The President just can't win with these people, can he?

So if Barack Obama were to cancel a rather expensive government program and turn it over to private interests, you'd think that the right wing would be utterly ecstatic, wouldn't you? After all, that's what the push has been ever since the current rightward memes took over with the Contract onwith America.

But no, when it comes to the current president, Charles Krauthammer must find something on which to indict our president. Regarding the cancelling of Constellation:

This is nonsense. It would be swell for private companies to take over launching astronauts. But they cannot do it. It's too expensive. It's too experimental. And the safety standards for getting people up and down reliably are just unreachably high.

It doesn't seem to matter to Krauthammer that we don't really need to boost large bags of mostly water and all the attendant support hardware up to low Earth orbit, our robotics are getting better and more reliable than our meat. It doesn't matter that the Constellation program is incompatible with the low Earth orbit needs of the shuttle and the space station. It doesn't seem to matter that a quick scan can't find Krauthammer wringing his hands over the use of drones vs. piloted fighters in the current wars.

I mean, can you imagine someone telling the Wright Brothers that they needed to let government sponsor the first flights, that the daredevils were engaging on a program that included "unreachably high safetly standards?"

The partisan hackery here knows no bounds and has no shame.

Things I did not know

George W. Bush's grandfather was once treasurer of Planned Parenthood USA.

The 1956 Republican Platform included a call for a equal pay between the sexes; vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws and worker protection regulations; broadening Social Security and providing a better safety net for the uninsured; continued protection of America's wilderness areas; protections for Americans with disabilities.

Thought for the day:

I wish I could say I know who said this:

There was a time when America was full of itself, arrogant and complacent. Indie and Punk responded by being angry, confrontational, and challenging.

Now, America is angry. But it's not just angry, it's angry and stupid. The only correct response is to be smart and serene.