What's he on about now?

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   Thursday, January 15, 2004

NOT QUITE OVER THE MOON

Seems the Russians are excited about George Bush's bold new NASA proposals. I wish I could join them. I've long believed in the goals of space exploration but never completely convinced of our current means to do so.

Basically put, it'll cost a frigging fortune.

Here on Earth, billions starve while our food, air and water is increasingly contaminated. If America is so set on throwing its cash around, I can think of a long list of terrestrial places to start. Now, I'd like to think that this is money that would be diverted from America's massive military-industrial-complex spending but, truly, when's the last time that happened? Since the ploughshares ain't coming, the space program might be a wonderful way of turning swords into spaceships. Trouble is, this announcement is coming from a president who's currently in the midst of a war and racking up the biggest deficit since Reagan -- the kind of runaway debt Clinton spent nearly a decade reining in, to the detriment of many.

I'd feel better about Bush's plan if it weren't so nakedly obvious that this is an election year stunt. Having buggered up the planet with his fiscal, environmental, military and foreign policies, Bush is baldly diverting our attention elsewhere. He points to Mars, yelling, "Keep watching the skies!" while Earth sags under the weight of the burdens he's helped impose.

I have my own NASA initiative: instead of finally bankrupting North America trying to save face, Bush could simply send a single rocket carrying himself to the International Space Station, where he could serve indefinitely as a Russian research assistant. That space program will be cheaper and more valuable to the future of our planet Earth.

Labels: George W Bush