One Sided Political Recognition During Demo-2
Remarks by President Trump at Kennedy Space Center
Keith’s note: Today at a media briefing Jim Bridenstine said that there was representation “from both sides of the aisle” at the Demo-2 launch. Yet this is what the President chose to say about Congressional members present at they events:
“Also with us are many members of my Cabinet, including our great new DNI, John Ratcliffe. Thank you,John. Thank you.(Applause.) We have a great friend of mine, a special man, ran a great, great campaign: Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. (Applause.) Thank you, Ron. Thank you, Ron. Your Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Leader Kevin McCarthy. Kevin, thank you very much. (Applause.) Great job you do, Kevin. And Representatives Matt Gaetz, John Rutherford, Michael Waltz, Bill Posey, Gus Bilirakis, Daniel Webster, Brian Mast, Elise Stefanik, Bill Flores, Brian Babin, Rodney Davis, Roger Marshall, and Steven Palazzo. Thank you very much, fellas. Thank you. (Applause.) What a great group of people. They’re warriors. They’re really warriors. They helped so much get this done, and so many other things.”
All of the people mentioned are Republicans. No Democrats were mentioned. Apparently they did not make any contribution to the day’s events – otherwise they’d have been mentioned, right? Today at a crew conversation from JSC Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and House Science, Space, and Technology ranking member Brian Babin (R-TX) were there. That committee’s chair, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) was nowhere to be seen. “Both sides of the aisle?” Just sayin’.
Were you able to get a list of Democratic leaders who attended from the NASA PAO so we may thank them here? Seems proper if they were snubbed by President Trump at his speech.
Given Rep. Johnson’s age, which puts her at high risk for COVID-19, and the protests in her district I am not surprised she skipped a simple NASA PR event. She has more important matters to attend to at the moment than a NASA photo op.
Oh please. The COVID-19 excuse? It only puts Democrats at risk?
No, but that they are smart enough not to travel for events that are just PR stunts. Let’s face it, just how important was that photo op at JSC?
Ever heard of teleconferencing? That’s what they did with the crew.
Yes, and that would be another good question for you as a journalist to ask NASA. Of course a peasant like me would never get a response from them. That is why we depend on journalists like you to get the news.
She is quite a bit older than anyone in that Republican list above so you could say she would be more at risk than them, and there is also a partisan divide in perceptions of COVID-19. That probably wasn’t it, but just saying 🙂
Rep. Johnson also is a profession nurse, so she understands very well the medical risks involved with a virus, understands them far better than lawyers and non-medical personnel would. Not only the risks to herself (at 84 she is in the high risk group) but to other people. Enough to know unnecessary trips like this are just risking setting off a second wave.
Why don’t you call and ask her instead of guessing. I simply stated that she was not there. No one set up a teleconference with her or sought out her written comments. Or does COVID-19 prevent teleconferences and email too?
Why don’t you? You are the journalist and so her staff is far more likely to respond to a call from you than a non-journalist. Also why don’t you ask the NASA PAO if she was even invited or not? BTW It would be strange NASA would want to alienate an important member of Congress by not inviting them…
Remember, you are the one implying her absence is political as that is the theme of this thread. I am merely pointing out it could be something other than politics.
Nowadays it’s dangerous to stake out a position consistent with your political sense lest you are accused of ‘politics’.
Maybe she would have worn a mask. Although Bridenstine recommended against it, the local sheriff went on the airwaves to solicit a mass of visitors, cheek by jowl and without masks. I hope COVID does not take advantage of the situation.
Trump: “The names of Hurley and Behnken will stand in the history books alongside those of legends like Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John … Young.”
I know Young crewed the first Gemini with Grissom, but when you list the early legends, you don’t leave out John Glenn … except that he went on to become a Democratic senator. That just seems typical Trump.
He listed those astronauts that made the first flights of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle. John Glenn flew Mecury on its third human mission in space.
As above, I apologize. I more carefully read Trump’s prior remarks: “They join the ranks of just seven prior American astronauts who have made the perilous maiden voyage to test a new class of spacecraft.”
While it’s true John Glenn flew Mercury on its third mission, it was also the first crewed mission to fly on Atlas and was also the first orbital mission of Mercury. So while I would not personally omit John Glenn from this list, I can see why one could do so without (directly) invoking politics.
What Dr. M said. Young flew on TWO first-time crewed missions, Gemini III Molly Brown & Shuttle Columbia.
It was actually a very precise and pertinent observation to include in his speech. Please pay attention to the context.
Apologies! I more carefully read Trump’s prior remarks: “They join the ranks of just seven prior American astronauts who have made the perilous maiden voyage to test a new class of spacecraft.”
“The names of Hurley and Behnken will stand in the history books”
True? Or not? Or will history remember them in the same vein as the captains of those other two ships that said with Columbus?
And a question: In what sense can it be said that anyone was actually ‘flying’ the capsule? Not a snarky question, just wondering. The crew can’t request a different altitude, for instance, or in fact deviate in any way. They have a role in docking; one STS commander and I recall had a bunch of fun expanding the obligatory ‘fly around’ ISS before heading home.
The question likely betrays my ignorance: I do check into http://www.askthepilot.com, from time to time, where the proprietor takes great offense whenever anyone claims that jetliners can pretty much fly themselves these days; regardless of his sensibility, in fact modern jetliners do can automate much of the process, including arrival and departure.
What about these capsules? Can they not be autonomous? And if so, is this preferable? Aside from cis-ISS space, is there a condition during the 10 minute ascent better left to human pilots?
From the president’s speech yesterday to the crew comments today, I am sickened by the heightened nationalist rhetoric. Neil Armstrong didn’t say “For America…”. He said for all mankind.
The world is looking at us and laughing these days.
How can we, as a nation, be expected to solve the problems before us and do great things if our elected representatives can’t show each other respect and speak to other civilly and in a productive fashion?
We certainly can’t look to the top for leadership in these divisive times.
Excellent point, Keith, and you’re right. It is petty.
Obama considered bipartisanship to be something worth bragging about. He would have spread the recognition around.
In 2010, Obama gave a speech at NASA and thanked the following people specifically: Senator Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, his chief science advisor John Holdren, and Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas. https://www.nasa.gov/news/m…
Hmm, not a single republican named. Did you find this to be petty? I didn’t. I found it typical of any politician, including Obama, Trump, Clinton, Bush, etc.
I don’t expect scientifically smart politicians nor do I expect reasoned thought on space policy which is why anytime a President speaks on the subject I listen, regardless of my personal feelings about the politician. I also look forward to the intelligent commentary usually provided by Nasawatch readers.
That said, I wish we could be honest with one another and acknowledge that ideas are not good or bad because of who’s they are. If Obama gave this identical speech we would be having a deep discussion about the merits of the ideas rather than a pointless discussion about who a politician thanked.
Rodney Davis is actually my rep so it’s neat hear he was there. I would hope some Democrat politicians were there, though I could understand if they walked out after hearing that long list of Republicans while they weren’t mentioned. Or maybe they knew he was going to turn it into sort of a campaign event. I assumed he would take credit himself, since that’s what he does, but it was pretty tacky to play his campaign songs before and after he talked.
Of course there is also the possibility they felt it would look really out of touch going to that event when these other very momentous events are occurring.
He even played his favorite campaign song at the end of his speech.
When will people just accept that we will not see anything approaching decency out of this administration? Hoping it will improve at this point is delusional optimism.
As far as attendance to speak to the crew, it occurred at JSC, which is covered by Rep Babin. For any prior event (announcement of astronaut class comes to mind as the most recent), Sen Cruz and Rep Babin have regularly been present, but I do not remember Rep Johnson being in attendance for anything. So it’s consistent, I believe.
Can’t we all just appreciate the moment for its technical achievement and historical significance that it carries?
And not even mention the other half of the Congress who made this happen – indeed when the Republican Party was trying to defund commercial crew the Democrats were trying to fully fund it.
Keith is right – this cannot be disputed; it is fact.
If Congress had met Obama’s requests for commercial crew the first flight would have been years ago. Yet Trump gives no credit to the Obama administration, and many of his supporters agree. The reason this is a problem is that it undermines the bipartisan support NASA has generally received. https://upload.wikimedia.or…