By now, most of us have heard—or heard about—the goofy ramblings of Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.), who took to the House floor to criticize the war in Iraq by drawing not from the writings of Madison or speeches of Churchill, but from the mind of Gene Roddenberry.

That’s right, this Trekkie-turned-congressman apparently threw the lowest of blows by calling President Bush and his advisors Klingons. “There are Klingons in the White House,” he intoned, without any sign of a smirk or sarcasm. “But unlike the real Klingons of ‘Star Trek,’ these Klingons have never fought a battle of their own.”

So, to go along with an intelligence committee chairman (Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas) who doesn’t know the difference between Shias and Sunnis or anything about Hezbollah’s history, we have a Member of Congress ready to reshape our Iraq policy based on his knowledge of a campy 1960s sci-fi drama. (Just imagine the possibilities. Wu can use characters from “Star Trek” to help tutor Reyes on the nuances of the war on terror. Maybe Wu can even persuade the leadership to hold a Star Trek convention on the House floor. One thing we know for certain: Wu won’t dress as a Klingon.)

It all calls to mind what James Traficant—the former Ohio congressman who was convicted for tax evasion and bribery—used to say at the end of his populist rants against government waste or the IRS or Chinese communists or flag burners: “Beam me up, Mr. Speaker.”

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