The Zeitgeist

Star Trek: Above and Beyond. Third Film of New Generation Delivers.

I first started watching Star Trek in the fall of 1966 on what was our family’s only TV – a 19-inch black and white Zenith that sat on a metal rolling cart in the living room of our two bedroom apartment. (It wouldn’t be until at least 1970 that we first got a color set even though NBC was running shows in color way before ‘66.) I was eight years old during Star Trek’s first season and that my parents tolerated my fascination with this show that aired after my bedtime is something which I’m most grateful for all these years later. As a kid and then a teenager the thing I wanted most to do in this world was to pivot at warp factor two and bring all photon torpedoes to bear. So, you could call me a lifetime Trek fan.

For the uninitiated, Star Trek is the story of the Starship Enterprise, a giant battleship in space on a peaceful five year mission to explore the galaxy and go where “no one has ever gone before.” Getting to the outer limits of space is made possible by traveling beyond the speed of light at “warp speed.” At the helm of the Enterprise is Captain James T. Kirk, an all-American boy from Iowa. William (“Priceline Negotiator”) Shatner originated the role of Kirk 50 years ago and played the character both in the series and a slew of movies from 1979 to 1994. Kirk’s main sidekick is an alien officer from the planet Vulcan named Mr. Spock, played from 1964 (in the very first pilot) until his recent death by Leonard Nimoy.

In 2009 due to the graying and gradual demise of many key cast members (and also to remake the epic for a new generation) Paramount Pictures relaunched and rebooted the original Star Trek crew with a whole new cast playing the old familiar characters. Star Trek from 2009 was a huge gamble – could the original Trek characters be replaced by new actors like the Superman, Batman and Spiderman franchises? The answer at both the box office and from fans was a resounding yes.

Which brings us to the newly released Star Trek Beyond. This is the third film in the new generation of the original reprise and it’s pretty safe to say it’s the best of the three so far. (Not that the first two were anything less than very good). Directed by “Fast & Furious” Justin Lin, Beyond moves at breakneck speed and at a breathless pace but doesn’t feel exhausting or overdone. The special effects are outstandingly creative and majestically executed so that not only are they awe-inspiring but 90 percent of them have plausibility as being technologically possible – which was one of the key effects hallmarks of the original series from the ‘60s.

Starting with the 2009 reboot, producer J.J. Abrams assembled a terrific ensemble cast. Nearly everyone in the crew clicks together and feels like the children or the clones of the original cast. Chris Pine as Kirk does an amazing job playing a 1967 William Shatner while at the same time bringing a millennial sensibility to the role, a tough combination to pull off. Zachary Quinto nails Nimoy’s Mr. Spock and truly outstanding in his cloning is Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. You’d think they injected him with the late DeForest Kelly’s DNA. Beyond in addition to nonstop action also features full-out Trek humor with the Spock-McCoy banter as spot-on as if it were Nimoy and Kelly on the old Desilu sets in ’68.

The supporting cast of Simon Pegg as Scotty, Zoe Saldana and Uhura and the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov all hit the bullseye as well. Pegg was also the principal writer of the film. Idris Elba as the villain du jour (Krall) is sufficiently mad and menacing and truly a delight is Sofia Boutella as a stranded woman warrior and Kirk ally, Jaylah.

Without being a spoiler, Beyond features a lot of derring-do, suspense and danger for the Enterprise crew but knowing full well that a sequel must certainly be in the offing, you know the galaxy and the Federation will be saved, evil will be eradicated and hope restored with a bright future for humanity, but you’ll have a great time watching the heroes from Star Fleet bring it all home.

Beyond is probably one of the three best Star Trek movies produced since 1979 and if you like Trek, science fiction or action films, this is very much well worth the price of a theater admission and absolutely should be seen either in 3-D or on a really big screen.

The Zeitgeist

It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To.

(Note: This appeared originally on The Huffington Post on the eve of the Republican National Convention which started on July 18, 2016)

In what very likely may look like a derivation of the Miss Universe Pageant (a former Trump Production) the Republican Party convenes from July 18-21^st in Cleveland, home of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. The upcoming event portends the antithesis of dull and formal conventions past. Look (metaphorically) for a fusion of a glam rock/heavy metal concert with dollops of The Apprentice, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, WWE and Baywatch covered with a light dusting of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, or the will of Trump wherein the GOP “Establishment” will be formally “fired.”

In what can be termed “The Great Leap Backward,” Donald Trump will be leading the GOP into a pre-Eisenhower policy mélange of isolationism, tariffs and economic protectionism (rejection of international free trade) mixed with a noxious whiff of nativism which manifests itself in draconian restrictions on travel and immigration, particularly for ethnic groups that are non-white and non-Christian. It’s no small wonder then that neither Bush the Elder or Bush the Younger will be in attendance. Neither will the “losers” John McCain and Mitt Romney. Trump just doesn’t throw their kind of a party.

In 1963 Leslie Gore had a number one hit with “It’s My Party (and I’ll cry if I want to)” The great Quincy Jones produced it. In this famous single, Gore asserts that “you would cry too if it happened to you,” especially because “Judy’s smile is so mean.” There’s a lot of weeping and bawling in both mainstream and even Tea Party Republican circles because Trump and Trumpism are so antithetical to GOP ideology, ethos and even style that many of us feel dumped after a lifetime of going steady and this is a cause of great vexation, consternation and lamentation – so much so that I’ll probably not watch much of the convention and may not even vote for a presidential candidate in November for the first time in my adult life.

The Party of Lincoln and Reagan arrives at Cleveland with a presidential nominee that most Republicans don’t want and in fact that a solid plurality loathe. Trump got the nod from an invasion of the party snatchers – those open primary voters who crashed the Republican Party by either legitimately crossing party lines, becoming a Republican at the polling station or were allowed to vote Republican even as Independents. A lot of key states permitted this. Trump touts all the millions he brought into the Party – what he really did was bring them in to vote for Trump. The ridiculously fractured field of 17 wannabees, enabled by a debate practically every week allowed Trump to trump the professional politicians with a brew of outrageousness and insults that most media enabled in a shameless pandering for ratings.

Unlike the Democrats who have a “Super Delegate” mechanism to keep the party from getting too wild and out of hand (and which gives some say to party leaders and activists), the Republicans have no “great wall” to fend off the invading wildlings and figurative Mongol hordes. The Democratic Party got tired of nominating implausible candidates and taking a drubbing on election day so they made it virtually impossible for a total outsider to snatch their nomination unless that person swept every primary, much to Bernie Sanders’ dismay.

Both parties need to revise their primary and party membership criteria. It’s not enough to just say you’re a Democrat or Republican and then be able to select the nominee for the highest office in the land and leader of the free world on a whim in whatever party even if you don’t belong to one.

First, the GOP needs to abolish open primaries – they’re a Trojan horse that will always portend danger to viable mainstream candidates because populists like Trump can bring in the wackadoo crowd or Democratic activists can torpedo a candidacy by driving a lot of their members to the polls to vote Republican as spoilers. This can also happen to Democrats too in reverse in an open primary. To vote in a party primary one should be a member of that party for at least 45 days prior and more significantly, there should be a membership fee so that there is some level of serious commitment to the party and skin in the game. I recommend a charge of $10 to join a party with the proceeds being split down the middle between the state and national party organizations. That way the parties pick-up some important revenue (and not from special interests) and voters can’t drop in on a whim. This would seriously limit “spam voters” and “malware candidacies.”

Next, the Republicans have to catch their tongues – no weekly debates for a year with 17 people. There should be a total of six debates, one per month prior to the California primary in June and to participate in the debates a candidate should be polling at least 15 percent, not one percent.

But this is all looking to the future. Meanwhile I, along with millions of other Republicans will absolutely be crying over all the spilled milk and wasted opportunities that a Trump nomination brings and the very real dangers looming for the country if he wins because of his immaturity, irrationality, bellicosity, belligerence and braggadocio.

The Zeitgeist

Strange Bedfellows: This Florida Republican Agrees with Bernie and Hillary. Trump Must be Stopped So America and the GOP Can Be Saved.

Note: This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post and InauguralClock.com on March 14, 2016, the day prior to the Florida Primary.

It’s an odd day indeed when a lifelong Republican finds himself in agreement with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. It’s the very definition of “politics makes strange bedfellows.”

Over the weekend Hillary said “Donald Trump is not who we are” and Bernie Sanders asserted that “Donald Trump is a pathological liar.” I wholeheartedly agree with both statements.

Donald Trump has conjured a witches brew of ignorance, belligerence, insults, racism, misogyny and xenophobic jingoism along with quite a (forgive the pun) liberal sprinkling of bald-faced mendacity that is so outrageous that it boggles the mind and the senses.

The Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbles was famous for saying that “the bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.” In the case of Donald Trump, he lies almost all of the time. (when he’s not busy flip-flopping his positions on the issues) Big lies, little lies, sweet lies, mean lies, white lies.

Zombie voters have crept out of their usual stupefied beer-fueled crypts and are reveling in a candidate who appears as ignorant as they are on the issues and is actually proud and unapologetic about it. It’s as though every sweat hog and slacker from high school gathered together to violently expel the principal, faculty and all the honors students from campus and then still expected to graduate and get good jobs.

Intelligence, intellect, accomplishments, facts, manners and even polite speech are derided as pejorative characteristics of “The Establishment,” all those bright Poindexter types who’ve hijacked the country and conspired to keep the average Joe down for their own gain. It’s time for the revolution of the ignorant.

That Trump is a privileged Ivy League graduate born to wealth and privilege is irrelevant to this voter so long as Trump talks the talk of blaming anyone and everyone for the county’s failures – naming scapegoats both foreign and domestic and offering not one coherent, logical or practical solution to what may ail the nation.

All the polls in Florida have Trump beating Senator Marco Rubio by double digits. It just doesn’t matter to me. On Tuesday, this Florida Republican will cast his vote for Rubio to try and stop Trump. In reality, I lean towards Ohio Governor John Kasich but he doesn’t stand a chance in the Sunshine State so I’ll go with the native son. I’ll also be voting for Rubio because I have a conscience, I have to sleep at night, I have to live with myself.

It must be remembered that the Nazis were elected to power in Germany in 1933. All that’s necessary for evil to triumph in Florida is for good Republicans to split their vote between Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz and Kasich. I urge all Florida Republicans to put aside their personal preferences and coalesce around Rubio. If most Cruz and Kasich voters go for Rubio he can beat Trump and beating Trump is the duty of all Republicans who still cherish the values of Abraham Lincoln, of U.S. Grant, of Theodore Roosevelt, of Calvin Coolidge, of Dwight Eisenhower, of Ronald Reagan and of the Constitution. Don’t let Trump be inevitable. Get out and vote. Make your vote stand for something and stand for something right, noble and good.