashable, and even an MIT blog bent over backwards to do. They reached into obscure novels of the Star Wars expanded universe to show that there is really a such thing as a “Jedi Mind Meld!” Well, that was close. God forbid President Obama be wrong about something so small as a pop culture reference.

Come on, guys. Even Salon and NPR were smart enough to steer away from that one.

What do you think? Was President Obama technically in the clear for his “Jedi Mind Meld” flub? Either way, the fact the Leonard Nimoy entered the fray to sound off on it was simply sublime.