Obama to end Moon Constellation Program I like Obama, but this made him drop a lot in my consideration. Especially because of all the bandied comparisons between him and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I know: Obama has national problems that keep him on Earth, JFK had the Cold War that forced him into space. But the exploration of space has a spiritual value that cannot be measured. It's not more or less important than food, medicines, all the crucial things that make life possible. How do you compare those with the inspiration, the dreams, the hope that going into space can give to individuals, pushing them to work harder even here on Earth for all those crucial things I mentioned above??? The truth is, you can't. There's no term of comparison. That's why this will ALWAYS be a contested point. I guess you understand how I feel about it. I depend on medicines to SURVIVE, even though I'm more lucky than so many whose lives are actually in danger, not just their job or their being able to have a family someday. But I depend on things like the space exploration to LIVE. Only a few days ago I put the George Mallory quote on this blog, top right, because it felt to me that, apart from all the inspirational quotes further down, it's a concept like this that keeps me going from day to day and drives my whole life. My brain does not express it in those words, of course, or any other words, but Mallory's words are the closest that come to describing my deepest drive. I like JFK too. His alleged womanizing has no interest for me; those were different times. I like him for rather shallow reasons; because he was young, Irish, handsome and tragic, and he spoke splendidly. I'd rather have seen him reach old age, but I'm intrigued by the mystery behind his death (like all mysteries - Mallory and Irvine's too). I'm a "lone nutter", because, as I might have said already, I KNOW what it means to be so obsessed with hate as to want to kill someone single-handedly. But whether it was possible or not for Oswald to do it, from my philological point of view, none of the two sides can produce an unbiased, verifiable account of what happened that day in Dallas. There can be no scientific debate when every statement is answered with "you lie". But I LOVE him for the above speech, reproduced in its entirety. If you want to cut to the chase, go to 07'50". It's almost a prayer, especially with his Massachusetts lilt: "We choose to go to the Moon.These are words that could push a useless incompetent like me over any obstacle. And I was almost moved to tears when, at the end, he quoted George Mallory. We were of a mind about this all, George and Jack. But I'm sorry, Mr. Obama, you've just failed to give me that drive I crave for so much. I'm not voting for you anymore... oh, wait. The whole speech is worthwile, by the way. I might note that he said the USA is the greatest country in the world, a quote always overlooked when it's time to insult the USA... of course Saint Jack could never be imperialistic, right? But I don't want to be polemic, I want to be positive, and another really positive quote (around 07'50" too) says: "There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet... and this opprotunity for peaceful cooperation will never come again."I always say that the thawing between East and West began in space, with Apollo-Soyuz. Now that China and India are headed for space, wouldn't it be fitting to aim for the same purpose JFK did? THIS is a concrete, measurable value that I wish Obama would keep in mind. |