that would be really cool if he could.
UPDATE: there seems to be a bit of a sci-fi geek controversy over the president's use of the phrase "jedi mindmeld" because "jedi" is star wars and "mind meld" is from star trek. leonard nimoy himself commented on it. the idea is that the proper terms for what obiwan did to that storm trooper in episode IV is called a "jedi mind trick" whereas a "mind meld" is what vulcan's do in star trek.
however, i would argue that we don't know the official name for what obiwan did to that storm trooper. the only time anyone refers to it with a label is in episode VI, when luke tries the same thing on jabba the hutt, and jabba says that that "old jedi mind trick" won't work on him. jabba is clearly speaking dismissively of the "trick." from the context, it does not seem like he is using its official name. it strikes me as overly literal to declare that jedis do "mind tricks" while vulcans do "mind melds". the latter is certainly true, but there is no definitive textual basis for saying that what the jedis do isn't also called a "mind meld." so i'm willing to let the president off the hook on this one.
UPDATE: there seems to be a bit of a sci-fi geek controversy over the president's use of the phrase "jedi mindmeld" because "jedi" is star wars and "mind meld" is from star trek. leonard nimoy himself commented on it. the idea is that the proper terms for what obiwan did to that storm trooper in episode IV is called a "jedi mind trick" whereas a "mind meld" is what vulcan's do in star trek.
however, i would argue that we don't know the official name for what obiwan did to that storm trooper. the only time anyone refers to it with a label is in episode VI, when luke tries the same thing on jabba the hutt, and jabba says that that "old jedi mind trick" won't work on him. jabba is clearly speaking dismissively of the "trick." from the context, it does not seem like he is using its official name. it strikes me as overly literal to declare that jedis do "mind tricks" while vulcans do "mind melds". the latter is certainly true, but there is no definitive textual basis for saying that what the jedis do isn't also called a "mind meld." so i'm willing to let the president off the hook on this one.
