Archive for January 15th, 2004

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Thursday, January 15th, 2004

Science Fiction

Fellow LC member, Rivka at Respectful of Otters has a great post explaining why President Bush’s announcement of a future Mission to Mars is the best Science Fiction money can buy.

And that is the really exasperating part. We have the technology, the vision, the manpower, the expertise and above all, the desire to shoot for the Mars and beyond. Just not the money. And Bush knows this. And worse, he doesn’t care. He is purposely yanking on the dreams of sci-fi geeks and future astronauts everywhere, all to garner a percentage point in his bid for reSelection. Then he’ll ignore it for the next four years and let the Democrat that has to clean up after him take the fall for being the spoil sport who cancels the Mars Colony due to budgetary constraints. It’s shallow, crass schoolyard politics at its worst.

The part that breaks my heart and makes me want to scream is that it will probably work. He’ll get the applause, just like he did for the AIDS project that he’s underfunding and for No Child Left Behind and Fill in the Blank. And no one in the media will call him on it.

Welcome to the future, folks. We all thought that 2004 would be just like Science Fiction. Too bad we got our wish.

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Thursday, January 15th, 2004

Candidate Not-the-Mindkiller

Amb. Carol Moseley Braun was on the Daily Show last night and in the span of about two minutes, referenced Star Trek and quoted from Dune (she said that “Fear is the Mindkiller” while speaking, in a roundabout manner, about Bush’s use of fear as a tool for influencing the people). She also was intelligent, clear minded and had a definite progressive attitude and a willingness to do the work needed to spread peace and prosperity.

She hasn’t got a proverbial snowballs chance in winning the nomination.

And not because she’s black, or a woman. Frankly, I’d vote for her, even if she wasn’t running against Herr Bush and the Patriot Gang. But she’ll get smeared as being all squishy soft and womanly on Security and Defense and so will be seen as week instead of how she actually is, which is progressive, literate and honest.

Personally, I’d like to see a candidate for president who has taken the progressive attitudes of Star Trek and the great Utopian sci-fi stories to heart. I think that’s a good way to get us into a prosperous future, by embracing idealism and tempering it with judicious thiking and compassion for our fellow mankind. Sadly, it is unlikely that will happen anytime within the next eight to twelve years though. And especially so long as Bush is in office, we’re all stuck in the Black Iron Prison. Help us, Arumcheck!

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