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Star Wars

Sequels, the addage goes, are rarely as good as the original. Which is why George W. Bush's attempt to ressurect the Reagan era fetish with space-oriented national defense programs is almost too funny. "The Phantom Menace" proved a dull shadow of Lucas's original three works, and Bush's attempts to emulate Reagan are nearly as comical. After all, the biggest jawboner in all of Congress, Tom DeLay, has been a stalwart supporter of NASA. The agency does many things--but everyone knows they put things into space.

But the Cold War idea of using satellites to shoot down nuclear-tipped warheads...that's been on the back burner. At first it appeared that nuclear proliferation was over...until India and Pakistan reminded us how quaint that idea was. But no one, except maybe the North Koreans were thought to be "crazy" enough to attack the US. And now of course, Al Qaeda seems eager to gain nuclear material. Just where they will find a willing nation and someone to sell them that ICBM to launch against the US...well Homeland Security isn't telling us.

So why the fascination, the enthrallment of the final frontier among people like Reagan and Bush? In a word: Sputnik. The Soviet Union beat the US into space, but America responded by landing Neil Armstrong on the moon twelve years later. Considering it occured during a very turbulent era for the US, it helped cement America's reputation in the world.

And in terms of the Bush's Kampf, a strong defense is the one luxury of the state. His desire for an imperious President, an eviscerated bureaucracy, a feckless Congress, a powerless judiciary, combined with states precluded from acting when the federal government elects not to is achieved by various means. They include devastating tax revenue, a permanent climate of uncertain and danger, and other milleu already associated with Bush today.

Left out is that through it all, the military and spending money on it provides excellent cover to run up huge deficits. Public outcry occurs when you attempt to "break the bank" spending money on other projects if the tax revenue isn't there. But as the Iraq conflict shows, you can use war to bankrupt the US and still win reelection. And if eventual bankruptcy means favoring NASA, the Bush team would argue, so be it.

Ironically, most of the money cut from the 2006 budget happens to be in areas of aeronatics research. Which implies that aircraft and air travel will become less safe, not more. It all causes one to think he or she has seen this movie before. Just as Reagan's legacy has corroded once exposed to daylight and fresh air, so too will Bush's cynical treatment of NASA and other agencies prove to discolor his reputation for decades to come.
posted by Thomas at 11:48 PM 0 comments