(Photos/NASA)
That unity is conducive to energy will not be disputed. Decision, activity, secrecy, and despatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number; and in proportion as the number is increased, these qualities will be diminished.
Talk about no vision!
No sooner did Mitt Romney highlight Barack Obama’s failure to promote American leadership in space than he showed his own characteristic lack of energy.
Lost in Space
“What we have right now is a president who does not have a vision or a mission for NASA,” Romney said, criticizing Obama, who ended America’s manned exploration of space with the 2011 landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
But flip-flopping from name to name, Romney then began pandering to the great number of people he holds responsible for creating his own vision and mission.
“I believe the right mission for NASA should be determined by a president together with a collection of people,” Romney said, holding not only NASA but also the U.S. Air Force, academic institutions, and private-sector businesses to characterize his proceedings.
The Right Stuff
Considering such disappointment — characteristic of both Obama and Romney — I find three thoughts running through my mind this week, as one more Earth Day shares another exciting anniversary with Hubble Space Telescope:
- A president’s vision for the American space program must be for the security to guarantee that the course of human events won’t ever perish with the Earth.
- The right mission for government is the same as that declared by the founders: Do for society “as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”
- We have not yet begun to succeed.
