I was amazed enough when I read this article that I started this blog.
First, and foremost, is the statement that "the United States is not going to travel beyond low-Earth orbit on its own and that no country is going to make it to Mars without international help." What? So after the greatest technological advances in history over the last fifty years, the United States is less capable in scientific endeavor? We already made it beyond low-Earth orbit... We went to the Moon! Now, after exponential increase in all aspects of science and technology, we now supposedly can no longer travel beyond low-Earth orbit without foreign assistance. Where is the audacity of hope in that? Maybe the campaign message should have been acceptance of mediocrity? We should be discussing whether we should ALLOW other countries to participate in our mission to go to Mars by 2020, not bragging about our self-limiting short-sightedness to unfriendly news organizations.
This idiotic statement by one of the Obama Administration's leaders is so filled with liberal anti-Americanism that it boggles the mind that he would make the statement at all, let alone make the statement to unfriendly foreign press.
This false admission that America is less capable than other countries in the space race is insulting to every American and the opposite of the lofty, dreamy, hope-filled message that Obama ran on to become President. The inference that other countries can still pierce low-orbit, but America clearly shows that this administration thinks that either America has regressed so far that we are technologically less capable than we were fifty years ago or hates American pride so much that they are publically humiliating one of our proudest government agencies while limiting their effectiveness to make their own statements self-fulfilling. They’ve screwed up so much of the government so far, that they are simply trying to set all of our expectations pathetically low so they don’t look so bad by comparison.
The second item that amazes me is the assumption that we needed the other countries to create the International Space Station. The only thing we needed them for was the International part… we could have accomplished the Space Station part ourselves and probably done a better job of it without all the compromise and interference. The vast majority of the technology in the effort was based on American ingenuity and we only shared with the rest of the countries out of a scientific selflessness. Now, out of a liberal desire for supposed international cooperation, we’re stuck begging the Russians for help getting to and from the station because we spent way more than our share on a mediocre space station rather than upgrading our own space capabilities.
I know that we, as a country, have much more pressing issues than space exploration at this time… but we had much more pressing issues in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s too. This article just crystallized party of what makes the current administration so dangerous to our country. As they create their nanny-state, they have nothing for disdain about what has made America such a great nation… in fact they really don’t seem to believe that America is, or ever was, a great nation. They speak in soaring rhetoric about hope for a better America while they undermine everything that is good about America. The Space Program was once something that all Americans could look at with pride… but it is about achieving greatness through sacrifice and dedication…. That doesn’t fit the liberal agenda so the funding is cut and programs are mothballed. This administration seems to want to tear down the proudest accomplishments of the past, so that the people who aren’t good enough to achieve greatness don’t suffer from poor self-esteem. If we do not try, than we cannot fail… better that no one reaches for the stars than to have some people realize they aren’t good enough to be astronauts. How else can we explain the fact that NASA is apparently ceasing space exploration in order to “ help (other countries/cultures feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering.” Really? That’s NASA’s new charter?
