Remember Sputnik? I do. It was October 1957 and I was just fifteen. I had a model three-stage rocket on the bookshelf in my bedroom and it had never occurred to me that anyone but the US would be launching any orbiting satellites, grapefruit or any other size.
But the percentage of the population that was around then is pretty small. The number who recall JFK's visionary quest to "put a man on the moon and bring him safely back to earth before the end of this decade" is equally small.
Why then does the Messiah raise that imagery in his speech? Few have found much to like in the pandering that went on last night. You can grab a line almost anywhere between "My fellow Americans, the state of our union is..." and "Thank you, and God bless America." There's nothing of substance and it wasn't well said.
Sputnik Was Different. China On The Moon is Today!
He does so much like to hear himself talk but he fails to notice that now he has become the only one in the room who is listening.
What has he done comparable to the Sputnik response? He's largely put the brakes on NASA. He's kowtowed, literally, to our adversaries. He's stifled our industry and scientists. And, he's indebted our future generations so that they may never recover.
"Our Sputnik moment..." indeed!
3 comments:
I agree. Now we need to pray this fool doesn't get reelected in 2012.
I'm sure there are plenty of O's co-conspirators who want to cut him some slack for mistaking the character of Sputnik's launch - but I wonder if he isn't just playing dumb - and knew perfectly well that it was a big shock at the time.
Sure, I had seen the CD (Civil Defense) 'Duck and Cover' film once or twice in school prior to Sputnik - but the following school year, we started doing regular 'duck and cover' drills - and the basements of public and private buildings all over town were quickly being filled with government 'Fallout Shelter' gear and provisions: an ominous result of Sputnik Shock.
Prior to that time, NYC didn't sweat a nuclear bomber attack much; ADC and Nike-Ajax/Hercules were on the job.
After Sputnik, the view shifted dramatically: a surprise nuclear ICBM attack was now a possibility.
Is Obama looking up to Hu as a wise communist mentor, hoping he'll provide another real 'Sputnik moment' of fear (and resultant disaster to be taken advantage of)?
2012 can't come soon enough.
It appears that the big "O" doesn't really realize that our big "Sputnik Moment" was a spectacular and embarrassing failure, the Vanguard exploded at 200' and the world was watching.
I was in basic training for carrier work at NAS Barin when this occurred, and the sign over the door to the ready room read "Home of the Vanguard, we don't go over 200' either."
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