Barack Obama, our sexy, hot-lady-marrying, jump-shot-making president-to-be is also a pathetic nerd. Time’s Joel Stein warned against what he termed the “Urkel Effect” in the magazine’s pre-election blitz, the power of those undecided voters who would “walk into the voting booth and suddenly think, I cannot take four years of listening to that giant-eared nerd.” Now that Obama has secured victory, his utter geekdom can safely be revealed.

TrekMovie.Com has bravely gone where no fansite has gone before and has compiled a body of evidence suggesting Obama’s secret Star Trek obsession. Check out this exchange that Newsweek recorded between Sir Nerdlington and Nyota Uhura Michelle Obama earlier this year:

“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.

Fucking nerd.

My favorite tidbit from the article is this anecdote from original Spock Leonard Nimoy, which he recounted on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me in September:

About a year and a half a go I was at a political event and one of our current campaigners for the office of President of the United States saw me, approached, and he gave me the Vulcan signal…it was not John McCain.

Photo from TrekMovie.Com