Admittedly, less lately than has been true throughout my lifetime, but still pretty true. To be honest, I just don’t think we can leave space exploration and colonization to NASA. It is far too important to entrust to a branch of the government that has essentially failed us for 30-odd years. Don’t take its funding, but rebuild it from the ground up. Yes, what NASA has been doing is important, nobody with a brain could argue with that, but it could certainly do it in a more efficient and productive manner for far less money. Their willingness to work with privately owned companies is a big step in the right direction, but it’s going to take a lot more than that.

What the US needs – in my humble opinion naturally – is a change in the party governing it. Yesterday. ..if that’s not already too late.

The candidates space visions are a very small part of what’s needed but _not_ an unimportant part.

Either Barack Obama or Hiliary Clinton would be fine – any Democratic party candidate would be better than any of the Retardican Republicans who have amply demonstrated their malign, war-loving, science-hating durn-near-treasonous incompetance.

How *any* decent American can be so stupid as to vote for McCain or Bush is one the the deep mysteries of American (lack-of) culture as far as I’m concerned.

McCain the incontinent ancient war-monger would be another disaster. Not least fr freezing NASA and basically killingoff your space agency but for destroying further your nation – and the West and indeed the whole blinking planet!

That much seems pretty durn clear to all sane & intelligent people.

As does the fact that the US needs to get the blazes out of Iraq and the SouthWest Asian region (which you often and misleadingly call the Middle East) and stop supporting Israel’s provocative Occupation of Palestine.

Again, this needed to have happened ..well .. not just yesterday but years ago.

Surely, surely you, Amercians have finally learnt from Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, Iraq ad nauseam to leave other peaceful nations the heck alone!!

But I fear not … & I fear either the US directly or the USA through its Israeli outpost will be at war with Iran by year’s end unless Bush Jr is removed from power by impeachment or by force before his current term ends naturally. An incident will either be provoked or manufactured & the Retardicans will use this and the “No time to change leaders in wartime” canard as their plot to retain power – I’d bet on it. You’ve heard it here first folks. That’s my clairvoyant but entirely rationally derived prediction.

A-n-y-w-ay : NOT invading and occupying other countries and not supporting & funding the apartheid theocracy of Israel.

That ladies & gentleman is where you need to cut your wasteful spending and redirect your money from evil to good uses.

I’d love to see – and hope to see – the USA and NASA finally get its *Zing* and sense of adventure back. This does mean, at very least, returning to the Moon preferably with some immediate deadline .. Better yet a Near-Earth Asteroid manned mission or a mission to Mars perhaps together with the ESA & / or Russians plus others. Building a Lunar colony, a proper O’Neill type space station (one of those really big wheel-in-space 2001 type things) and perhaps sending spacecraft with humans aboard to Mercury or the asteroid belt is do~able, worthwhile and inspirational – if you put the money and will and drive into the right things rather than the wrong ones. That’s where NASA needs to go & it needs to be funded properly to do so.

But you need a president with real vision and courage to get this happening. A figure like JFK – But where’s another JFK when you need him? Of course there was & can be only 1 JFK but is anybody even close? At first sight not among any of the current crop although Barack Obama seems the closest thing to this overseas observer living in his client state in Australia ..

But as I say, first things first – the science coimmunity, heck the whole world needs a US President who is not a war-mongering evil Retard ie. NOT from the Relig. Wrong but the liberal correct side of politics – Bracak Obama or Hiliary Clinton …

.. Then they need to select Phil Plait as their science advisor!

The candidates space visions are a very small part of what’sneeded but not an unimportant part.

EWitherBrack Obama or Hiliary Clinton would be fine -anyDemocratic party cnadidate would be better..

McCain the incontinent ancient war-monger would be another disaster.

That’s seems pretty clear to all sane people.

As does the fact that the US needs to get the blazes out of Iraq and the SouthWest Asian region generally and stop supporting Israel’s provocative Occupation of Palestine. Again, this needed to have happend well .. not just yesterday but years ago.

Surely, surely youAmercians have finally learnt from Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, Iraq ad nauseam to leave otherpeaceful nations the heck alone!!

Not invading and occupying countries and not supporting & funding the apartheid theocracy of Israel. That ladies & gentleman is where you need to cut your wasteful spending and redirect your money from evil to good uses.

I’d love to see – and hope to see – the USA and NASA finally get its *ZZzing* and sense of adventure back. This does mean, at very least, returning to the Moon preferably with some immediate deadline .. Better yet a Near-Earth Asteroid manned mission or a mission to Mars perhaps together with the ESA & / or Russians plus others.

But where’s another JFK when you need him?

Of course there was & can be only 1 JFK but is anybody even close? At first sight not among any of the current crop although Barack Obama seems the closest thing to this overseas observer living in his client state in Australia ..

Man, I’ve got to stop living in the past. And watching CNN.