I find myself in a horrible situation, in marginal agreement with the woeful Dotard-in-Chief. Trump's nigh childish demand for a new branch of the military dubbed dramatically the "Space Force" actually speaks to me, a fan of hundreds of vintage sci-fi comics and yarns in which such outer space outfits actually thrive and dart across the heavens. But as much as the idea appeals to the boy in me, the youngster who along with many of his peers wanted a flying car and a jet pack and men and women on Mars, I am taken aback because of the unreliable spokesman.
I grew up in the heyday of space exploration and came to proper sentience in the climax of the dramatic mission to put men on the Moon. After that flourish of scientific adventurism the United States fell into a humdrum as the excitement was replaced by some measure of practical application and the shuttle program became the wagons of the west following in the tracks of the explorers. But that effort lost energy as the years went by and the luster of space travel became less magical and more practical. The Challenger disaster is an important marker as it seems after that tragedy the desire to get up into space diminished until finally the U.S. has all but given over the missions beyond the Earth's fragile atmosphere to other countries and private corporations.
Now the odious Trump wants to strike up the band again, clearly his intent is to tack together a brand which will in his imagination set him upon the level of Kennedy the president who dramatically launched the successful mission to the Moon. The trouble with Trump is as always the details are either confusing or missing. There is no clear mission for this new proposed "Space Force", at least none which grip the imagination as a venture to a brand new heavenly body would do. But I wish there were.
Like so many of my generation, I am woeful and sad that we sit on Earth still, staring up into the stars as if they were beyond our reach and more sadly beyond our imagination. Alas our "so-called" President is a man who stares into his own navel more than the stars and everyone knows his "Space Force" is his childish grab for lasting fame in the pantheon in which he already imagines he exists. One dreads that he doesn't wish for a brave series of missions which will expand the human reach and the human imagination and so brighten the human experience, but rather he wants to militarize the high reaches of space and dominate the Earth. Or maybe he just wants a Trump Tower on Mars. Whatever the case, we know with frightening certainty that his goals are primarily for himself and not for his fellow citizens.
I want a "Space Force" too, anything to get us off our collective asses and into the depths of space. But I want that new entity to have a clearly defined and uplifting mission and I wish that the idea hadn't been put forward by such a terrible person. Trump's lack of seriousness makes his opponents dismiss his ideas, and for the most part that's nearly always a safe bet. But a "Space Force" is an idea I could support, with lots of caveats admittedly. I hate saying that, believe me I do.
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