May 27, 2020James Tiberius Kirk

Yep, the good captain himself.

I know ... I'm really dating myself with this one. But I like swashbucklers, and nobody swashbuckles quite like Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise!

When you find yourself in the middle of an impossible situation ... when all your resources have been exhausted ... when the dim light of your last flicker of hope is about to fade away into the dark void ... you need a hero. A hero that will step in and save the day ...

Enter Captain Kirk!

Give him that impossible situation. Stack the odds against him. Turn up the heat to temps that would make the bravest of the brave recoil in sheer terror ... Kirk just gets more confident and more decisive!

He might be saving the world from attacking aliens, or rescuing his ship and crew from hostile forces, or outwitting a Romulan commander. Occasionally we'll get a glimpse of his softer, more vunerable side, but always he rallies and comes charging back into the fray to challenge the opposition head-on.

And, though a swashbuckler, he's not just a lone crusader garnering all that glory for himself ... oh, no ... he's a leader! The leader of a committed and loyal team that is devoted to him, because they've been through the fray with him and they've learned to trust him.

His science officer will give him the cold hard facts ... and the grim odds of their chance of survival. But it only makes our Captain more determined. Swashbuckling, yes, but never careless or cavalier ... he knows and has calculated the risks and he bases his next bold move on those calculations.

Sometimes he gets to swashbuckling too much, and his level-headed chief medical officer pulls him aside for some timely advice, which isn't always initially received so well. But in the end, our Captain will consider and measure what he's been told and make appropriate modifications to his thinking.

Like all good leaders, he pushes and stretches his people to give more and do more than they ever think they can. His chief engineer cries, Captain, I've given you all I've got! She'll break apart if I push her anymore! But the Captain says, No, Scottie! Give me one more PUSH! And Scottie does ... and somehow the ship always holds together and the day is saved! Though as I recall, Scottie really liked his whiskey ... and just writing that last bit, I think I now know why he needed it!

Marvin was a downer. Mr. Monk would just make you wash your hands until your skin was raw. Forget them ... I'll take Captain Kirk to ride out a pandemic any day. Dr. McCoy and his staff will have the vaccine problem figured out in a week or two. Spock and Scottie will have us back at work and being productive pretty quick, too! All under our Captain's brave leadership!

And, yeah, it's true that our Captain can be a little moody at times. And a tad egotistical. But he always has your back ... well ... unless you get dressed in the dreaded "red shirt" uniform. If they put you in one of those, and beam you down to the planet, don't count on coming back to the ship, much less being in the next episode.

Live long and prosper!