- Vote for me and I will give you your very own spaceship!
I wasn’t going to comment on NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden’s decision for placement of the soon to be retired Space Shuttles, but since everyone else is throwing in their two cents, I might as well too. The decision made by Charlie Bolden, and I’m sure he was taking orders from Mr. Obama, turned out to be a political game. If your state voted for Obama in the last election, then you got a great chance of getting a Space Shuttle. If your state didn’t, then it doesn’t matter how strong of a case you have to obtain a Shuttle, it’s just not going to happen. Big toys only go to Obama’s friends, that’s the Chicago way.
Discovery is going to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., which was a given, and which also voted for Obama in 2008. I seriously think that if Washington had voted for McCain, Obama would have found an excuse not to allow the Smithsonian to have her. Think I’m wrong? Chew on this. Florida, New York, and California all voted for Obama in 2008 and guess what! They all get a Shuttle. I can understand Florida (Kennedy Space Center) getting Atlantis under normal and non-political reasons. After all, that is where the Shuttles have launched for 30 years, but Houston TX also has a legit claim to a Shuttle. But, TX did NOT vote for Mr. Obama, and their Shuttle was lost to NY and LA. What does LA and NY have to do with the Shuttle program? What claim do they have that outranks the claims Houston has? It doesn’t matter because both states voted for Obama and that’s good enough for Obama and Bolden.
Obama and Charlie Bolden are rapidly running out of space centers where they are still welcome at. It would speak volumes to see Charlie Bolden or Obama try to speak to an auditorium of NASA employees and contractors sometime in the future and every one of those employees stand up and turn their backs on the speaker. It would make for a great NASA TV/YouTube moment!
LA and NY do not have any airports next to the museums that are going to display “their” Shuttles. So, that means a logistical nightmare trying to move aircraft size spacecraft through the city streets. Good luck and please try not to ding up our nation’s crown jewels NY and LA.
Houston of course is livid and rightly so. By the end of the evening after the announcement, over 100,000 people in Houston had signed a petition demanding a Shuttle, but since it is unlikely that TX will vote for Obama in 2012, well it just won’t happen. It doesn’t help when Senator Chuck Schumer fails to “win with grace” and taunts Houston like a child sticking his tongue out. Check out the video below.
Lucky for Senator Schumer that Houston is over 1,000 miles away so he can trash talk Houston without worry. Talk about the lack of class. Don’t you just love politicians and their minions?
P.S. Today is also the 1 year anniversary when Obama, Senator Nelson, and now fired Congresswoman Kosmas traveled to KSC, hid from the workers, and then killed America’s Human Space Flight Program. Don’t forget what they did folks!
