The President's Space Initiative Speech

I caught most of it -- and it was fantastic!

It was appalling, to me. Is the man completely insensible to the federal
deficit? He certainly seems insensible to the impracticalities of manned
travel to Mars. I think people on Mars would be a wonderfully cool
thing, but our national credit card is already maxed out. Sometimes you
have to put "cool" on hold and make sure the rent is paid.

You know what, Dan? I, too, am appalled at the federal deficit, and the
waste, and all the examples of Gubmint crap. It makes me ill to see it.

Still, in my lifetime, I can point to just one real Gubmint success story:
Apollo. Every other government program, from the "Great Society", to the
"War on Poverty," to "No Child Left Behind," has been a dismal, utter waste
of money and time.

In a thousand years America will be remembered for just two things: The
first to use nuclear weapons, and the space program. I would like to build
on the only positive thing we've ever done, thank you very much.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
You know what, Dan? I, too, am appalled at the federal deficit,
and the waste, and all the examples of Gubmint crap.
It makes me ill to see it.

Well, Jay, doggone it, we can't go on like this. I've done contracts for
NASA. When it comes to blowing money, the welfare system ain't in the
race with them. (And by the way, NASA and the military have a peculiar
talent for spending way more money than necessary while still driving
small contractors to bankruptcy.)

There are lots of things we want and need - we just have to realize we
can't have it ALL. It is a particularly American idea that there are no
limits: this has served us well in some respects because we dream big
and achieve big, but we are going to sink this country if we do not get
our priorities straight and our finances under control.

In a thousand years America will be remembered for just two things:...

I'd like to think we'll still be around. I'd also like to think we'll be
zipping around the solar system. We won't be if we don't take care of
the things that really make our country strong.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:_omNb.68628$I06.309450@attbi_s01...
I caught most of it -- and it was fantastic!

It was appalling, to me. Is the man completely insensible to the federal
deficit? He certainly seems insensible to the impracticalities of manned
travel to Mars. I think people on Mars would be a wonderfully cool
thing, but our national credit card is already maxed out. Sometimes you
have to put "cool" on hold and make sure the rent is paid.

You know what, Dan? I, too, am appalled at the federal deficit, and the
waste, and all the examples of Gubmint crap. It makes me ill to see it.

Still, in my lifetime, I can point to just one real Gubmint success story:
Apollo. Every other government program, from the "Great Society", to the
"War on Poverty," to "No Child Left Behind," has been a dismal, utter
waste
of money and time.

So why are you willing to trust the program to someone with a .013 batting
average? Hell, put Bob Uecker in Gene Krantz's spot and it'll be done for
1/20th the cost with double the results.

Jay Honeck wrote:
....

Still, in my lifetime, I can point to just one real Gubmint success story:
Apollo. Every other government program, from the "Great Society", to the
"War on Poverty," to "No Child Left Behind," has been a dismal, utter waste
of money and time.




Social equations are always more difficult to solve than technical ones,
but their results may be a lot more important part of our everyday
lives. Velcro is good, social justice is better. Be careful that the
technical "successes" are not just head-in-the-sand escapism from
life's real problems.

"Hell, when a bunch of *pilots* can't even support manned space
exploration, we are surely doomed as a nation."

I would think that the vast majority of pilots and other "technical"
people (including myself) do support space exploration. But there does
seem to be just that little extra skepticism of motives, which is healthy.

Hopefully it is a sign that cast-in-concrete blind partisan support is
finally giving way to some real *discussion* of issues.

"Icebound" wrote in message
able.rogers.com...
Jay Honeck wrote:
...

Still, in my lifetime, I can point to just one real Gubmint success story:
Apollo. Every other government program, from the "Great Society", to the
"War on Poverty," to "No Child Left Behind," has been a dismal, utter waste
of money and time.




Social equations are always more difficult to solve than technical ones,
but their results may be a lot more important part of our everyday
lives.

No Aerospace Contractor Left Behind is a good name for the current program.

"Ron Natalie" wrote:
No Aerospace Contractor Left Behind is a good name for
the current program.

Hee-hee! Good one.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

Hopefully it is a sign that cast-in-concrete blind partisan support is
finally giving way to some real *discussion* of issues.

On the contrary, many of the posts opposing the President's space initiative
have been filled with political invective, and an almost palpable loathing
of Mr. Bush.

I'd say this is a sign that nothing has changed, and real *discussion* is
illusory.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 02:07:31 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Hopefully it is a sign that cast-in-concrete blind partisan support is
finally giving way to some real *discussion* of issues.

On the contrary, many of the posts opposing the President's space initiative
have been filled with political invective, and an almost palpable loathing
of Mr. Bush.

I'd say this is a sign that nothing has changed, and real *discussion* is
illusory.


I have a feeling if it had been Gore proposing exactly the same thing,
there would be golf claps all around from that crowd instead.

Pre-speech AP poll..................

"Just over half of Democrats' opposed the plan by "the United States."
Once it was identified as a "Bush administration" plan, Democrats
opposed it by a 2-to-1 margin."

There are real problems in that party I cannot fathom personally.
There is definitely a near pathological desperate hatred that defies
logic most of the time. This is not a partisan thing, it is giving
NASA the attention that it has desperately needed for decades.
Jeez JFK sent us to the moon for crying out loud.


"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be"
-Tennyson

In article , Mutts
writes:


I have a feeling if it had been Gore proposing exactly the same thing,
there would be golf claps all around from that crowd instead.

Pre-speech AP poll..................

"Just over half of Democrats' opposed the plan by "the United States."
Once it was identified as a "Bush administration" plan, Democrats
opposed it by a 2-to-1 margin."

There are real problems in that party I cannot fathom personally.
There is definitely a near pathological desperate hatred that defies
logic most of the time. This is not a partisan thing, it is giving
NASA the attention that it has desperately needed for decades.
Jeez JFK sent us to the moon for crying out loud.


EIther Matlin or A****er advised Ronald Reagan, "Never interupt your opponent
when he is busy destroying himself."

If we just sit quietly till November and let them keep it up, the Democrat
Party will cease to be a factor in US politics for the remainder of our
lifetimes.

Don

--
Wm. Donald (Don) Tabor Jr., DDS
PP-ASEL
Chesapeake, VA - CPK, PVG

"Mutts" wrote in message
...

There are real problems in that party I cannot fathom personally.
There is definitely a near pathological desperate hatred that defies
logic most of the time.

Which party, and which recent time period, are you talking about? It's an
equal opportunity affliction.