The final frontier?

Cue the Klingons! Warm up the Death Star! The USSF -- United States Space Force – is on the way.

So much for the U.S.Cavalry… sorry about that film fans.

Yup, red- (and green-) blooded Americans will soon have a new cast of real-life action heroes to cheer on – the brave men, women and ‘droids of the USSF – coming soon to an interstellar outpost near you.

Yes indeedy, anyone with an itch to sign up as an Imperial Storm Trooper may well get their chance, provided Congress comes up with the scratch. It was quite the moment to see Mike Pence channeling his inner Jedi (or was it The Dark Side) as he quoted Darth, er. President Trump, “It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space; we must have American dominance in space.”

To that end Secretary of State Pompeo is rumored to have opened negotiations with Ambassador Sarek to lift tariff barriers on dilithium crystals, but press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to confirm this, all the while claiming the White House press corps no more trustworthy than a cabal of Ferengi…

You really can’t make this stuff up … OK, I guess you can.

But not the Space Force part. That’s as real as Mexico paying for The Wall,

“The United States Space Force will strengthen our security, it will ensure our prosperity, and it will also carry American ideals into the boundless expanse of space,” or so sayeth Mission Control Mikey.

What he didn’t mention is how it likely will unnerve our adversaries, cost a boatload of money, and convince the rest of the world that the Library of Congress is stocking way too many comic books.

Really, folks, has anyone taken a look at the Pentagon budget lately. It’s already astronomical, and that’s just what it’s gonna cost to blow up a single planet – think of the price tag when the whole bloomin’ galaxy – oh, heck, just the Alpha Quadrant is our target range? Let’s face it, phasers and photon torpedoes don’t come cheap. And if the Prez is looking to put the arm on our Federation allies, well good luck with that. The fact is all that Gold-pressed Latinum is coming out of your pocket and mine.

And there are a few other problems in cementing “American dominance in space,” one of which might explain the erstwhile High Lord of the Galaxy’s playing footsie with Tsar Putin. Y’see, for the foreseeable future, the USSF’s Imperial Stormtroopers will have to hitch a ride on Vladmir’s interplanetary Uber or get a Lyft from Xi Jinping – the United States hasn’t had a manned space vehicle since the space shuttle Atlantis was retired seven years ago. So if we’re gonna get our jet-pack GIs in position to do some High Frontier warfighting, we best be on good terms with the world’s only remaining vertical bus companies … and if they choose not to “carry American ideals into the boundless expanse of space,” well, what are ya gonna do?

None of which is to say we shouldn’t be keeping a close eye on what’s going on over our heads. In the six decades since Sputnik first beep-beep-beeped its way into history, our view of those orbiting gizmos has gone from “what good is it?” to “can’t live without it?” Turn those orbiters into so much space junk and say goodbye to GPS, weather forecast data, inter-continental communications and a host of other functions that we all rely on every day. The real danger to this vital resource isn’t from Romulans or Cardassians or any other mythical adversary, but earthbound rivalries transported above the horizon to the last bastion of peace inhabited by humanity. Maybe it isn’t so much the lack of a Space Force that poses a threat, but a lack of courage and wisdom to imagine a different future.

Where is Gene Roddenberry when we need him?