Nerd fail: Obama dares to confuse Star Wars with Star Trek

The Internet reacted in full force to Obama’s "Jedi mind meld" comment. And now the White House issued their own (inter)stellar reaction to the president's mistake.

During his press conference late Friday morning on the sequester, President Obama got off a few good one liners in trying to change the minds of his opponents on the Hill. Until this: “Even though most people agree that I’m being reasonable; that most people agree I’m presenting a fair deal; the fact they don’t take it means I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.”

Now if you know your Jedis from your Starfleet officers, and if you know the difference between the Millenium Falcon and the U.S.S. Enterprise, you know what’s wrong with Obama’s off-hand remark.

But if Star Wars and Star Trek are the same thing in your head, first of all know that I’m judging you just a little bit. Also know, they’re not. And to keep you from doubting my credibility on such matters, this is at my desk. The Jedis of the Star Wars world are known for their “Jedi mind tricks,” like this (click forward to about 3:05):

The mind meld is a tool of the Vulcans like Spock, you know–the people from Star Trek with no emotions, pointy ears, and a love of all things logical:

Naturally, plenty of geeks on the Internets spotted POTUS’s mistake immediately and the tweets starting coming at warp speed (ok, light speed for you Star Wars fans):

Now about that last tweet from TechCrunch – yes, there is something like a Jedi mind meld in the later Star Wars books. But c’mon, that isn’t canon!! So it cannot count.

UPDATE 3:35PM ET: Showing that the administration hasn’t lost its sense of humor, the White House tweeted an acknowledgment of President Obama’s geek fail. The statement is on message, while also being a hilarious Star Trek/Star Wars mashup, and comes complete with a new web address: WH.gov/JediMindMeld. All I can add is, “Beam me up, Chewie!”