Sorry about the politics Dayv.

@Ash, Hunter is talking about the difference between Classical Liberalism, and Rousseauian Liberalism. Some of the things he said are kind of weird and confusing, but he is on his mark when saying that John F. Kennedy with his "ask not what your country can do for you..." is much closer to the original liberalism than people like Clinton and Obama with their, "ask not what you can do for your country..." way of thinking.

@Hunter, is 24 a "republican show"? I have never watched it, what makes it that way? I have always seen shows reflect the views of their writers, but I have never thought of a show as "Republican" or "Democrat" in itself.

You are right enough in saying that the original series was not as "fake liberal" as TNG and the following series were. But I think the films, TNG, and the following shows all plastered on a very thick layer of modern liberalism (what you call false liberalism), and it stuck. From Star Trek IV with "save the whales!" as its central message, and the very first to the very last episode of Star Trek: TNG, the modern liberalism was still there. I know Roddenberry was alive for Trek IV and for the first little while of TNG, but not sure how involved with either of them he was. I don't know who to place blame on, or what political views any of the writers, producers, actors, etc., hold. All I know is that it has been there for a very long time, and as silly and futile as I believe modern liberalism is, I have always really liked that aspect of the show. Can't really explain it.