Anti-astronaut Tripe From NRO

Editor’s update: John Dervyshire got some nasty email its seems. Nasty enough to move him to write:

“I had some exchanges with one fellow who took strong exception to my Space Shuttle piece. “It must really suck being you,” he asserted. Now, this is pretty lame on a first occurrence; but in our subsequent exchanges he just couldn’t think of any way to improve on it. “Like I said, it must really suck being you,” he’d close. It dawned on me at last that the guy thinks this is the most crushing, most devastating put-down that has yet been devised from the English language. I weep for these people.”

Thanks for another data point, John. Now I am certain that it really sucks to be you.

The Folly of Our Age: The Space Shuttle, National Review Online

“The rest of the president’s address on that occasion was, to be blunt about it, insulting to the memories of the astronauts who died, and still more insulting to their grieving spouses, children, parents, and friends. If these astronauts believed that “they had a high and noble purpose in life,” they were mistaken, and someone should have set them straight on the point.”

Editor’s note: I love it when know-it-all pundits – such as John Derbyshire (home page) – hide behind their desks only to pop up long enough to toss out tripe such as this. The biggest risk Derbyshire ever takes is making coffee in the morning. I seriously doubt that this man has ever actually spoken to a real rocket scientist (sorry, Alex Roland doesn’t count), an astronaut or any of their families. Nor do I think he’d have the spine to actually say these same words to their faces. How cowardly – and shameful.

Editor’s update:I have swapped several emails with Derbyshire. He is unrepentant and stands by his putrid comments about astronauts and their sacrifice. Suffice it to say I told him: “it must really suck to be you”.