Tag Archive: NASA

Trump’s lack of both preparedness and patriotism an issue

Russia’s Kremlin, home to Donald Trump’s friends and America’s enemies.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it’s a good reminder that America’s space program began as a response to Russian military activity. Specifically, the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite set off a dramatic reaction to what was viewed as the Soviet militarization of space, with rocket technology that could be used to launch nuclear weapons. The United States, led by the Democratic-majority U.S. Senate and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, soon tasked the Senate Preparedness Subcommittee (which had been established in 1950 to deal with the then-looming crisis in Korea) with addressing the Soviet military threat from space, and created NASA. Within less than four months of the Sputnik launch, the U.S. launched its own satellite into orbit, and the “Space Race” was on. Eventually, America surpassed the U.S.S.R. by embarking on the Apollo program that led to the moon landing. The full-scale national effort of the Apollo program galvanized America to such an extent that the term “Apollo program” is now a figure of speech that means a large coordinated effort, involving scientists and deep governmental resources, to solve a huge challenge (such as climate change.)

The issue of “preparedness” in the face of a Russian threat is something that Democrats should be using now to attack Donald Trump and the Republicans. Specifically, Russia attacked our democracy in the 2016 elections. Russia’s attacks have been termed “cyber warfare,” and even Republican Dick Cheney has said that Russia’s attacks “could be considered an act of war.” In the internet age, Russia’s attacks on America arguably are as serious as the attacks on the United States at Pearl Harbor or on September 11, 2001. However, Donald Trump and many Republicans are refusing to defend us against this threat.

John Glenn, Good Government hero

NASA astronauts John Glenn (C), Alan Shepard (R) and Gus Grissom (L)

NASA astronauts John Glenn (C), Alan Shepard (R) and Gus Grissom (L)

John Glenn, one of America’s heroes of the 20th Century, died last Thursday at age 95. Glenn was a highly decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean War, rising to the level of Colonel. Then, as immortalized in the book and movie “The Right Stuff,” Glenn was chosen as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts, where he became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. Glenn went on to serve four terms as a U.S. Senator from Ohio, and he even returned to space at age 77, the oldest person ever to do so. In between, Glenn ran for president in the 1984 Democratic Party primaries.

What do all of John Glenn’s heroic accomplishments have in common? They were all done as part of the U.S. Government.

Thank Your Public Employees

This past Sunday, we saw two widely varying examples of the best of public service. On Sunday morning, when white supremacist Wade Michael Page gunned down six people at their Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, police officer Brian Murphy was one of the first to arrive on the scene. Murphy began to assist one shooting victim, whereupon Page ambushed Murphy and shot Murphy eight to nine times. Murphy then reportedly waved off paramedics who attempted to treat him, so that they could get to the other victims first. Murphy remains in critical condition.

At nearly the same time, team members of NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California successfully guided the Curiosity rover to a bulls-eye landing on Mars. The enthusiasm and celebration of the NASA team, following many months of hard work, was as infectious as a gold medal win from our U.S. Olympic team.

These are just some of the “government workers” who Republicans and Conservatives have been trashing wholesale on a daily basis for decades, and firing in recent years. The funny thing is, when you point out specifics, whether it’s Sunday’s heroes, or the first responders who rushed up the stairs of the burning World Trade Center on 9/11, or our brave soldiers in Afghanistan and other war zones, the Conservatives’ pathological attacks on public workers just don’t hold water.