“The leaders of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s well-funded project to develop COVID-19 vaccines at record speed, have said they are running a transparent project. They have bristled at critics who say they make major decisions behind closed doors.” — Science, 7/2/20
Q
Star Trek: The Next Generation / Star Trek: Voyager
Members of the Q Continuum are basically gods. If he wanted to, Q could solve this whole thing with a snap of his fingers. Of course, that’s a big “if.” Getting Q to do anything good on the basis of human morals and logic is a hard row to hoe. In that sense, he’s really not that different from our current president. Come to think of it, Q also showed a real fascist flair and disregard for civil liberties when he put humanity on trial in his debut episode. On the plus side, if Q were on Twitter, he could just alter reality to match his batshit crazy tweets.
The Gorn
Star Trek
Sure, the Gorn that Kirk fights is comically slow and makes noises like a chain-smoking octogenarian failing to clear his throat. But as a lizard-person, he’s probably not at risk of contracting the coronavirus. So we could all understand why he’d choose not to wear a face mask, even after several of his staff members tested positive and other GOP (Gorn Occupation Party) politicians finally acknowledged the importance of wearing masks to flatten the curve.
The Vidiians
Voyager
These aliens have incredibly advanced medical technology and a lot of experience fighting a pandemic. They haven’t found a cure for the “Phage” that’s decimating their species, but they’ve invested a lot of time and energy into developing alternative treatments. Those treatments mainly revolve around harvesting organs from unsuspecting members of other species. They’re for sure crossing major ethical lines, but they are saving (some) people.
Khan Noonien Singh
Star Trek / Star Trek II / Star Trek Into Darkness
At least Khan believes in science. Granted, he wants to use it for nefarious purposes, but he believes in it. Other than that, I’m not seeing much of a difference here. Khan thinks he’s a member of a superior race; so does Donald Trump. Khan doesn’t recognize established law; neither does Donald Trump. Khan controls people’s minds with literal, hideous alien insects; Donald Trump controls his followers with metaphorical, vitriolic earworms (and maybe bleach?). On the other hand, the role of Khan was most recently played by Benedict Cumberbatch. The role of Donald Trump continues to be played by a twice-baked potato.
The Founders
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Founders (a.k.a. Changelings) rule over the Dominion, a Gamma Quadrant empire. They use genetically-engineered super soldiers (Yay science!) to maintain their stranglehold on a large number of subservient planets. As the name “Changeling” suggests, the Founders can shapeshift into a variety of organic and inorganic objects. This gives them almost Trumpian powers of deception, but with the added entertainment value of a Vegas magic show. If you’re going to be oppressed by a dictator, why not a dictator who can turn into a flamingo one moment, a Harley Davidson the next, and someday maybe even something useful (like a respirator, we sure could use more of those)?
The Borg
Next Generation / Voyager / Star Trek: First Contact
Say what you will about the Borg. They would never put their private interests above the good of the community.
The “Naked” Infection
Star Trek / Next Generation
Is it really possible for an infection to take command of a country? Have you seen the news lately? Loss of inhibitions. Lack of self-control. This is no longer a hypothetical situation. Whether we call it “The Naked Time” or “The Naked Now,” we’re already in it. But this alien pathogen is still preferable to our current president because no one expects an extraterrestrial infection to do anything remotely decent or humane. It can’t sink any lower; it is what it is. So grab that hand sanitizer you stockpiled because this disease spreads primarily through touch.