Romney Mentions Neil Armstrong in RNC Speech
RNC 2012: Mitt Romney speech to GOP convention (Full Text), Washington Post
“I was born in the middle of the century in the middle of the country, a classic baby boomer. It was a time when Americans were returning from war and eager to work. To be an American was to assume that all things were possible. When President Kennedy challenged Americans to go to the moon, the question wasn’t whether we’d get there, it was only when we’d get there. The soles of Neil Armstrong’s boots on the moon made permanent impressions on OUR souls and in our national psyche. Ann and I watched those steps together on her parent’s sofa. Like all Americans we went to bed that night knowing we lived in the greatest country in the history of the world. God bless Neil Armstrong. Tonight that American flag is still there on the moon. And I don’t doubt for a second that Neil Armstrong’s spirit is still with us: that unique blend of optimism, humility and the utter confidence that when the world needs someone to do the really big stuff, you need an American.”
This from a man who said he would fire anybody who even brought up the idea of going to the moon and has yet to give specifics as to his space policy? I am no fan of Obama or his space policy, but trying to skate on Armstrong’s death is repulsive.
Have you ever spoken with someone who had a profound effect on the way you looked at life? Thats nice that you think it is repulsive, thanks for sharing that with us. Gee, what if he really meant it? That would be a shocker, a politician actually having an epiphany. Either way it would be no worse than what we have now. “Moon? Weve been there, meh.”
Considering that the solitary thing Romney has said about his space policy is that he opposes human Moon exploration, that would be a pretty significant about-face if it came true.
I wonder if Armstrong asked him, if Romney would have fired him for saying he wanted to goto the moon?
Just a day or so before he went into the hospital Armstrong sent out an email, widely distributed, criticizing the current Administration and agreeing with the Yogi Berra statement that “if you don’t know where you are going you might never get there.”
Interpretation: we need some leadership in the space program.Last words from a great man that ought to be acted upon.
The wisdom of Yogi Berra likely applies to both Obama’s and Romney’s space policy with his quote “The future ain’t what it used to be.” That just about sums it up.
Something else to consider…
Point 1:
“To be an American was to assume that all things were possible. When President Kennedy challenged Americans to go to the moon, the challenge was not whether we would get there, it was only when we’d get there.”Tonight, that American flag is still there on the Moon. and I don’t doubt for a second that Neil Armstrong’s spirit is still with us. That unique blend of optimism, humility, and the utter confidence that, when the world needs someone to do that, you need an American.”
Point 2:
“But he’s eager to give Russia’s president Putin the flexibility he desires after the election. Under my presidency our friends will see more loyalty and Mr. Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone.”
Fact 1:
Completed ISS Expeditions 21-31 solely utilized the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as did the current Expedition 32 mission.
Fact 2:
Future ISS Expedition missions 33-41 will utilize Soyuz as the sole spacecraft.
Like … don’t talk to chairs?
In response to the comments:
“This from a man who said he would fire anybody who even brought up the idea of going to the moon…”
and
“Considering that the solitary thing Romney has said about his space policy is that he opposes human Moon exploration…”
I think we need a fact-check. Gingrich was talking about an American *colony* on the moon, and that when it reached 13,000 people living there they could apply for statehood.
Romney’s response was, ” If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I’d say, ‘You’re fired.’ “
He didn’t say “he would fire anybody who even brought up the idea of going to the Moon”. He didn’t say he “opposes human Moon exploration”.
People can get all partisan about this stuff, but in the big picture over the past 40 years, both parties have been about the same in their support of human space exploration.
Laura,
I don’t think history is overly relevant in his case. The current situation is that Romney, and the Republicans as a whole, are focused almost entirely on “fiscal” issues. Space/NASA and every other discretionary spending category are going to get trimmed to the bone if the Republicans are elected. And however passionate any of them may be personally about any issue will mean nothing in terms of commitment or money allocated. Their plan, if they can manage to follow through on it is to cut spending on everything in order to reduce the debt. There will be no exceptions, no matter how important they may seem. All that remains to be seen is if they can get away with proceeding according to their plan. To me this situation is obvious, and therefore the support for human space exploration, or any other space activities, will not be the same for either party if elected for the next four years. At this point in history the Democrats, although not overly generous with money for space, are at least willing to spend money on space and do so with certain specific plans in mind, i.e., kick start and support commercial space companies to do the necessary things that Congress won’t commit to.
Steve
“Their plan, if they can manage to follow through on it is to cut spending on everything in order to reduce the debt.”
Correction. That is what they SAY is their plan. The supporting details aren’t there.
The GOP always runs on cutting the budget. Check past records to see how often they’ve actually done that.
(For the record, I am not an Obama or Romney supporter.)