How do you get people to care about the latest abstract budgetary crisis? You rile up two of the most active science fiction fan bases by getting their terminology confused. Discussion of the Sequester briefly slammed to a halt today when Obama made an off-the-cuff reference to a "Jedi mind meld," conflating Star Trek and Star Wars in a verbal stumble. "This has been some of the conventional wisdom that's floating around... Most people agree I'm presenting a fair deal" to Republicans, Obama said. "The fact that they don't take it means that I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what's right."

The comment gained wide traction online as a bipartisan coalition of Star Wars and Star Trek fans publicized and condemned the President's remark, noting that a pair of upcoming J.J. Abrams films may have confused recent discussion. The White House, however, opted to reclaim Obama's words. In a recent tweet, it began directing users to a special Sequester landing page: wh.gov/JediMindMeld.

Thanks, captainqtp!