Some people are offended that William Shatner, who had previously committed to a charity event in Florida, could not attend Leonard Nimoy's funeral today in Los Angeles. I'm offended that are are news stories today headlined, "William Shatner defends decision not to attend Leonard Nimoy's funeral" and that the New York Daily News dubbed him "Captain Jerk" in a large cover story. That's the kind of decision no one should ever have to defend in public…or even private.
We've heard lots of tales of Mr. Shatner that might earn him the title of Captain Jerk. As far as I know, we never heard any from Leonard Nimoy. I guess it says something about what Star Trek meant to some people that they're disturbed that the funeral of one of its stars isn't going to go the way they imagine it should. Could they possibly grasp that this is not about them?
And what do you want to bet that if Shatner was there, he'd be criticized because he didn't say precisely the right things or he got too much attention?