So, a few days ago the fellow at Squub and I were chatting about the space program (and tangentially, I suppose, the Bush II space proposal*). He gave a very good description of why that is important to him and I greatly appreciated what he had to say. (I’d link to it directly, but the link to that specific post seems to be broken…)
Anyway, in the interests of continuing that conversation, I stumbled upon this Very Very Happy website, wherein The Mighty Reason Man talks more about Bush’s space thing and, as space-enthused person, how craptacular he thinks the whole thing is…. It’s good, go read.
A selection:
What should be a noble endeavor, one that can indeed inspire us and push us forward, has been immeasurably cheapened by this bit of political theater, and any supporter of the President who secretly dreams of mankind going out into the unknown should feel betrayed.
*And, UNBELIEVABLY, no mention of space thing in the State of the Union–which, to be sure, I didn’t actually watch, but I’ve read summaries. So, I’m going out on the summary limb here…
First off, thanks for the heads up on the busted link. The link as listed on that post will work, but not until tomorrow. I didn’t upload the damned article as its own thing, and so it’s still sitting on my laptop. Which isn’t sitting on my lap.
Second, excellent article, that thing you linked to. For once I’m not the most cynical of people. I enjoy so much the fact that there’s someone being more cynical than me about a thing Bush is doing that I’m going to go ahead and stick to my guns — it’s good to hear someone talking about going to Mars. Of course the money’s not there, so what. We’ll use model rocket engines and tin cans. Yeehaw!
Third, did ya notice the end of that article where they guy said It is instead a refusal to be deceived when a man who wants something from us shouts, “Hey! Look over there!”?
Pretty funny. In my original thing about it I said this: My boss today talked about how it seems sort of like he’s saying, “Hey, look over here!” I wonder what the hell’s up with that. I mean he didn’t actually come out and say “Hey, look over there!” or “Hey, look over here!” did he?
Let me just say that I despise G.W. and could not possibly think any lower of him. I, too, was initially offended that a manned mission to Mars was proposed by this idiot who probably could not find Mars on a grade school map of the universe. I find my peace in hoping that with the suggestion out there, maybe sometime in the near future, a leader will fund the mission with actual intent to see it’s completion. I still see exploration(physical or intellectual) as a good thing despite the various political motives that get us to that point. Huge scientific endeavours are funded through politics, and though I may not agree with the politics, I am usually in support of the science itself.