The incomparable John Cole over at Balloon Juice documents some of the evidence that Obama is something of a geek (props to LG and Duffy). This is funny:
“That’s an interesting belt buckle,” he said to Michelle, mischievously. She feigned offense and said, “I am interesting, next to you. Surprise, surprise, a blue suit, a white shirt and a tie.” Obama grinned and bent down until he was almost at eye level with her waist. He jabbed a playful finger toward her belt buckle, and let loose his inner nerd. “The lithium crystals! Beam me up, Scotty!” Obama squeaked, laughing at his own lame joke as Michelle rolled her eyes.
(I think “the lithium crystals” is a translation error by the writer. Argue amongst yourselves.)
Cole provides other evidence, including a quick use of the f-bomb (not in public tho), and the Beastie Boys to point to the geekiness. And all of those ridiculed pauses are going to be heard alot differently, now that you know that he is asking himself this question: ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’
I’ll also add that Lenard Nimoy was on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me a few weeks ago and he told a story about seeing Obama somewhere in passing and Obama gave him the Vulcan handsign. (it is on the Not My Job segment and you can hear it within the first three minutes or so of the audio.)
It’s not important to anything at all, but there’s something really cool about a President who has the same cultural references you do.