Landing a Man on the Moon ... and other dreams
No, not us. Chia's deputy commander of manned space flight said that in 10-15 years China will have the ability to carry out a manned moon landing. You know, when JFK announced that we would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade, there weren't a lot of people who thought we could do it. Ok, so we were pushed by the Cold War need to prove our superiority wherever we could.
But it wasn't just space. Johnson's Great Society (you know, back before we hated his guts over Vietnam) took quite a bit of arm twisting in Congress and elsewhere to become a reality.
Where are the great dreams? I have no quibble with a great dream of bringing democracy to the middle east. But if you're going to reach for the stars, then bring a compass. You don't wake up one morning egged on by your neo-con cronnies and say "I can do it" when you don't begin to equal the abilities of a JFK or LBJ. Can you think of a US President who had such little ability and yet dreamed so big?
When you're the runt of the littler, don't try and be the big dog. You get too many people killed in the process.
But it wasn't just space. Johnson's Great Society (you know, back before we hated his guts over Vietnam) took quite a bit of arm twisting in Congress and elsewhere to become a reality.
Where are the great dreams? I have no quibble with a great dream of bringing democracy to the middle east. But if you're going to reach for the stars, then bring a compass. You don't wake up one morning egged on by your neo-con cronnies and say "I can do it" when you don't begin to equal the abilities of a JFK or LBJ. Can you think of a US President who had such little ability and yet dreamed so big?
When you're the runt of the littler, don't try and be the big dog. You get too many people killed in the process.
posted by Anonymous at 8:24 PM
1 Comments:
yeah, i know what you mean about big dreams. somehow, tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, gutting social security and saddling schools with an oppressive and onerous regime of testing just doesn't cut it in terms of inspiring the citizenry. i can't even summon the energy to salute the flag. what did we get after 9-11? calls to help the country, to self-sacrifice, to the search for alternative energy sources, to maybe getting a prius instead of a hummer? heck no, we got "get out there and shop till you drop."
sheesh, what a comedown. i can barely stand the thought of getting out of bed today.
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