I realize that this is a bit off the beaten path for me. Of course, I could try to write about the political implications and overtones of the new Star Trek film, but that would be even more boring than the column I'm about to write. So, other than quickly pointing out the remarkable similarity between Barack Obama and the Vulcan character Tuvok (from the Star Trek: Voyager television series), we will move right along.

Almost two years ago I wrote a column titled "A Frivolous Summer Column On Science Fiction" where I listed the four top things most science fiction movies (and television shows) get laughably wrong. I return to the subject today to honor a movie that got at least two of these things right. If the entire subject bores you, then I suggest you check back here tomorrow, where we'll be back to politics, as usual (but definitely not "politics as usual"). I provide this warning in advance so the sheer geekiness of this column will not waste anyone's precious time.

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Last week, a lot of attention was focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, since the leaders of the two countries were visiting President Obama in Washington. But nobody seems to be talking about an obvious (if difficult) solution to at least part of the problem Pakistan finds itself in currently -- solving the Kashmir problem once and for all.

Pakistan certainly has enough problems on its plate, and without getting into their internal political and military situation too deeply, part of the problem with the Taliban and other extremist groups having a safe haven in northwest Pakistan is that the Pakistani military is reluctant to engage too many of their troops with the militants, because of their long obsession with India. The militant groups are expanding their influence from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to the Swat Valley and beyond. This is a little too close to the nation's capital city for comfort, and the Pakistani troops are now pushing back.

But reports are that they're only sending about 15 percent of their army to do the job. This is because most of the Pakistani army is busy with their traditional foe, India. And since the two nations are now both nuclear-armed, things can get tense along the border. This tension is at its highest point in the Kashmir region.

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I realize that, as a political blogger, I am supposed to be talking about President Barack Obama's preferences in cheeseburgers today. Sigh. The "What kind of mustard?!?" debate currently raging (which followed the intense "Medium-well?!?" debate -- I wish I were kidding about this, I really do) among the right wing of the blogosphere is no doubt historically important (right up there with George H.W. Bush's aversion to broccoli), but I would instead like to talk about something a little more serious today. To the purveyors of the burger debates, I would like to say one thing first, though. This is America. We value our freedom here. And that includes the freedom to eat your burger any damn way you want to -- without having to apologize to anyone for your choices. You can even eat your burger with broccoli on it if you want, it makes no difference to me. That is the nature of freedom, and I'm surprised I even have to point this out.

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The intraparty struggle within the Democratic Party over what exactly to do with Arlen Specter now seems to have been worked out. For the time being, at least, Specter will not get to keep his overall seniority (which was apparently promised him by Majority Leader Harry Reid), but as a consolation prize will chair the Crime and Drugs Subcommittee, part of the Judiciary Committee Specter used to chair as a Republican. This struggle may wind up being re-fought after the 2010 election, but for the next year and a half the dust appears to have settled on the issue.

These problems always arise at the edges of party membership. But it is telling that Specter is being treated a bit differently than the last time Democrats had to deal with a similar issue -- with Joe Lieberman. The two situations aren't exactly the same, which may explain why the outcome was different for the two, though.

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President Barack Obama made an announcement last week just after Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his impending retirement. In it, the president spoke of the qualities he is looking for in his first nominee to the highest bench in the land. He used the word "empathy" which, strangely enough, Republicans pounced on. They lost no time in denouncing "empathy" as a "code word" meaning Obama was about to appoint Michael Moore to the court. Or something. Their logic, at times, gets a wee bit confusing, I have to admit. But seriously, conservatives are gearing up for a confirmation battle (which they will lose), and this was the first pre-emptive strike in that battle. But in my own opinion, if Obama was speaking in "code" (which is debatable in the first place), I think everyone missed his point. Because by speaking of "empathy," I think Obama was doing nothing more than signaling he's about to put a woman on the Supreme Court.

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Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

I have to admit, Mexican-Americans are certainly giving Irish-Americans a run for the money in the category of: "Ethnic Holidays In America Where Everyone Gets Plastered On A Specific Brand Or Type Of Beer." A few decades ago, St. Patrick's Day was pretty much the only entry in this category, although true Irish people (as opposed to "five generations ago someone in my family came from Ireland" Irish-Americans) would strenuously object to that category's title. I know exactly what their objection would be, too: "Guinness is a stout, not a 'beer'!"

Ahem.

On a much more serious note, Mexico and the H1N1 flu virus are in the news. Actually, for the past week or so they've pretty much been the news. Ever since last week, the so-called "swine" flu didn't just hit the headlines, it pushed everything else aside. The mainstream media went predictably berserk over the whole story, as is their wont. Nightly news shows devoted over half of their coverage to the issue, even though the death count in the United States currently stands at one (more people probably got killed by lightning in the same time period, to say nothing of traffic accidents). But the media bravely didn't let facts get in the way of a good story (especially one guaranteed to scare the pants off just about everyone).

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Welcome to the first installment in what will hopefully be a four-year (or eight, even) monthly series of articles examining President Barack Obama's job approval ratings with the public, as provided by America's pollsters. Each month we will take a snapshot of how Obama is doing, and track it for his entire term. This should give a longer-term perspective than what is currently available online, and show his relative political strength over time.

We had a lot of fun with polls and charts during the election season, and several readers have complained that they have gone through "chart withdrawal" since. This column should help them with their affliction.

Now, I am aware that many people look down their noses at public opinion polling in general, and consider it untrustworthy for one reason or another. Indeed, some consider it no better than voodoo or divination. If this describes you, then I strongly advise you stop reading now, because the rest of the column is just going to bore you or annoy you. And you've got better things to do with your time than that, right?

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First off, happy May Day to everyone!

OK, with that out of the way, we must (sadly) turn our eyes to the Republican Party. Because they appear to be losing all touch with reality, so it's best to keep an eye on them at this point. For starters, they are calling a special Republican National Committee meeting in the next month to vote on (as if they could) forcing their opposition to change their name to what is variously described as the "Socialist Democratic Party" or the "Democratic Socialist Party" (as well as variations where they intentionally leave out the "-ic" just to twist the knife).

I'm serious -- you just can't make this stuff up. The most pressing thing to the GOP right now is throwing a tantrum. No wonder the public is leaving their party in droves.

During this party meeting, in addition to the all-important issue of having a meaningless vote on a rightwinger's wet dream, they are also going to have a return of their party leadership battle, as the faction that lost attempts to take away the power of the purse from chairman Michael Steele. While unified in their hatred of all things Democratic, they are going to show some more party unity... by refighting a factional power struggle.

Steele, meanwhile, just agreed with a caller on a radio show that Barack Obama is a "magic Negro." Again, you just can't make this stuff up. Steele, if you've been in a coma for a few months, is African-American himself.

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President Barack Obama certainly covered a lot of ground in his third prime-time press conference last night. For once, almost every question he was asked was a fairly intelligent one, and the media pack seemed to have settled down quite a bit from their initial post-recess elementary-school behavior. Obama was asked about many substantial issues, and gave many substantial answers. He announced new policy directions, and clarified some vague stances he has had recently, all of which is newsworthy today.

But everyone else is talking about all of that, which frees me up to talk about talking. Specifically, the verbal framing of a few issues by our president. Obama has always been excellent at doing so, only slipping up a few times on the campaign trail; so it is to be expected that he would continue doing so as president. And last night, he continued to show his verbal skills, by reframing three particular issues (you could probably count more, these are just the three that struck me the most).

Framing is important for a politician, because if you frame the issue early enough on, then everyone (even your opponents) start talking about it using your terminology, and you have won half the battle already. Case in point: the "surge" in Iraq.

Obama's first example of framing wasn't as strong as it could have been, but it was strong enough. [Note: all these quotes come from the official transcript of last night's press conference.]

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I have to start off with an admission. My name is Chris W., and I'm a poll-watcher. It's a habit I started a while ago, and then it just got completely out of control during the election season (which was slightly more than two years long this time around). And now I just can't stop myself.

But while checking FiveThirtyEight.com or RealClearPolitics.com or Pollster.com, I've always laughed at anything which lists itself as an "internet poll." Because their results should be taken with a very large grain of salt. I realize some might say that about all polls, but even the skeptic has to admit that some polls are more accurate than others. Internet polls are so inaccurate, though, that they don't even belong on the spectrum of honest polling at all.

Time magazine just proved this point beyond any doubt. They just released the results of their online poll for "The World's Most Influential Person," and a 21-year-old college student who goes by the name "moot" won first place.

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